Published 2026-09-25 · 18 min read

Massachusetts Landlord-Tenant Law 2026: The Rules That Actually Matter

Massachusetts is one of the most tenant-protective states in the country, and its landlord-tenant law is unusually statute-dense: the deposit rules, the termination rules, the habitability remedies, and the penalties nearly all live in Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186 and ch. 239, and several of them changed in 2024–2025. Landlords who treat Massachusetts like a landlord-friendly state get burned — often for treble damages. This guide covers the rules that actually catch landlords off guard, verified against the current official text on malegislature.gov.

Four corrections to what older guides (including the previous version of this page) say. First, the heating season moved: the old page's "September 16 to June 14" dates are the pre-2023 sanitary code. The current State Sanitary Code, 105 CMR 410.180, sets the season at September 15 through May 31, at 68°F in the daytime and 64°F overnight. Second, there are two different nonpayment cure rights, and they are not interchangeable: under a written lease, ch. 186, § 11 lets the tenant defeat termination by paying everything due on or before the day the answer is due in the possession action; for a tenancy at will, § 12 gives a tenant who has had no similar notice in the prior 12 months 10 days after receipt of the notice to quit to pay in full — and the notice must carry the statute's own warning language or the cure window stretches. Third, repair-and-deduct is not a lease remedy: it lives in ch. 111, § 127L, requires a certified violation, written notice, and a 5-day/14-day landlord window, and is capped at four months' rent in 12 months. Fourth, three 2025 changes postdate most guides: a broker may charge only the party who hired them (effective August 1, 2025), eviction records became sealable under ch. 239, § 16 (effective May 5, 2025), and the Attorney General's rental junk-fee regulations took effect September 2, 2025.

Disclaimer: this is general information, not legal advice. Massachusetts housing law is technical; consult a local attorney for your situation.

Landlord in multiple states? the 50-State Landlord Law Dataset (CSV + JSON) ($29) puts deposit caps, return deadlines, and eviction-notice rules for all 50 states in one spreadsheet — 300 data cells built to drop straight into ChatGPT or Claude. General information, not legal advice.

At a glance

When the clocks actually start

Massachusetts runs more clocks than most states, and they start on different events. The deposit-return clock runs from the termination of occupancy (tenancy at will) or the end of the tenancy in a valid written lease — not from your inspection or receipt of a forwarding address (§ 15B(4)). The bank-receipt clock runs from receipt of the deposit (30 days, § 15B(3)(a)), while the signed receipt is due when the money changes hands (§ 15B(2)(b)). The condition-statement clock runs from the later of receipt of the deposit or 10 days after the tenancy commences (§ 15B(2)(c)). The late-fee clock runs from the rent due date: no interest or penalty may be imposed until the rent is 30 days late (§ 15B(1)(c)) — but the eviction clock is different, because Massachusetts has no statutory grace period, so a 14-day notice to quit for nonpayment can be served on rent that is only days late. The § 127L repair clock runs from the landlord's receipt of written notice of certified violations: begin within 5 days, substantially complete within 14, unless the certifying agency or a court set a shorter period. The § 12 termination clock for a monthly tenancy at will is a full rental period and never less than 30 days. Worked examples appear in the sections below; every weekday was checked against the 2026 calendar.

How much can a Massachusetts landlord charge as a security deposit, and what triggers triple damages? (ch. 186, § 15B)

Massachusetts security deposit law (ch. 186, § 15B) is famously strict, and this page's companion guide — Massachusetts security deposit law — works through it line by line. The essentials:

• Maximum: one month's rent (a deposit "equal to the first month's rent"). No more, ever — there is no pet-deposit or higher-risk-tenant exception (§ 15B(1)(b)).
• Separate account: the deposit must go in a separate interest-bearing bank account in Massachusetts, structured so it is beyond the landlord's creditors' claims, and you must notify the tenant of the bank name and location, the amount, and the account number within 30 days of receipt (§ 15B(3)(a)). The deposit remains the tenant's property and is never commingled (§ 15B(1)(e)).
• Interest: you owe the tenant 5% annual interest or the actual bank rate, if lower, from the first day of the tenancy — paid at each year's end, with an annual statement, and in full within 30 days of an early termination (§ 15B(3)(b)). Prepaid last month's rent earns the same rate under § 15B(2)(a).
• Receipts: a signed receipt when the deposit is received, describing the premises (§ 15B(2)(b)), plus the bank receipt above. They are two different documents on two different clocks.
• Condition statement: within 10 days after the tenancy begins or on receipt of the deposit, whichever is later, provide a signed statement of the unit's condition. The tenant has 15 days to sign it or return a separate signed list of corrections, and you then have 15 days to agree in writing or state your disagreement (§ 15B(2)(c)). Damage documented on that statement cannot later be deducted for, unless you repaired it and the renewed damage was unrelated and tenant-caused (§ 15B(4)(iii)).
• Return deadline: return the deposit or balance, with interest, within 30 days after the tenancy ends, and for any damage deduction include a list sworn under the pains and penalties of perjury, in precise detail, with written evidence of cost — estimates, bills, invoices, or receipts (§ 15B(4)).

The penalty structure is narrower — and more specific — than "any mistake costs triple." Section 15B(6) forfeits your right to retain any part of the deposit (or counterclaim for damage) if you fail to bank the funds as § 15B(3) requires, fail to furnish the itemized list within 30 days, enforce a conflicting lease provision or waiver, fail a transfer duty under § 15B(5), or fail to return the balance within 30 days. Section 15B(7) treble damages — three times the deposit or the balance owed, plus 5% interest from the date payment became due, court costs, and reasonable attorney's fees — attach to only three of those failures: (6)(a) banking, (6)(d) transfer, and (6)(e) late return. A missing itemized list standing alone forfeits the deductions; it does not by itself trigger the multiplier. Conflicting lease provisions and tenant waivers of § 15B are void (§ 15B(8)).

One recent change inside § 15B itself: language effective August 1, 2025 authorizes state regulations for an optional fee in lieu of a deposit, capped at one month's rent and always the tenant's choice. That is an authorization for future rules, not a right to charge such a fee today.

What money can a Massachusetts landlord collect at move-in, and are application or broker fees allowed?

Section 15B(1)(b) is a closed list. At or before the start of a tenancy you may require only: (i) the first full month's rent; (ii) the last full month's rent, calculated at the same rate as the first; (iii) a security deposit equal to the first month's rent; and (iv) the purchase and installation cost for a key and lock. Everything else charged up front — application fees, credit-check fees, pet deposits or pet fees, cleaning fees, amenity or "community" fees, holding deposits — conflicts with the statute, and a lease term imposing it is void. If you want a credit or screening report, you run it at your own expense. The only lawful finder's fee in the transaction belongs to a licensed real estate broker or salesperson (ch. 112, § 87DDD½; 254 CMR 7.00), who must give the applicant written notice of the fee.

Since August 1, 2025, that broker rule has teeth in a new place: amendments made by the FY2026 budget act (Acts of 2025, ch. 9) to ch. 112, § 87DDD½ and to § 15B provide that a broker may charge a fee only to the party who originally engaged them. If you hired the broker to fill your unit, you pay the broker. You may not require the tenant to pay your broker's fee, make signing the lease contingent on it, or fold it into the rent; the Attorney General's August 1, 2025 advisory treats requiring a tenant to pay for services provided to the landlord as a § 15B violation, and the Mass.gov broker-fee FAQ puts the exposure at up to three times the amount charged plus attorney's fees. A tenant who hired their own broker before that broker dealt with you may still pay that broker — the fee follows whoever engaged the broker, in writing, in advance.

Layered on top, the Attorney General's junk-fee regulations (940 CMR 31.00), effective September 2, 2025, require rental advertising and offers to disclose the total price — including any mandatory fees — before a lease is signed, and treat violations as unfair practices under ch. 93A. In practice: advertise the real total, charge nothing outside the § 15B(1)(b) list, and let any broker fee sit with whoever hired the broker.

Can a Massachusetts landlord raise rent freely, or does rent control apply?

• No rent control statewide. Chapter 40P prohibits rent control except on publicly owned housing, and Boston's and Cambridge's old systems ended in the mid-1990s. Recurring Boston proposals are home-rule petitions that need state approval; none is law. Absent a subsidy program's own rules, there is no cap on the amount of an increase.
• Rent increases in a tenancy at will are made by terminating the old tenancy and offering new terms: § 12 lets the termination notice itself include an offer of a new tenancy on different terms, and the notice must still satisfy the period-or-30-days rule below. Under a written lease, increases take effect at renewal unless the lease says otherwise.
• No grace period: rent is due on the lease date, and a nonpayment notice to quit can be served on rent that is a day late. What § 15B(1)(c) restricts is money, not process: no interest or penalty may be imposed for late rent until the rent is 30 days late, so a lease clause charging a late fee on day 5 is unenforceable — and a clause offering a discount for early payment that functions as a disguised late penalty draws the same objection.
• Retaliation limits increases: a rent increase within six months of a tenant's protected activity is presumed retaliatory under § 18 (below).

Worked example: a monthly tenancy at will, and you want new terms (a higher rent, or an end to the tenancy) effective at the end of December 2026. Section 12 requires written notice equal to the interval between rent-payment days or 30 days, whichever is longer — for a monthly tenancy, a full rental period. Notice given on Tuesday, December 1, 2026 determines the tenancy on Thursday, December 31, 2026; a notice given mid-period that lands inside the next period is a classic Massachusetts defect, so count in rental periods, not just days.

Which notice to quit must a Massachusetts landlord serve to terminate a tenancy?

Massachusetts has two termination statutes, and using the wrong one is a common way to lose a case on a technicality.

Written lease, nonpayment — ch. 186, § 11. Fourteen days' notice to quit, in writing, is sufficient to determine the lease for nonpayment — unless the tenant, on or before the day the answer is due in the landlord's possession action, pays or tenders to the landlord or the landlord's attorney all rent then due, with interest and costs of suit. Note what § 11 does not contain: a 10-day cure period. The cure right under a lease runs to the answer day in court, which is later than most landlords expect.

Tenancy at will, nonpayment — ch. 186, § 12. Fourteen days' notice to quit, in writing, determines the tenancy — provided that a tenant who has not received a similar notice from the landlord within the preceding 12 months can prevent termination by paying or tendering the full amount of rent due within 10 days after receipt of the notice, to the landlord, the landlord's attorney, or the person to whom the tenant customarily pays rent. Every such notice must contain the statute's notification, in substance: if you have not received a notice to quit for nonpayment within the last twelve months, you have a right to prevent termination by paying the full rent due within ten days after receipt. If your notice omits that language, the notice remains valid but the tenant's cure window extends to the answer-due day — a drafting slip that costs you weeks.

Tenancy at will, no-fault — ch. 186, § 12. Either party may determine an estate at will on three months' written notice; where rent is payable at periods shorter than three months, notice equal to the interval between days of payment or 30 days, whichever is longer, is sufficient. For the standard monthly tenancy that means one full rental period, at least 30 days. The notice may include an offer of a new tenancy on different terms without affecting its validity — this is the mechanism for no-fault terminations and most rent increases.

Lease violations and holdover. For a fault termination under a written lease, the lease's own notice provisions and the summary process statute govern; there is no separate general cure statute for lease breaches in Massachusetts, so the lease drafting controls what notice is owed. A tenant who holds over after a lease ends by its own limitation or after a notice to quit is reachable by summary process under ch. 239, § 1 without a second termination notice.

Government-delay safety valve. Both § 11 and § 12 address rent that is late because a government agency delayed a subsistence or rental payment: the court continues the hearing at least seven days to notify the agency, and if all rent due with interest and costs is tendered in that window, the tenancy is treated as not terminated.

Worked example (tenancy at will, nonpayment): rent is due Sunday, November 1, 2026 and is not paid. You serve a 14-day notice to quit that is received on Monday, November 2, 2026, containing the § 12 notification. Because this tenant has had no similar notice in the prior 12 months, the tenancy is not determined if the tenant pays the full rent due by Thursday, November 12, 2026 — 10 days after receipt. Payment in that window ends the matter; you cannot refuse it and proceed. If November 12 passes unpaid, the tenancy is determined and you may file summary process.

How does eviction (summary process) work in Massachusetts? (ch. 239)

Massachusetts evictions go through summary process under ch. 239, in Housing Court, District Court, or the Boston Municipal Court (§§ 1–2). Self-help is not an alternative at any stage (see § 14, below). The sequence:

1. Terminate the tenancy first. Serve the correct notice to quit under § 11 or § 12 (or rely on the lease's own expiration). A summary process complaint filed before the tenancy is properly terminated fails.

2. File the summary process summons and complaint (§ 2). Minors may not be named as defendants, and any minor so named is expunged from the record.

3. Answer and trial. The tenant may answer and raise any defense or counterclaim relating to the tenancy — including the § 8A habitability defense below, which can reduce or eliminate what is owed and, if the tenant's award equals or exceeds yours, defeats possession altogether. Discovery and jury demands are available in Housing Court practice and routinely extend the schedule.

4. Judgment and the appeal window. If the court finds for you, you have judgment and execution for possession and costs, plus any rent found due (§ 3). Execution does not issue during the appeal period (10 days under the summary process rules).

5. Execution — the 48-hour notice. Before an officer serves or levies an execution for possession of a dwelling, the officer must give the defendant at least 48 hours' written notice stating the date and time, the officer's name, address, and phone number, the court and docket number, and the licensed public warehouse where any remaining personal property will be stored (§ 3). The warehouser may sell property unclaimed after six months to cover unpaid storage fees (§§ 3–4). Only the officer, not the landlord, moves people and property out.

Realistic timeline, stated as practice rather than law: two to four months from first missed rent to regaining possession in an uncontested-to-lightly-contested case, and longer where the tenant raises habitability counterclaims, requests discovery, or appeals. Massachusetts courts take the warranty of habitability seriously — if the tenant shows code violations, rent can be abated and your case weakened or lost.

A screening consequence of filing, new in 2025, is covered under eviction sealing below: since May 5, 2025, the record you create by filing can be sealed on the tenant's petition — immediately after the case ends for a no-fault filing, and on conditions for nonpayment and fault filings.

What must a Massachusetts landlord repair, and when can a tenant withhold rent or repair and deduct?

Massachusetts enforces habitability through three interlocking provisions, and landlords should know all three because tenants' attorneys plead them together.

The warranty and the sanitary code. Every residential tenancy carries an implied warranty of habitability measured against the State Sanitary Code (105 CMR 410). The code's temperature rule, as revised in 2023, is 105 CMR 410.180: where the owner provides heat, every habitable room and bathroom must be kept at at least 68°F between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. and at least 64°F between 11:01 p.m. and 6:59 a.m., from September 15 through May 31, the heating system must not drive a room above 78°F, and temperature is measured five feet above the floor on a wall more than five feet from an exterior wall. A local board of health may shift the season (start no later than September 30, end no earlier than May 15) by posting notice. Lack of heat is a condition deemed to endanger health and safety, which starts the fast enforcement track. Portable space heaters do not satisfy the heating-facilities requirement.

The § 8A defense and counterclaim (ch. 239, § 8A). In a summary process case brought for nonpayment, or where the tenancy was terminated without the tenant's fault, the tenant may raise by defense or counterclaim any claim arising out of the tenancy — breach of warranty, breach of a material lease provision, or violation of any other law. The measure includes the difference between the agreed rent and the fair value of use and occupation of the unit in its defective condition, amounts properly spent under § 127L, and any other damages the regulating law authorizes. For a condition-based claim the tenant must show the landlord (or the person customarily paid) knew of the conditions before the tenant was in arrears, that the conditions were not caused by the tenant or someone under the tenant's control, and that the conditions can be remedied without the premises being vacated (temporary vacatur for lead work excepted). Proof of a sanitary-code violation that may endanger or materially impair health, safety, or well-being creates a presumption supporting the claim, and a board-of-health inspection notice creates a presumption the landlord knew of the conditions it lists. Two outcomes matter most to landlords: there is no recovery of possession while the case is pending once the § 8A requirements are met, and no recovery of possession at all if the amount found due the tenant equals or exceeds the amount found due the landlord. The court may order the tenant to pay the fair value of use and occupation, less the tenant's award, to the clerk as the case proceeds — but escrow is a tool the court may use, not a precondition the tenant must satisfy to raise the defense.

Repair-and-deduct (ch. 111, § 127L). Where violations of the sanitary code or other applicable law may endanger or materially impair the tenant's health, safety, or well-being and are so certified by the board of health or local code enforcement agency (in Boston, Worcester, and Cambridge, the housing inspection commissioner) or by a court, and the owner has been notified in writing and has failed to begin all necessary repairs (or contract in writing for them) within five days after notice and to substantially complete them within fourteen days (or any shorter period the agency or court ordered), the tenant may make the repairs and deduct the amount necessary to pay for them from rent subsequently due, capped at four months' rent in any twelve-month period. Alternatively, the tenant may treat the lease as terminated, pay only the fair value of use and occupation, and vacate within a reasonable time. Worked example: certified violations, written notice received Monday, November 2, 2026 — repairs must be begun by Saturday, November 7, 2026 and substantially completed by Monday, November 16, 2026, or the tenant's § 127L rights ripen. The practical lesson is that a certified violation notice is a five-day emergency, not ordinary mail.

You cannot shut off utilities to force a tenant out, withhold repairs as leverage, or contract around any of this: waivers of § 14 and § 18 are void, and § 15B(8) voids deposit waivers.

Quiet enjoyment, self-help, and entry

Chapter 186, § 14 is the self-help statute, and it is both civil and criminal. A landlord who is required to furnish water, hot water, heat, light, power, gas, elevator, telephone, janitor, or refrigeration service and willfully or intentionally fails to furnish it, who interferes with another's furnishing of those services, who transfers responsibility for utility payment to the occupant without the occupant's knowledge or consent, who interferes with the tenant's quiet enjoyment, or who attempts to regain possession by force without judicial process faces a fine of $25 to $300 or up to six months' imprisonment — and, civilly, liability for actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus the costs of the action including a reasonable attorney's fee, which the tenant may set off against rent owed. Lockouts, lock changes aimed at the tenant, utility shutoffs, and removing doors or belongings are all inside this statute. There is no "the rent was late, so I could" exception.

Entry. Massachusetts — unusually — has no general statute fixing a landlord's entry notice period for ordinary access. Entry rights come from the lease and from practice (inspection, repairs, and showings on reasonable notice, customarily at least 24 hours, at reasonable times), bounded on the other side by § 14: entry that is unannounced, excessive, or used to harass can itself be an interference with quiet enjoyment carrying the damages above, quite apart from the lease argument. Put the access clause in the lease, give written notice, keep a log — and note that § 15B separately requires the condition-statement process at move-in, and code inspectors have their own statutory access that a tenant may not obstruct.

Water charges are their own trap. Under ch. 186, § 22 a landlord may bill a tenant for water only through compliant submetering: a licensed plumber installs submeters for every unit and the common areas, the required low-flow conservation devices are in place, and the other conditions of § 22 are met. A lease clause simply shifting the municipal water bill — or charging for water in an unsubmetered building — is not authorized by § 22, and § 14 separately forbids transferring utility payment responsibility without the occupant's knowledge or consent.

Retaliation — ch. 186, § 18

Section 18 makes reprisals expensive. A landlord who threatens or takes reprisals against a tenant for suing or seeking relief under housing law, reporting a suspected health or building code violation to the board of health (in Boston, the housing inspection commissioner) or in writing to the landlord, or organizing or joining a tenants' union, is liable for damages of not less than one month's rent and not more than three months' rent, or the tenant's actual damages, whichever is greater, plus costs and a reasonable attorney's fee. The evidentiary rule is the part that decides cases: receipt of a notice of termination (other than for nonpayment), a rent increase, or a substantial alteration of the tenancy terms within six months after the tenant's protected activity (or another person's activity on the tenant's behalf or in the building) creates a rebuttable presumption that the action is a reprisal, which can be overcome only by clear and convincing evidence of sufficient independent justification — that you would have taken the same action, in the same manner and at the same time, regardless. Any waiver of § 18 in a lease is void. Operationally: after any code complaint or tenant-organizing activity in a building, a six-month documentation discipline applies — no discretionary terminations or increases without a paper trail that predates the complaint.

Discrimination and source of income

Massachusetts fair housing law (ch. 151B, § 4) covers the federal protected classes plus several state additions that matter in screening: race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, marital status, military or veteran status, and — the one that differs from many states — receipt of public assistance or a housing subsidy. Refusing to rent, or imposing different terms, because an applicant pays with a Section 8 voucher or another subsidy is unlawful discrimination in Massachusetts; so is a blanket "no vouchers" line in an advertisement. Screening criteria must be applied to the applicant's own obligations (for a voucher holder, the tenant's share of the rent is the relevant amount for income tests). See the Fair Housing Guide for the full screening framework.

Lead paint

Pre-1978 housing triggers Massachusetts' strict lead paint law (ch. 111, §§ 190–199A). Under § 197, whenever a child under six resides in a dwelling, the owner must remove or cover lead paint, plaster, and other accessible material containing dangerous levels of lead — the duty runs with the child's residence, not with the tenancy's start date, and interim controls are a regulated alternative only within the statute's terms. Owners must give the statutory lead notifications to tenants, and § 199 exposes a non-compliant owner to liability for a child's lead poisoning. Section 8A's habitability defense expressly accommodates temporary vacatur for lead removal or covering work under § 197. If your property was built before 1978, get a licensed lead inspection and comply before renting to families with young children — this is the largest uncapped liability most small Massachusetts landlords carry.

Domestic violence protections — ch. 186, §§ 24–29

Under § 24, a tenant or co-tenant may terminate the rental agreement and quit the premises on written notification to the owner that a member of the household is a victim of domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, or stalking, where the notification is made within three months of the most recent act — or where a household member is reasonably in fear of imminent serious physical harm. The tenant must actually quit within three months of the notice or the notice is void. Liability for rent ends 30 days or one full rental period after the quitting date, whichever occurs last; prepaid rent beyond that is refundable; and the owner must give the § 15B statement of the basis for retaining any deposit, with any refund, within 30 days of the conclusion of the tenancy and delivery of full possession. The owner may request proof of victim status in the forms § 24(e) lists — a ch. 209A or ch. 258E protective order, a court or law-enforcement record, or a qualified third party's written verification — and must keep that documentation confidential. Co-tenants who are not the victim are not released from their own obligations. The surrounding sections (§§ 25–29) add related protections, including lock-change rights; do not condition a § 24 termination on anything the statute does not require.

Eviction sealing — ch. 239, § 16 (effective May 5, 2025)

Section 52 of the Affordable Homes Act (Acts of 2024, ch. 150) added § 16 to ch. 239, effective May 5, 2025, and it changes what a summary process filing means for both sides:

• No-fault evictions: the tenant may petition to seal the court record at any time after the action concludes, including exhaustion of appeals, and the court shall comply. The other parties get notice and have 7 days to object; with no objection, the court may process the petition administratively without a hearing.
• Nonpayment evictions: sealable on petition where the action concluded not less than 4 years before the request, no nonpayment eviction action or lessor action has been brought against the petitioner in the preceding 4 years, and the petitioner certifies the nonpayment was due to economic hardship that has rendered them unable to satisfy the judgment.
• Fault evictions: a longer track — the record must have concluded, with appeals exhausted, not less than 7 years before the request, with no intervening fault or lessor action.
• Screening consequences: once sealed, the record is not available to the public or to consumer reporting agencies for housing screening, and § 16 requires rental applications to carry the notice that an applicant with a sealed record may answer "no record" to an inquiry about it. Update your application forms accordingly — the statement is mandatory language, not a courtesy.

For landlords, the operational change is that a dismissed, won-by-the-tenant, or simply old case may lawfully disappear from the screening trail; rely on references, credit, and income verification rather than treating a clean court search as proof of no history.

What changed in 2024–2026 — and what did not

• Changed: eviction sealing (ch. 239, § 16, May 5, 2025); broker-fee allocation to the engaging party (ch. 112, § 87DDD½ and § 15B amendments, August 1, 2025); the § 15B fee-in-lieu-of-deposit regulatory authorization (August 1, 2025); AG junk-fee total-price disclosure for rentals (940 CMR 31.00, September 2, 2025); the sanitary code's renumbered heat rule (105 CMR 410.180, 2023 revision — season September 15–May 31).
• Did not change: the one-month deposit cap and the § 15B receipt/account/30-day-return machinery; the § 11 and § 12 notice and cure structure; the § 8A defense; the § 127L repair-and-deduct clocks and four-month cap; the § 14 and § 18 treble-scale remedies; and the statewide prohibition on rent control (ch. 40P). Boston rent stabilization remains a proposal requiring state approval, not law.

A 10-step Massachusetts compliance checklist

1. Move-in money on the closed list only: first month, last month at the same rate, a one-month deposit, key-and-lock cost — nothing else, and no landlord-charged application, screening, pet, or amenity fee (§ 15B(1)(b)).

2. Broker fee sits with whoever hired the broker (August 1, 2025 rule); never a lease condition, never folded into rent; broker's written fee notice on file.

3. Both deposit receipts, on their own clocks: signed receipt at receipt (§ 15B(2)(b)); bank receipt with bank name/location, amount, and account number within 30 days (§ 15B(3)(a)).

4. Condition statement inside 10 days (or on deposit receipt, if later), with the tenant's 15-day response and your 15-day reply calendared (§ 15B(2)(c)).

5. Deposit banked separately in Massachusetts and interest (5% or the lesser bank rate) paid annually with a statement — for the deposit and any prepaid last month (§ 15B(2)(a), (3)(a)–(b)).

6. Heat tested before September 15: 68°F day / 64°F night capability through May 31, no room driven above 78°F, local board-of-health season alterations checked (105 CMR 410.180).

7. Certified-violation protocol: any board of health or code certification is answered inside the § 127L windows — begin in 5 days, substantially complete in 14 — with the written notice date logged.

8. Notices drafted from the right statute: § 11 for lease nonpayment (cure runs to the answer day); § 12 for at-will (10-day cure, statutory notification language verbatim, rental-period counting for no-fault and increases).

9. Six-month retaliation hold: after any code complaint, written complaint to you, or tenant organizing in the building, no discretionary termination or increase without pre-existing documentation (§ 18).

10. Move-out on the 30-day clock: balance plus interest out within 30 days, with the sworn, precise-detail list and cost evidence for any damage deduction (§ 15B(4)); application forms carry the § 16 "no record" statement; lead duties (§ 197) current for every pre-1978 unit with a child under six.

Frequently asked questions

How much security deposit can a Massachusetts landlord charge?

A deposit equal to the first month's rent — one month, with no exceptions for pets or perceived risk (§ 15B(1)(b)). At move-in you may also collect the first month's rent, the last month's rent at the same rate, and the purchase and installation cost of a key and lock — and nothing else. The full deposit regime is in the companion guide, Massachusetts security deposit law. Check a proposed deposit against that one-month cap with our Security Deposit Max Checker, which applies Massachusetts's one-month cap under ch. 186, § 15B — with no separate pet-deposit allowance.

How long does a Massachusetts landlord have to return a security deposit?

Within 30 days after the tenancy ends — the termination of occupancy for a tenancy at will, or the end of the tenancy in a valid written lease — together with accrued interest and, for any damage deduction, a list sworn under the pains and penalties of perjury, in precise detail, with written evidence of the cost (§ 15B(4)). Missing the return deadline is a § 15B(6)(e) failure carrying treble damages under § 15B(7). Run every Massachusetts move-out through our Security Deposit Deadline Finder to calendar the 30-day return clock under § 15B(4).

Can a Massachusetts landlord charge an application fee or a pet deposit?

No. Section 15B(1)(b) fixes the complete list of pre-tenancy charges (first month, last month, the one-month deposit, key-and-lock cost). Application and screening fees must be absorbed by the landlord; a pet charge must fit inside the one-month deposit, because there is no separate pet-deposit allowance. The only finder's fee in the deal belongs to a licensed broker — and since August 1, 2025, only the party who hired that broker may be charged it.

When can a Massachusetts landlord charge a late fee?

Not until the rent is 30 days late: § 15B(1)(c) bars any interest or penalty for late rent before then, whatever the lease says. That is a limit on fees, not on process — Massachusetts has no grace period, so a 14-day notice to quit for nonpayment under § 11 or § 12 can be served on rent that is only days overdue.

How much notice is required to end a Massachusetts month-to-month tenancy?

For a tenancy at will, § 12: written notice of three months, reduced where rent is payable at shorter intervals to the interval between rent-payment days or 30 days, whichever is longer. For a monthly tenancy that is one full rental period (and never less than 30 days), timed to end on a rent day. For nonpayment in a tenancy at will, the notice is 14 days, subject to the 10-day cure right below.

Can a Massachusetts tenant cure a nonpayment notice to quit?

It depends which statute the tenancy sits under. Tenancy at will (§ 12): a tenant who has not received a similar notice within the prior 12 months prevents termination by paying the full rent due within 10 days after receipt of the 14-day notice — and the notice must contain the statute's notification of that right, or the window extends to the answer day. Written lease (§ 11): the tenant defeats termination by paying or tendering all rent due, with interest and costs of suit, on or before the day the answer is due in the possession action. The two cure rights are different rules with different deadlines; do not merge them.

What must a Massachusetts landlord do after winning an eviction judgment?

Wait out the appeal period (10 days) before execution issues, then the execution is levied by an officer — never by the landlord. At least 48 hours before levying on an execution for a dwelling, the officer must give written notice stating the date and time, the officer's contact details, the court and docket number, and the licensed public warehouse where any remaining property will be stored; the warehouser may sell property unclaimed after six months toward unpaid storage fees (§§ 3–4). Lockouts and utility shutoffs outside this process violate § 14. To run these same dates for your own case — the 14-day notice to quit for nonpayment under § 11 or § 12, the 10-day appeal period before execution issues, and the officer's at least 48 hours' written notice before levying under § 3 — use the Eviction Timeline Calculator.

Can a Massachusetts tenant withhold rent or repair and deduct?

Both, on different tracks. In a nonpayment or no-fault possession case, § 8A lets the tenant raise condition claims by defense or counterclaim — if the tenant's award equals or exceeds the landlord's, there is no recovery of possession at all. Outside court, ch. 111, § 127L lets a tenant repair certified violations and deduct the cost (capped at four months' rent in 12 months) after written notice and the landlord's failure to begin within 5 days and substantially complete within 14 days. Neither right requires the tenant to escrow rent first as a precondition, though a court may order use-and-occupation payments to the clerk during a § 8A case.

When must a Massachusetts landlord provide heat, and how much?

Under 105 CMR 410.180, where the owner provides the heat: September 15 through May 31, at least 68°F from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and 64°F from 11:01 p.m. to 6:59 a.m., and the system must not push any room above 78°F. A local board of health may post an altered season (start as late as September 30, end as early as May 15). The older "September 16 to June 14" dates in older guides are the pre-2023 code.

Can a Massachusetts tenant seal an eviction record?

Yes, since May 5, 2025, under ch. 239, § 16. A no-fault record can be sealed on petition at any time after the case concludes (landlord gets notice and 7 days to object). A nonpayment record requires the case to have concluded at least 4 years earlier, no intervening nonpayment or lessor action, and a certification that the nonpayment was due to economic hardship leaving the judgment unsatisfied. A fault record follows a 7-year track. Once sealed, the applicant may lawfully answer "no record," and your rental application must say so.

The bottom line

Massachusetts rewards careful, process-driven landlords and punishes casual ones. The deposit is one month, banked separately in-state, receipted twice, interest-bearing at 5% or the bank rate, and returned inside 30 days against a sworn itemized list — with forfeiture for listed failures and treble damages for the three worst. Termination runs on two statutes that must not be confused: § 11 for lease nonpayment (cure to the answer day) and § 12 for tenancies at will (10-day cure with mandatory notice language; a full rental period, minimum 30 days, for no-fault endings and increases). Late fees cannot attach until rent is 30 days late, though filing can start on a day's arrears. Habitability is enforced by the sanitary code (heat September 15–May 31 at 68/64°F), the § 8A defense that can erase a possession claim, and § 127L repair-and-deduct on a 5-day/14-day fuse. Self-help draws § 14 liability of three months' rent or actual damages, retaliation draws § 18 liability behind a clear-and-convincing presumption, broker fees since August 1, 2025 belong to whoever hired the broker, and every filing you make since May 5, 2025 is a record the tenant may one day seal under § 16. Get the deposit accounting, the notice drafting, and the repair clocks right, and Massachusetts is a perfectly workable place to be a landlord.

See also: Massachusetts security deposit law, Security Deposit Laws Guide, Eviction Process Guide, Fair Housing Guide.

Primary sources

• Ch. 186, § 15B (Massachusetts Legislature) — security deposits and last month's rent: caps, receipts, condition statement, banking, interest, 30-day return, forfeiture, treble damages.
• Ch. 186, § 11 (Massachusetts Legislature) — lease nonpayment: 14-day notice; cure by payment on or before the answer day.
• Ch. 186, § 12 (Massachusetts Legislature) — tenancies at will: termination notice periods; 14-day nonpayment notice; 10-day cure and the mandatory notification language.
• Ch. 186, § 14 (Massachusetts Legislature) — utilities, quiet enjoyment, forcible repossession: criminal penalties and actual damages or 3 months' rent.
• Ch. 186, § 18 (Massachusetts Legislature) — retaliation: 1–3 months' rent or actual damages; 6-month presumption; clear-and-convincing rebuttal.
• Ch. 186, § 22 (Massachusetts Legislature) — water submetering: the only route to billing tenants for water.
• Ch. 186, § 24 (Massachusetts Legislature) — termination by victims of domestic violence, rape, sexual assault, or stalking.
• Ch. 239, § 1 (Massachusetts Legislature) — who may bring summary process.
• Ch. 239, § 3 (Massachusetts Legislature) — judgment and execution; the 48-hour officer's notice; licensed public warehouse storage.
• Ch. 239, § 8A (Massachusetts Legislature) — the habitability defense and counterclaim in summary process.
• Ch. 239, § 16 (Massachusetts Legislature) — eviction record sealing; the mandatory "no record" application language.
• Ch. 111, § 127L (Massachusetts Legislature) — tenant repairs of certified violations; 5-day/14-day clocks; deduction from rent.
• Ch. 111, § 197 (Massachusetts Legislature) — lead paint removal or covering where a child under six resides.
• Ch. 151B, § 4 (Massachusetts Legislature) — unlawful housing discrimination, including public-assistance and subsidy status.
• 105 CMR 410.180 (Justia Regulations) — temperature requirements: 68°F/64°F, September 15–May 31, 78°F ceiling, board-of-health season alterations.
• Massachusetts law about winter heating (Mass.gov) — the Trial Court law libraries' summary of the residential heat rules.

More landlord-tenant law guides

• Landlord-tenant law by state
• Maryland landlord-tenant law
• Michigan landlord-tenant law
• Maine landlord-tenant law
• Minnesota landlord-tenant law

Last verified: October 17, 2026. This is general information, not legal advice. Verify with a licensed Massachusetts attorney before acting.