Massachusetts Landlord-Tenant Law for DIY Landlords (2026)

Security deposits and deposit interest, the 14-day notice to quit, summary process timing, the sanitary code and repairs in Massachusetts, in plain English for landlords who manage their own rentals.

Last updated September 23, 2026

Massachusetts is one of the hardest states in the country to be a careless landlord. The security deposit statute alone has a dozen steps, and missing one of them can cost you three times the deposit plus the tenant's attorney fees.

The good news is that the rules are written down and they do not change often. Here is what a small landlord has to get right, with the section behind each rule.

Security deposits

The cap is one month's rent. A security deposit can never exceed the first full month's rent, and you cannot ask for more during the tenancy (M.G.L. c. 186 § 15B(1)(b)).

There are only four things you can collect up front. First month's rent, last month's rent, a security deposit capped at one month, and the actual cost of a new lock and key. Anything else charged at move-in is outside the statute (§ 15B(1)(b)).

The money goes in a Massachusetts bank. Hold it in a separate interest-bearing account at a bank located in the commonwealth, out of reach of your own creditors. Within 30 days of taking the deposit, give the tenant a receipt naming the bank, the account number and the amount (§ 15B(3)(a)).

The deposit is still the tenant's money. Commingling it with your own funds is the fastest way to lose it.

Interest runs at 5 percent a year. Once a deposit has been held a full year, it earns 5 percent, or the lower rate the bank actually paid. You pay it out each year on the anniversary, or credit it against rent, and you settle up within 30 days of the end of the tenancy (§ 15B(3)(b)). Last month's rent collected in advance earns interest on the same terms (§ 15B(2)(a)).

Give a statement of condition. Within 10 days of the start of the tenancy or the day you take the deposit, whichever is later, hand the tenant a written statement of the condition of the unit listing existing damage and any code violations. The tenant gets 15 days to sign it or write in corrections (§ 15B(2)(c)).

You have 30 days to return it. Counting from the end of occupancy. Keep any part of it and you send an itemized list of damages, sworn under the pains and penalties of perjury, in precise detail, with written evidence of what the repairs cost (§ 15B(4)).

The penalties are real. Failing to hold the money in a proper account, failing to give the statement of condition, or failing to return the deposit within 30 days forfeits your right to keep any of it. Wrongful withholding gets the tenant three times the deposit, plus 5 percent interest, court costs and attorney fees (§ 15B(6), § 15B(7)).

Late fees and grace periods

Nothing before day 30. No lease can impose interest or a penalty for late rent until 30 days after the rent was due (§ 15B(1)(c)). A fee that hits on the sixth of the month is unenforceable in Massachusetts, whatever your lease says.

There is no cap on the size of the fee once that 30 days has run. Keep it in the lease and keep it reasonable.

Rent increases and rent control

Rent control is banned statewide. No city or town can enact or enforce rent control on private housing (M.G.L. c. 40P § 4). Municipal home rule petitions come up regularly, so check your city before you assume nothing has changed.

There is no statutory notice period for a rent increase. For a tenant at will, the practical route is to end the tenancy with a proper notice under § 12 and offer new terms for the next one. For a tenant under a lease, you raise rent at renewal.

Watch the timing. A rent increase sent within six months of a tenant's code complaint or tenant union activity is presumed to be retaliation, and rebutting that takes clear and convincing evidence. Damages run from one to three months' rent plus attorney fees (M.G.L. c. 186 § 18).

Entering the unit

Massachusetts sets no general notice period for landlord entry. What the statute does is limit what your lease can say. A residential lease can only allow entry to inspect, to make repairs, or to show the unit to a prospective tenant, buyer or lender. Beyond that, you can enter under a court order, when the unit looks abandoned, or in the last 30 days of the tenancy to check for damage (§ 15B(1)(a)).

Put 24 hours' written notice in your lease anyway. It is what a judge expects to see.

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

Notice equal to the rent period, or 30 days, whichever is longer (M.G.L. c. 186 § 12). For a normal monthly tenancy that means a full rental period of written notice, timed to end on a rent day.

When rent isn't paid

14 days' written notice to quit (§ 12). The notice has to tell the tenant about the right to cure.

Tenants at will can pay and stay. A tenant at will who has not received a similar notice in the previous 12 months stops the termination by paying everything owed within 10 days of getting the notice. If you leave the cure language out of the notice, the tenant's time to pay stretches all the way to the date the answer is due in court (§ 12).

The eviction timeline

Eviction in Massachusetts is called summary process. It runs in the Housing Court or District Court for the county where the property sits (M.G.L. c. 239 § 2).

Serve the notice to quit. 14 days for nonpayment. Longer for a no-fault ending of a tenancy at will.
Serve the summons and complaint. A constable or sheriff serves it between 7 and 30 days before the entry date. Entry dates fall on a Monday.
File by the entry date. The notice to quit, the summons and complaint and the return of service all go to the court on or before that Monday.
The tenant answers. The answer is due no later than the Monday after the entry date (Uniform Summary Process Rule 3). Expect counterclaims about conditions.
Trial. Roughly 10 days after the entry date. A tenant discovery request pushes it out two weeks automatically.
Execution. No execution for possession issues until 10 days after judgment, which is the same window the tenant has to file a notice of appeal (M.G.L. c. 239 § 5).

Never try to shortcut this. Shutting off heat, water, gas or electricity, or changing the locks to force a tenant out, exposes you to actual damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus attorney fees, and criminal penalties on top (M.G.L. c. 186 § 14).

Repairs and habitability

Every rental has to meet the State Sanitary Code, 105 CMR 410, the minimum standards of fitness for human habitation. Heat is the one landlords get caught on. Outside the June 15 to September 15 window you have to deliver at least 68°F between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., and at least 64°F overnight (105 CMR 410.201).

Tenants have teeth here. With a certified code violation that endangers health or safety, a tenant who gives you written notice and waits 5 days for you to start and 14 days to substantially finish can hire the repair out and deduct the cost, up to four months' rent in any 12-month period (M.G.L. c. 111 § 127L).

In a nonpayment case, bad conditions become a defense. If the court finds the tenant is owed as much as or more than the rent claimed, you do not get possession (M.G.L. c. 239 § 8A).

The short version

Deposit capped at one month's rent, in a separate Massachusetts interest-bearing account
Statement of condition within 10 days, receipt within 30 days
5 percent interest paid yearly, deposit returned with a sworn itemized list within 30 days
No late fee or interest until rent is 30 days late
No rent control anywhere in the state
14-day notice to quit for nonpayment, with cure language
Summary process entry on a Monday, answer the following Monday, execution 10 days after judgment
Heat from September 16 to June 14, 68°F by day and 64°F at night

Let Taz handle the paperwork

Taz is an AI property manager for landlords who would rather not live in the statute books. It tracks deposit anniversaries and interest, sends rent reminders, takes maintenance calls at any hour, and keeps the records a Massachusetts judge would ask for, for a flat monthly price per door instead of a cut of your rent. See how Taz works.

Where this guide says a state has no rule on something, that means we found no statute setting one, which is not the same as none existing. Local ordinances and court practice can add requirements. Confirm anything you plan to rely on.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Laws change, and your city or town may add rules. Talk to a Massachusetts attorney before acting on a specific situation. Last checked September 2026.