Massachusetts Tenant Law: Security Deposits, Late Fees & Landlord Entry (2026)

Security deposits

Max

One month's rent. At or before the start of the tenancy the landlord (or its agent) may require only: rent for the first full month, rent for the last full month at the same rate, a security deposit equal to the first month's rent, and the purchase and installation cost of a key and lock. After the tenancy begins the landlord may not demand rent in advance beyond the current month or a larger deposit. The deposit stays the tenant's property: it must be held in a separate interest-bearing account in a bank located in Massachusetts, out of reach of the landlord's creditors, and the tenant must get a receipt within 30 days naming the bank, its location and the account number (failure entitles the tenant to immediate return). The landlord must give a signed receipt when taking the deposit and, within 10 days after the tenancy starts (or on receipt of the deposit, if later), a separate signed written statement of the unit's condition with a prescribed notice; the tenant has 15 days to return it with a list of any other damage. The landlord must also keep records of deposits for two years.

Return deadline days

30 days

Itemization required

Yes

Interest required

Yes. If the deposit is held a year or longer, 5% per year or the lesser amount the bank actually paid, paid to the tenant each year with a statement naming the bank, account number and amount (any accrued interest is due within 30 days if the tenancy ends before the anniversary). Interest on prepaid last month's rent is also owed at 5% or the lesser bank rate.

Source: M.G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(b), (1)(d), (2), (3), (4), (5)

Late fees

Rule

A lease may not impose any interest or penalty for failure to pay rent until 30 days after the rent was due.

Source: M.G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(c)

Landlord entry

Notice

Massachusetts has no statute setting a notice period for entry. Section 15B(1)(a) bars a lease from giving the landlord a right to enter before the lease ends except to inspect, make repairs or show the unit to a prospective tenant, purchaser or mortgagee (or its agents). The landlord may also enter under a court order, if the premises appear abandoned, or to inspect in the last 30 days of the tenancy after either side has given notice to end it, to assess damage that might be deducted from the deposit. Interfering with the tenant's quiet enjoyment, or regaining possession by force without a court process, is a crime (fine of $25 to $300 or up to 6 months in jail) and the tenant may recover actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus costs and attorney's fees; any lease waiver is void.

Source: M.G.L. c. 186, §§ 15B(1)(a), 14

Ending a month-to-month tenancy

Tenant

Notice in writing at least equal to the interval between rent payment days or 30 days, whichever is longer (monthly rent: 30 days). The statute says either party may end a tenancy at will with that notice.

Landlord

Same: written notice at least equal to the rent interval or 30 days, whichever is longer, and the tenant cannot be dispossessed before it expires. For non-payment of rent, 14 days' written notice to quit is enough, but a tenant at will who has not received a similar notice in the prior 12 months can stop the termination by paying all rent due within 10 days after receiving it, and the notice must contain a statutory statement of that right. A lease provision waiving these notices is void (§ 15A). A tenancy at will is not ended by a sale, transfer or foreclosure.

Source: M.G.L. c. 186, §§ 12, 13, 15A

Rent increases

Rule

Massachusetts has no separate statute setting a rent-increase notice period. Under § 12 a tenancy at will can be changed only by ending it with written notice (rent interval or 30 days, whichever is longer), and the statute expressly allows that notice to include an offer of a new tenancy on different terms. Rent cannot be raised during a fixed lease term unless the lease allows it (lease terms not verified here). A landlord may not increase rent as a reprisal for a tenant's protected activity; a rent increase within 6 months after the activity is presumed to be a reprisal (§ 18). A landlord may not raise rent because a tenant made repairs under c. 111 § 127L, except by court order.

Statewide rent control

Rent control is prohibited statewide by the Massachusetts Rent Control Prohibition Act (c. 40P), which bars rent-control schemes except voluntary ones.

Source: M.G.L. c. 186, §§ 12, 18; c. 111, § 127L; c. 40P, §§ 1-2

Repairs & habitability

Rule

Where a violation of the state sanitary code or similar standard that may endanger or impair a tenant's health, safety or well-being has been certified by the board of health, a local code enforcement agency or a court, and the owner was notified in writing and has not begun the repairs (or contracted for them in writing) within 5 days and substantially completed them, the tenant may repair or have the defect repaired and deduct the cost from rent, or treat the lease as ended, pay only fair value for use and occupancy and leave within a reasonable time. Deductions cannot exceed four months' rent in any 12-month period; the right does not extend to conditions the tenant or a guest caused, or if the tenant unreasonably denied access for repairs. In an eviction for non-payment the tenant may raise breach of warranty, breach of the lease or violation of any law as a defense or counterclaim, and proof of a code violation creates a presumption that the condition existed; the tenant must show the landlord knew of the conditions before the rent was in arrears. A lease waiver of the § 127L rights is void (except certain two-year repair-for-lower-rent leases).

Source: M.G.L. c. 111, § 127L; c. 239, § 8A

Retaliation

Rule

A landlord may not threaten or take reprisals against a tenant for reporting a code violation to the board of health or other enforcement body, complaining in writing to the landlord, suing or seeking relief under a housing law, or organizing or joining a tenants' union. The landlord is liable for actual damages or one to three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus costs and attorney's fees. A notice terminating the tenancy (other than for non-payment of rent), a rent increase or a substantial change in lease terms within 6 months after the tenant's protected activity is presumed to be a reprisal, rebuttable only by clear and convincing evidence of an independent justification. Retaliation is also a defense to eviction (c. 239 § 2A, same 6-month presumption). Any lease waiver is void.

Source: M.G.L. c. 186, § 18; c. 239, § 2A

Clauses often unenforceable in Massachusetts

• Letting the landlord enter the unit before the lease ends for any reason other than inspecting, making repairs, or showing it to a prospective tenant, purchaser or mortgagee, apart from entry under a court order or if the unit appears abandoned (c. 186 § 15B(1)(a))
• Charging interest or a late-payment penalty before rent is 30 days overdue (c. 186 § 15B(1)(c))
• Requiring at or before move-in anything beyond first month's rent, last month's rent, a security deposit of no more than one month's rent, and the cost of a key and lock (c. 186 § 15B(1)(b)); or demanding more than the current month's rent in advance, or a larger deposit, after the tenancy starts (§ 15B(1)(d))
• Deducting from the deposit for anything other than unpaid rent or water charges, an unpaid tax-escalation increase, or reasonable repair of damage beyond ordinary wear and tear, or for damage already listed in the move-in condition statement (c. 186 § 15B(4))
• Any lease term that conflicts with the security deposit section, or any tenant waiver of it (c. 186 § 15B(8)); using one and trying to enforce it also costs the landlord the right to keep any of the deposit (§ 15B(6)(c))
• Exempting the landlord from liability, or making the tenant indemnify the landlord, for injury, loss or damage arising from the landlord's own fault or negligence on or about the premises or its common areas (c. 186 § 15)
• Waiving the right to a jury trial in litigation with the landlord, or agreeing that no landlord act or failure to act can be a constructive eviction (c. 186 § 15F)
• Waiving the written notices required to end a tenancy (c. 186 § 15A)
• Ending the lease, or letting the landlord end it, because the tenant has or will have a child living in the unit (c. 186 § 16)
• Waiving the landlord's duty to provide required services (such as heat, water, hot water) or the tenant's quiet enjoyment, except for restrictions by government or repair or natural-cause interruptions (c. 186 § 14)
• Waiving the anti-retaliation protections (c. 186 § 18), the right to raise the owner's building-code defect as a defense after injury in a common area (c. 186 § 15E), or the rent-withholding and repair-and-deduct rights (c. 239 § 8A; c. 111 § 127L)