Room Rental Agreement in Massachusetts

For renting a room in a home, including your own home. Some states treat a renter in the owner's home (a lodger) differently when ending the arrangement — see your state's household rules.

What Massachusetts law says

Renting a room in your own home (lodgers)	No statute sets special eviction rules for a lodger in an owner's own home. A 'lodging house' is a house where lodgings are let to four or more people not related within the second degree to the operator; such houses fall under the licensing rules of G.L. c. 140, §§ 22-31. In a rooming house where rent is paid weekly or daily, a tenancy at will that ends without the tenant's fault may be followed by an eviction case seven days after written notice. Fewer than four unrelated lodgers in a home does not make it a licensed lodging house. Whether a lodger has a tenancy depends on the facts, and the general rule against self-help (G.L. c. 184, § 18) still applies. Source: G.L. c. 140, § 22; c. 186, § 13
Tenancy at will	Either party may end a tenancy at will by written notice of three months, or, where rent is paid more often than every three months, by notice equal to the rental interval or 30 days, whichever is longer. For nonpayment of rent, a landlord may give a 14-day notice to quit. Tenants at sufferance (holdovers without permission) must pay rent for the time they stay. A tenant who has not received a nonpayment notice in the past 12 months can stop termination by paying all rent due within 10 days of receiving the notice. Source: G.L. c. 186, §§ 12, 13, 3

Renting a room in your own home (lodgers)

No statute sets special eviction rules for a lodger in an owner's own home. A 'lodging house' is a house where lodgings are let to four or more people not related within the second degree to the operator; such houses fall under the licensing rules of G.L. c. 140, §§ 22-31. In a rooming house where rent is paid weekly or daily, a tenancy at will that ends without the tenant's fault may be followed by an eviction case seven days after written notice.

Fewer than four unrelated lodgers in a home does not make it a licensed lodging house. Whether a lodger has a tenancy depends on the facts, and the general rule against self-help (G.L. c. 184, § 18) still applies.

Source: G.L. c. 140, § 22; c. 186, § 13

Tenancy at will

Either party may end a tenancy at will by written notice of three months, or, where rent is paid more often than every three months, by notice equal to the rental interval or 30 days, whichever is longer. For nonpayment of rent, a landlord may give a 14-day notice to quit. Tenants at sufferance (holdovers without permission) must pay rent for the time they stay.

A tenant who has not received a nonpayment notice in the past 12 months can stop termination by paying all rent due within 10 days of receiving the notice.

Source: G.L. c. 186, §§ 12, 13, 3

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ROOM RENTAL AGREEMENT

Owner/landlord: [owner name] Renter: [renter name]

Room: [room description] in the home at [home address]. Shared areas the renter may use: [shared areas].

Term: begins [start date]; [ends on end date / continues month to month].

Rent: $[monthly rent] due on [due day] by [payment method]. Deposit: $[deposit amount].

Utilities included: [utilities included]. House rules: [house rules, e.g. guests, kitchen use, smoking].

Ending the agreement: either side gives at least [notice period] written notice, and never less than state law requires.

Signatures and dates: [signatures]

Room Rental Agreement for other states · Massachusetts tenant rights

General legal information, not legal advice. Laws change and local rules can differ; check the linked official source or talk to a lawyer about your situation.