What a Landlord Cannot Do in Massachusetts
The main limits Massachusetts law puts on landlords — lockouts and utility shutoffs, entering without notice, retaliation, deposits, fees and discrimination — each with the statute or official source.
In short: a Massachusetts landlord cannot evict without a court order, cannot punish a tenant for asserting legal rights where state law protects them, and must follow the state's rules on entry, deposits and fees shown below.
| Lockouts & utility shutoffs | Illegal. A landlord who willfully fails to provide required utilities or services (heat, hot water, water, light, power, gas, elevator); interferes with them; shifts utility costs to the tenant without consent; interferes with quiet enjoyment; or tries to regain possession by force without court process faces: a criminal fine of $25-$300 or up to 6 months' imprisonment; and civil liability for actual and consequential damages or 3 months' rent, whichever is greater, plus costs and attorney's fees. A tenant removed or excluded without a valid court order may get back into the unit or end the lease, and may recover 3 months' rent or 3x actual damages, plus costs and attorney's fees. Wrongful ouster remedy: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartII/TitleI/Chapter186/Section15F. Lease waivers of these protections are void. Source: G.L. c. 186, §§ 14, 15F |
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| Landlord entry notice | No set advance-notice period (for example, 24 hours) in the statute. A lease may allow the landlord to enter only to inspect, make repairs, or show the unit to prospective tenants, buyers, or mortgagees; under a court order; if the unit appears abandoned; or within the last 30 days of the tenancy, after either party has given notice to end it, to inspect for damage that could be deducted from the deposit. The AG guide says the landlord must arrange entry with the tenant in advance for repairs, inspections, or showings. Entry without the tenant's approval is allowed for a mechanical or repair emergency that could damage the building, or for apparent abandonment: https://www.mass.gov/guides/the-attorney-generals-guide-to-landlord-and-tenant-rights. The statute does not state a specific number of hours' notice. Source: G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(a) |
| Landlord retaliation | Prohibited. Protected acts include: pursuing a court or agency action to enforce housing laws; reporting suspected health, building, or housing code violations to the board of health or a similar agency, or complaining in writing to the landlord; organizing or joining a tenants' union; and certain c. 164 § 124D and c. 183A rent-payment rights. A termination notice (other than for nonpayment), a rent increase, or a substantial change in lease terms within 6 months after protected activity is presumed retaliatory. The landlord can rebut the presumption only by clear and convincing evidence. Damages: at least 1 and up to 3 months' rent, or actual damages if greater, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees. Retaliation is also an eviction defense. Lease waivers are void. Source: G.L. c. 186, § 18 |
| Security deposit limit | Security deposit may not exceed one month's rent. At or before the start of a tenancy a landlord (or the landlord's agent) may require only: first full month's rent, last full month's rent (at the same rate as the first), a security deposit of up to one month's rent, and the purchase and installation cost of a new lock and key. No other upfront charges (e.g., application, pet, or landlord-side broker fees) are allowed. The AG guide confirms that landlords may not charge upfront pet, broker, or application fees: https://www.mass.gov/guides/the-attorney-generals-guide-to-landlord-and-tenant-rights Source: G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(b) |
| Penalty for withholding | Three times the deposit (or the balance owed), plus 5% interest from the date payment was due, court costs, and reasonable attorney's fees. This applies to the failures listed in § 15B(6)(a), (d) and (e), including failing to return the deposit (or balance) within 30 days. The landlord also forfeits the right to keep any part of the deposit if it, for example, misses the 30-day itemized-list deadline or does not hold the deposit in a separate Massachusetts interest-bearing account. Lease clauses that conflict with § 15B, and tenant waivers of its protections, are void (§ 15B(8)). Source: G.L. c. 186, § 15B(6)-(7) |
| Late fees | No interest or penalty for late rent may be charged until rent is 30 days overdue. There is no statutory dollar or percentage cap. The AG guide lists a lease clause 'requiring the tenant to pay a late fee if a rent payment is less than 30 days late' as an illegal term. AG fee regulations (unfair and deceptive fees) may also apply. No statutory amount cap was found. Source: G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(c) |
| Rent control / increase limits | Banned statewide by state law, and the ban is still in force. 'No city or town may enact, maintain or enforce rent control of any kind,' except a narrow program in a municipality that accepts c. 40P. Owner compliance with that program must be voluntary after 6 months, it cannot cover owners of fewer than 10 units or units with a fair market rent above $400, and the town must pay owners the difference from general funds. There is no statewide cap on rent increases. Rent control is NOT on the November 3, 2026 state ballot. The Secretary of the Commonwealth lists nine binding statewide questions (Questions 1-8 are initiative laws and Question 9 is a referendum on the 2024 firearms law), and none of them deals with rent control or rent stabilization. The rent-control initiative (Initiative Petition 25-21, 'An Initiative Petition to Protect Tenants by Limiting Rent Increases') was challenged at the Supreme Judicial Court in Cella v. Attorney General, SJC-13893. Definition and exclusions (public, subsidized, and federally assisted housing, and mobile homes): https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleVII/Chapter40P/Section3. Ballot list (loaded 2026-10-22): https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/elections/research-and-statistics/2026-ballot-questions.htm. Information for Voters page (it confirms nine statewide questions): https://www.sec.state.ma.us/divisions/elections/research-and-statistics/information-for-voters-2026.htm. SJC case listing (docket SJC-13893, which asks whether the AG properly certified Initiative Petition 25-21): https://www.mass.gov/info-details/amicus-announcements-from-september-2025-to-august-2026. Its holding, reported as barring the petition under art. 48 because the petition's exemption for religious facilities relates to religion, is therefore not independently verified here. |
| Statewide ban on refusing Section 8 / source of income | Yes. It is unlawful to discriminate against a recipient of public assistance or a tenant receiving housing subsidies, including rental assistance or rental supplements, because of that status or because of any requirement of the assistance or subsidy program. This covers Section 8 and MRVP. Source: G.L. c. 151B, § 4(10) |
| Cameras & privacy | No landlord-specific statute. Massachusetts is an all-party-consent state: secretly recording a conversation without the prior authority of ALL parties is a crime. It is also a crime to secretly photograph, videotape or electronically surveil someone who is nude or partially nude where they would reasonably expect privacy, without their knowledge and consent. The penalty is up to 2½ years in a house of correction and/or a $5,000 fine. Visible cameras in common areas aren't specifically regulated, but audio recording in those cameras raises wiretap concerns. § 105: https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartIV/TitleI/Chapter272/Section105. Landlord entry is limited by c. 186, § 15B(1)(a). |
| Other rental fees | Payments at move-in are limited to the four items in § 15B(1)(b). Since Aug. 1, 2025, that limit also covers payments to the landlord's agent, which ends renter-paid broker fees when the broker works for the landlord. After the tenancy starts, the landlord may not demand advance rent beyond the current month or a larger deposit. No late fee or interest may be charged until rent is 30 days overdue. Regulations may allow an optional 'fee in lieu of security deposit', capped at one month's rent in total. There is no total-cost-of-rent disclosure statute in c. 186. Source: G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(b)-(d) |
Can I sue my landlord in Massachusetts? · All 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.