Massachusetts Residential Lease Agreement

What a Massachusetts residential lease agreement is for

Massachusetts landlords live under one of the strictest security deposit laws in the country. Section 15B of chapter 186 controls what a landlord may collect at move-in, how a deposit must be receipted, banked and accounted for, when interest is due, what the move-in statement of condition must say, and how and when the deposit comes back. Get any step wrong and a tenant can recover three times the deposit plus attorney's fees, often as a counterclaim in an eviction case. On top of that, the broker fee law that took effect on August 1, 2025 changed who pays when a landlord lists through a broker, and the Sanitary Code and Lead Law set obligations a lease cannot shift.

This template is a complete Massachusetts lease written around those rules. It covers the parties and contact for repairs, the term, rent and the 30-day late rule, the only payments allowed at move-in with a broker disclosure, the deposit and last month's rent procedure, utilities under the Sanitary Code, repairs, the Lead Law, use and pets, entry, insurance disclosure, reciprocal fees, retaliation, default and ending the tenancy. Schedules provide the deposit receipts, the statement of condition with its statutory notice, a deadline tracker and the lead disclosure.

When to use it

Use it for apartments, condos, two- and three-family units and single-family homes anywhere in Massachusetts, on a 12-month lease or as a tenancy at will. It is especially useful for small landlords who have been using an old form with late fees after 5 days, a pet fee, or a deposit kept in their own savings account.

Do not use it for public housing, Section 8 project-based units or other subsidized housing with required leases, rooming houses with separate rules, or a room in the owner's own home.

What's inside

The full list of sections and fields in this template, in the order they appear.

1. Parties, premises and term

   • Owner and agent
   • Contact for repairs and notices
   • Tenants and occupants
   • Premises
   • Fixed term or tenancy at will

2. Rent

   • Monthly rent and payment
   • Cash receipts
   • No late penalty before 30 days

3. Move-in payments

   • First month
   • Last month
   • Deposit no more than one month
   • Lock and key cost
   • No other fees
   • Broker disclosure

4. Security deposit and last month's rent

   • Receipt at payment
   • Separate Massachusetts bank account
   • Bank receipt within 30 days
   • Annual interest
   • Last month's rent interest
   • Statement of condition
   • 30-day return with sworn list

5. Utilities, repairs and lead

   • Who pays heat hot water and water
   • Sanitary Code duties
   • Repair requests
   • Lead Law notification and deleading

6. Use, entry and insurance

   • Occupants
   • Subletting
   • Pets without fees
   • Smoking
   • Permitted entry
   • Insurance disclosure on request

7. Rights, default and ending the tenancy

   • Reciprocal attorney's fees
   • Retaliation
   • No waiver
   • 14-day notice and right to cure
   • Rights and resources notice
   • No self-help
   • Notice periods
   • Domestic violence and military termination

8. Schedules A to D

   • Deposit receipts and interest statements
   • Statement of condition with statutory notice
   • Landlord's deadline tracker
   • Lead disclosure

9. Landlord's Checklist

   • 9 checks before handing over the keys

Preview pages

How to fill in the lease

1. Name the parties and the repair contact.
2. Choose the term. A fixed term or a tenancy at will.
3. Set the rent. Remove any late fee or set one that applies only after 30 days.
4. Fill in the move-in payments. Decide whether to take last month's rent and a deposit; complete the broker line.
5. Bank the deposit. Open a separate interest-bearing account at a Massachusetts bank.
6. Assign utilities. Shift heat, hot water or water to the tenant only if the unit is separately metered and the Sanitary Code allows.
7. Handle lead. For a pre-1978 home, give the Tenant Lead Law Notification form and the federal disclosure.
8. Sign and start the tracker. Give the receipts, then diary the bank receipt (30 days) and statement of condition (10 days) deadlines in Schedule C.

Example: the deposit timeline in Somerville

A fictional landlord, Prospect Hill Two-Family LLC, rents the second-floor unit of its Somerville two-family to Grace Liu from September 1, 2026 at $2,800 a month. It listed the unit with a broker, whose fee it pays.

Move-in payments: first month $2,800, last month $2,800, security deposit $2,800, new lock $145. No other fees. Deposit receipts: at payment on August 20, 2026; bank receipt with the account number by September 19, 2026. Statement of condition: given September 8, 2026; Grace returns it with a list of two scratches on the kitchen floor on September 20. Interest: at the bank's 0.5% rate (notified to Grace), $14.00 on the deposit, plus interest on last month's rent, credited on September 1, 2027. Move-out: Grace leaves on August 31, 2028; the deposit and a sworn itemized list must be returned by September 30, 2028.

Massachusetts rules to know

• Move-in payments (G.L. c. 186, section 15B(1)(b)). First and last month's rent, a deposit of up to one month's rent, and lock and key cost only.
• Broker fees (2025 law). The party that hires the broker pays; a landlord's broker fee cannot be passed to the tenant.
• Deposit handling (section 15B(2) and (3)). Receipts, a separate Massachusetts bank account, bank receipt within 30 days, statement of condition within 10 days, annual interest, return within 30 days with a sworn itemized list.
• Late payment (section 15B(1)(c)). No interest or penalty until rent is 30 days late.
• Reciprocal fees (section 20). A landlord's right to attorney's fees gives the tenant the same right.
• Sanitary Code (105 CMR 410). Heat of 68°F by day and 64°F by night from September 15 to June 15; owner pays heat, hot water and water unless separately metered and the lease says otherwise.
• Lead Law. Owners must delead or control hazards where a child under 6 lives in a pre-1978 home.
• Notice periods (sections 11 and 12). 14 days for non-payment with a right to cure; one rental period or 30 days for a tenancy at will.

How Massachusetts landlords lose deposit cases

Massachusetts deposit cases are rarely about damage; they are about process. The deposit sat in the landlord's ordinary savings account. The bank receipt never went out. There was no statement of condition, or it lacked the statutory notice. Interest was never paid. The deposit came back on day 35, or with deductions but no sworn list and no invoices. And since August 2025, a tenant who was charged the landlord's broker fee has a new section 15B claim. Each failure can mean triple damages. The payment table, schedules and deadline tracker in this lease exist so that none of those steps is missed.