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MA Landlord and Tenant Law Questions and Answers

Topic	Created	Last reply
Water Damage Liability My landlord is trying to make me pay $500 deductible for water damage caused by our spigot and house to the neighbors place. Situation: We left th...	1 day 19 hours ago by Dan22	n/a
Evicting room mate or tenant from my house in MA? couple months ago i verbally/agreed to let a male acquaintance stay in my finished basement room for $500 a month plus help around the yard.. He insis...	2 days 21 hours ago by L sousa	n/a
Neighbor's complaints about noise from toddlers My family (which includes me, my husband and 21-month old twin boys) live and own a condo on the 3rd floor (walk-up) of a 3 family condo association i...	2 weeks 4 days ago by megwnelson	n/a
We are trying to get our security deposit returned and the landlord has been unresponsive We are trying to get our security deposit returned and the landlord has been unresponsive. We gave more than 30 day's notice to move and spoke to he...	4 weeks 19 hours ago by saunderswe	n/a
Family status change and room occupancy limits Hi, We are a young family of 4 renting in a two bedroom dwelling unit (1100 sq ft) of a 2 family home in Belmont MA. The two rooms are 124 and 116...	6 weeks 3 days ago by kirkj	n/a
Charging a $250 fee to change names on the lease I have a 9/1 lease in Boston with 1 roommate. My roommate will be moving in with her boyfriend on 9/1, so I am looking for someone to fill her spot an...	6 weeks 4 days ago by boston7239	n/a
Landlords/property managers beware of new scam! I am completely baffled by what people will get away with but I must say what has been happening here is totally wrong! A person has a friend who has...	8 weeks 3 days ago by veracartier	n/a
intent to rent? Hello, My son and I were supposed to sign a lease to move into a new apartment in MA today (sunday)from a man(will leave his name out) who's card (an...	9 weeks 2 days ago by p5rosie	n/a
Renting to a disabled relative on section 8 voucher I have a disabled uncle who is on SSDI. He is presently applying for the Section 8 voucher program in MA. I have a rental property in MA, but it is ...	14 weeks 2 days ago by cjl	n/a
Excluding Spouse on Lease Q. New tenant wants to rent a home (year round). Does not want to add Spouse name on lease due to minor credit issues. States 3 people in total liv...	15 weeks 6 days ago by KGREA	n/a
Condo improvements I own a condominium time-share unit (I own three weeks in July) in Provincetown and my yearly condo fees are based on the number of weeks and the size...	16 weeks 3 days ago by Suzanne korf	n/a
Breaking lease due to aggressive pit bull I lived in an apartment with 2 other females, one of them owning a very hyper and aggressive pit bull. I told the Lanlord that due to the dog I can no...	21 weeks 14 hours ago by Ktashleymay	n/a
Breaking a Lease Earlier (Case) Hi- I know that there are multiple questions on this topic and I have read all of them, but I wanted to point out my situation and see if I have a cas...	23 weeks 5 days ago by Rifo	n/a
14 day notice to quit Landlord gave me a 14 day notice to quit he wrote the wrong address on the form is it still leagel?	23 weeks 5 days ago by duddie37	n/a
Long Term Tenant LMR and Sec Deposit I have lived in an apt. in Boston (in a large apt complex) for 30 yrs. When I moved in I was required to give the LL a last month rent (LMR) deposit ...	24 weeks 6 days ago by pres92	n/a
Can A Landlord Tell Others Your Business I have a friend who recently got an apt and was not provided a copy of the lease at the time of signing. He asked if she had pets and she said no, he...	25 weeks 1 day ago by jcrawford	n/a
Multiple leases for one apartment and mystery broker fee Let me start with I'm unsure whether or not this is a Landlord/Tenant question or a real estate question so if I'm in the wrong forum I apologize. ...	25 weeks 4 days ago by kapra	n/a
Housing No trespass order by landlord in MA My husband was issued a no trespass order by Housing Authority. I am his wife, I am married to him and we have three kids. One child has special needs...	26 weeks 19 hours ago by Tenant100	n/a
Can a landlord charge double rent in Massachusetts? Here is a summary of my situation: At-will lease agreement On July 18, 2012, our landlord called and informed us he would be raising the rent by...	34 weeks 4 days ago by erossi	n/a
Unpaid Annual Security Deposit Interest My now former landlord did not provide us with annual accounting and interest payments for our security deposit during the three years that my roommat...	38 weeks 19 hours ago by ATenant	n/a
Refund of portion of last month's rent due to Section 8 portion change? I have a Section 8. Upon move-in, my portion of the rent was $637. My portion recently decreased to $470. Am I entitled to a return of the differenc...	39 weeks 6 days ago by CapeCodNative	n/a
Last months rent My 3 roommates and I moved into a 5 bedroom house July 1st. I paid first and last months rent before we moved in. We are not on a lease. Without disc...	40 weeks 1 hour ago by Regina91	n/a
Refund We had a lease until the end of September. In July we spoke with our Landlord and adv we would like to move out the end of the month. He agreed if h...	41 weeks 15 hours ago by mlba40	n/a
Time of day on Lease "Termination Date" that we are required to vacate premises Our one year written Lease specifies a 12 month term, "begining on Sept 2, 2011, and terminating on August 28, 2012". Does this mean we have until mi...	41 weeks 1 day ago by CollegeStudentDad	n/a
Nonrenewal of lease for family with disabled elderly My Apartment landlord has decided to not renew lease due to payment history. Before receiving notice, I made a payment for three months in advance. I ...	41 weeks 5 days ago by krystilangel	n/a
Please help - judgement in my favor and landlord still won't cooperate My landlord refused to return my entire deposit last year, and only returned half. I filed in Norfolk Small Claims Court to recover the rest of the mo...	49 weeks 6 days ago by Madison	n/a
last 3 months tenants payments late by 2weeks Plus,now witholding for habitablity by attny advice.Legal? tenant paid rent on time for jan,feb,march. April,May were late by weeks. June has not been paid. I was told that i would have the check on several oc...	50 weeks 1 day ago by skippper6567	n/a
Landlord Holding Security Deposit and Demanding Additional Rent For a little background, I'm in a somewhat strange situation considering my landlord is also my roommate and that I never signed a lease with him but ...	1 year 5 days ago by jgal6431	n/a
Movers / Landlord Dispute My mother in law moved out of her apartment the other day. On the day that she was moving out the landlord decided to have a painter come in and glaze...	1 year 1 week ago by saramb6	n/a
retrieving security deposit after vacating an illegal apartment As I conveyed in a previous post (see "Unreasonable Time Frame for Requests"), our landlord has been nitpicking the tone of paint and other painting-r...	1 year 1 week ago by patlynch84	n/a
Gave notice to terminate tenancy, tenant verbally notified me that she is leaving in 1 week. Notification given by me, with a disinterested witness, that tenant has to return property on or before a specific date, which is three months and som...	1 year 2 weeks ago by anothermalandlord	n/a
Prepayment of parking fees but not rent? I am in the middle of a 12 month residential lease, and now my landlord wants me (and all other tenants) to prepay the rent on our parking spots in 6-...	1 year 3 weeks ago by wisecrack	n/a
Unreasonable time frame for requests In 2009, my fiance and I approached our landlord with a request to paint the apartment which was granted under the condition that we paint the walls w...	1 year 4 weeks ago by patlynch84	n/a
Can I take my LL to court over unihabitable conditons for half a months rent? Unfortunately, this story is too darn long. But I can narrow it down to this. There were two weeks that our unit was uninhabitable due to no heat or ...	1 year 7 weeks ago by tara9660	n/a
Sewer backup flooded apartment About a month ago, the sink in my kitchen was overflowing with sewage from the 5 floors above me due to a clog that was not my fault at all. This leak...	1 year 8 weeks ago by BigBadBoston	n/a
landlady asking me to remove belongings I recently came to an agreement with my landlady allowing me to move out before the lease was up. I could move out and she would start looking for a n...	1 year 14 weeks ago by thereddiva	n/a
Confusing, legal questions, several areas of law, civil rights, landlord, tenant, property owner, municipality, state law Federa I have many questions regarding this matter. Any help with this is greatly appreciated. Here's the short version with all the facts. In 2003 me and...	1 year 15 weeks ago by skipper6567	n/a
Responsible for fire cause to another's apartment building? I was asked to watch the apartment of someone who was going away for a few days (I am 23). A grease fire accidentally started when I was cooking dinne...	1 year 16 weeks ago by jelly6466	n/a
Can the Landlord keep my deposit if I gave notice and moved a few days after the 1st? I am moving before the end of my lease because the basement flooded during a power outage. I gave the landlord the last month's rent and notified him...	1 year 26 weeks ago by JusticeBe	n/a
breaking lease because of a court order? It is a very long story, but my son was charged with a misdemeanor and released on his own recognizance with some conditions. He then violated those ...	1 year 29 weeks ago by cramermb	n/a
Fickle landlord I live in an apartment complex that is a disaster. During the hurricane we had no lights not even the safety fire lights. We recently had a fire in th...	1 year 34 weeks ago by Jlym143	n/a
Renting a Room I have been renting a room in a house owner-occupied for 2 years. First, Last & Security were collected and I have been paying rent monthly without ev...	1 year 36 weeks ago by Pekoe	n/a
Unlawful Eviction for a bank owned foreclosure A constable landed on my door and told me I have 48 hours to vacant my rented condo (which is only 2 units condo house) which I have been resided for ...	1 year 39 weeks ago by jlosfo	n/a
Roommates disputing damages to apartment Earlier in the year one of my roommates was responsible for causing a fire in our kitchen. I recently heard from my landlord who has informed me that ...	1 year 41 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
Can in-laws evict only me? While I was transitioning out of the military, my wife and I decided to move us and our children to her parents house (in MA). No lease was signe...	1 year 41 weeks ago by winter99	n/a
Cannot reach old tenant or landlord, need to move into apartment. I signed a lease with a brokerage company to take up residence (not as a subletter) starting August 15th. I was told at the start of August to get in...	1 year 42 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
Break lease because of admission to nursing home in MA? My elderly parent can no longer care for himself in a safe manner. And since he is only on SS Income, there are not enough services available in the c...	1 year 43 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
Landlord switched from oil to gas furnace. Does he have to reimburse me for oil left in the tank? In my lease I am responsible for paying for heating oil. In February my landlord told us not to put a lot of oil in the tank because he would be repl...	1 year 45 weeks ago by Robin001	n/a
Apartment leaked due to roof repair, damaging furniture. Our apartment leasing office initiated a roof repair on our building, which has been going on for more than 4 weeks. One day after the repair-workers ...	1 year 45 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
Sale of Apt Building, Possible Condo Conversion. Tenant rights? I am living in an apartment building, and my landlord will not renew my lease until the last possible second, as he is trying to sell the building. F...	1 year 46 weeks ago by ewhite1986	n/a
Rental Property w/Commercial Space Hello; We are contemplating opening a business in an apartment bldg. on a busy street whose 1st floor is a commercial space. The landlord tells me th...	1 year 46 weeks ago by kevmel	n/a
Additional rent In addition to insufficient notice of intent to move the tenant holdover the apartment for a week. I have charged additional rent for the days the te...	1 year 48 weeks ago by malarjck	n/a
Damages Is it legal to charge for repairs done by the landlord being handy when the tenants damage the property or appliances when move-out? IF so how does he...	1 year 48 weeks ago by malarjck	n/a
Demand letter Hi, Can a guarantor send demand letter on behalf of the tanants? In such case, whom should the Landlord reply? Please advise. THanks	1 year 48 weeks ago by malarjck	n/a
Landlord Rights when Renting a room in multiple room house Hello, I own 2.5 room townhouse (3rd room is small and includes the W&D in one of the closets), of which one room is rented out to a friend of min...	1 year 49 weeks ago by mmm8983	n/a
Entering without breaking in a college dorm? Hi. I live in a college dorm in MA, and I have a single room for myself. A student next to me entered my room without breaking the lock (the door ...	1 year 50 weeks ago by College Student	n/a
Recovery of belonings after apartment fire I was one of about 50 tenants in an apartment building that recently burned. (About half the occupants were renters and the other half owned condos.) ...	1 year 50 weeks ago by North Central tenant	n/a
Landlord sold house.New owner demanding late rent.....Is this legal? My landlord was having his house foreclosed.We worked with him to help him catch up with his mortgage so he could keep his house.We borrowed $5000.00 ...	1 year 50 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
Construction Noise in Office Building The tenants upstairs have been renovating their space. The noise has reached a breaking point today. I have called the landlord 5 times and emailed ...	1 year 50 weeks ago by yipyip111	n/a
Not in the agreement Hello, Last Sept. my girlfriend and I signed a 12-month lease for a house that was turned into an apartment. Our landlord is an elderly lady who li...	1 year 50 weeks ago by jkra0512	n/a
commercial squatter a few questions. First what is the definition in MA for a squatter? can a legitimate Commercial company that is incorporated be a squatter? What righ...	2 years 1 week ago by Anonymous	n/a
Roommates "friends" stole from me. My roommate I'll call her Andrea is the only person who has people over the house. The roommate on the lease of the apartment I'll call her Jessica, l...	2 years 1 week ago by katelynn25	n/a
Lease changed without consent My 3 friends and I, one who works for the realtor company, found a 4 person apartment and are in the process of signing the lease. We discovered that ...	2 years 6 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
Do I have to allow an open house to take place? We have been living in our current apartment for just over 2 years and are currently on a month to month lease. Our landlord is looking to sell the p...	2 years 6 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
Oral lease modifications/ cancellation I have a written lease for my apartment in Somerville. During a conversation with my landlord yesterday, where I asked my landlord to restore access t...	2 years 6 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
Roommate placed stop payment on rent check. Is this check fraud and can I file charges? So, living in a house with six roommates is crummy when one decides he is moving out a day after rent is due. He came home to get his stuff and I con...	2 years 8 weeks ago by Mr_Nineteen	n/a
Non-residential Tenant-at-will ? Does MA law contain any default TAW terms (as it does for residential rentals) for non-residential rental? For example, commercial office-space? M...	2 years 8 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
Illegal apartment and validity of lease I am under a lease contract that will expire in 4 months. I recently learned that the apartment is illegal while trying to get parking permits from th...	2 years 9 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
What to Do Next I received a 14 day notice to vacate my apartment for non-payment of rent. I was unable to pay the amount due with the 10 days. What should my next ...	2 years 9 weeks ago by emelbee3	n/a
Landlord changed locks on March 12, Tenant Supposed to be Gone on March 5. Can somebody help me answer a question. I am a landlord to some "professional tenants." They were supposed to be out March 5 and on March 12 I went ...	2 years 9 weeks ago by Designer Broad	n/a
return of last month's rent after I leave apartment Long story short... I have a crazy roommate, and I decided the best thing to do would be to move. She collects rent for the entire apartment and pays ...	2 years 10 weeks ago by wendyjbee	n/a
Foreign students trying to break lease Hi, If we break a one year lease, provide new tentans to pay all the remaining rent in advance, can the landlord refuse the new tentans? Or would t...	2 years 11 weeks ago by exchangestudent	n/a
Evicted tenant Ok so my girlfriend has a problem with a roomate who lives down the hall from her. She is being evicted due to noise disturbances in the early morning...	2 years 14 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
Roommate late fee My name is on the lease. My roommate never pays me on time so I am paying her share. Can I charge her the late fee if it was noted in the written te...	2 years 14 weeks ago by rsf6262	n/a
Tenant delays return of property keys In addition to not providing a full 30 day notice to vacate, the tenant delayed the return of property keys to the landlord by 15 days. Can the landl...	2 years 14 weeks ago by Seaford1	n/a
Recovering a Security Deposit from an Out-of-State Absentee Landlord It has been 30 days since I vacated my previous apartment. This apartment's landlord lives in another state and hires a property manager in Massachuse...	2 years 16 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
LL bank account info Is there a legal way to find out the name of the account holder of an bank account to which rent checks are deposited? The bank and the account number...	2 years 16 weeks ago by visitorjune	n/a
New Landlords WRongfully Evicted Us for more rent and/or steal our business WE opened our restaurant in June 2010, the builing was sold Nov. 1st 2010, the new landlords did not fulfill the addendum to our lease, served us a wr...	2 years 18 weeks ago by rolwey123	n/a
Tenant moving out, new roommate (who wasn't given permission to move in) wants to stay. My tenant ("Joe") just gave me notice he wishes to move out. His new roommate ("Bob"), that moved in a couple months ago, wants to stay. I don't want ...	2 years 18 weeks ago by CMG1981	n/a
Recoverable damages for illegal apartment If an apartment is rented illegally, and I just found out about it, what can be done? The landlord lives on the first floor so I am not covered by the...	2 years 19 weeks ago by ReillysMom	n/a
HOLD OVER TENANT Is there any defense to a holdover tenant	2 years 21 weeks ago by DirtyHarry	n/a
Served Notice To Quit in error I was served a 14-day Notice to Quit due to non-payment. I have always paid my rent on time, and this was served in error (and the Mgt Co. agreed it ...	2 years 22 weeks ago by ladienance	n/a
Illegal management of property? My landlord owns a house, (not an apartment), which he rents to 20 people. In it, there are 6 kitchens, 6 bathrooms, and he operates it as if they wer...	2 years 22 weeks ago by EmpsWave89	n/a
Room Mate abandoned property I bought a house in a state of disrepair, with the intention of remodeling it and putting it on the market for sale, and, shortly after finishing the ...	2 years 23 weeks ago by ehmunro	n/a
RENT SCAMMING: LITTLE RECOURSE, LAWS THAT FAVOR THIEVES. WHY? In 2008, "R.H.F." arranged to rent an apartment from our Cambridge, MA landlord of 21 years, and before moving in, "decided to sublet". This was calcu...	2 years 24 weeks ago by Hans Jaegerstatter	n/a
landlord issues no tresspassing against tenant I am a tenant at will with no written lease. I rent a room in my landlord's house where he also lives. Before I moved in, I gave him 1/2 rent toward a...	2 years 26 weeks ago by cb95	n/a
Homeowners association I live in an area that has a homeowners association and joining is optional. The association board is refusing to release a list of members to others...	2 years 26 weeks ago by Zaniboni-rnbp	n/a
Recovering a security deposit in Boston I have been reading though the posts on recovering a security deposit because I am anticipating that our landlord will not be returning our security d...	2 years 28 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
Payment of municipal impact fees If a tenant pays water and sewer connection fees, does that right belong to the tenant or the landlord? It seems municipal impact fees must be paid by...	2 years 29 weeks ago by Remnkemi	n/a
Condo Management Not Doing Their Job -- Owner Rights??? I own a Condo in Mass. I received a letter from the condo association that they have a water/sewer bill of $39,454.65 It doesn't indicate how long it ...	2 years 29 weeks ago by jwh7699	n/a
Can the landlord use my last month rent as security deposit? When I signed the lease, I paid 1+last month rent but no security deposit. I got married and moved out of the apt on 9/30 and gave the landlord 30-day...	2 years 29 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
Roommate MIA & Owes $$ Hello, Myself, my partner and a friend decided to rent an apartment together. We signed the lease on 7/31/10 and moved in on 8/1/10. Myself and my ...	2 years 30 weeks ago by TSITE25	n/a
Is my right to sue for security deposit forfeited if I violate lease? My former landlord withheld nearly half of my security deposit for carpet damage caused by the cable installation, repair of nail holes and cleaning o...	2 years 34 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
purchased home 11 years ago, renting with life tenancy to previous owner, now we want to move into that home Eleven years ago we purchased a home and have been renting ($550 per month ever since)to the previous owner. We now would like to no longer rent the ...	2 years 39 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
MA Tenant vs Roomer Law for Innkeepers I manage a small motel and i asked a "Guest" to leave because the owner wanted her out so that we could clean up the room. She had brought bugs in to ...	2 years 39 weeks ago by cal1962	n/a
Landlord has hidden camera on On a last argument with my landlord on the moving out day, he let slip that he had a camera someplace. I just moved out but I'm curious if that's lega...	2 years 40 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
Landlord Harrassment/Claiming Damage My husband and I rented an apt for $1000.in Quincy area as Tenent at Will. We knew when we saw the place why the rent was so cheap. It really needed ...	2 years 41 weeks ago by susanandtom	n/a
Landlord Breaching Lease? Hi All, I have a question I would like to bounce off folks here. My fiance and I live in MA and are renting a condo. We came here from another stat...	2 years 42 weeks ago by Anonymous	n/a
Landlord does not want to let my parents visit My parents are visiting for a week and even though my landlord initially told me he had no problem with them staying over he later forbid them to be a...	2 years 43 weeks ago by user9890	n/a
Rental Application Deposit (To Secure Unit) If a broker demands a deposit equal to the first months rent to hold an apartment at the time an application to rent is submitted (but before the leas...	2 years 43 weeks ago by tetris	n/a