Massachusetts Lease Agreements for Landlords

A Massachusetts lease can require only four payments at or before move-in: the first month's rent, the last month's rent, a security deposit of no more than one month's rent, and the cost of buying and installing a new lock and key. Since August 1, 2025, that limit also binds your agent, so a broker you hire cannot charge the tenant. The written lease must also name who owns and manages the property and summarize the deposit rules, and for a unit built before 1978 you must hand over the state lead notification form before the tenant signs. A clause excusing you from liability for your own negligence is void, and a clause letting only you recover attorney's fees gives the tenant the same right by law.

What can a Massachusetts lease charge at move-in?

Under General Laws chapter 186, section 15B, you or your agent may require only:

1. Rent for the first full month.
2. Rent for the last full month, at the same rate as the first month.
3. A security deposit up to the amount of the first month's rent.
4. The purchase and installation cost of a lock and key.

Example: for a $2,400 apartment, the most you can collect before the tenancy starts is $2,400 + $2,400 + $2,400 = $7,200, plus the actual lock cost. A $50 application fee, a $300 move-in fee, or a pet fee collected at signing would put you over the limit. After the tenancy starts, you cannot demand more rent in advance than the current month or raise the deposit above that cap.

Taking a security deposit triggers receipts, a statement of condition, a separate bank account, and annual interest. Taking last month's rent triggers receipt and annual interest obligations. Our guide to Massachusetts security deposit rules walks through each one.

Two related lease terms:

• Late fees: a lease cannot charge interest or a penalty for late rent until the rent is 30 days overdue.
• Fee instead of a deposit: section 15B lets the state housing office authorize, by regulation, an optional fee in place of a deposit, with the fee and any deposit together capped at one month's rent. We found no such regulation in effect as of October 2026, so do not offer one yet.

How did the 2025 broker fee change affect leases?

The state budget law (Acts of 2025, chapter 9) made two changes effective August 1, 2025. Section 15B now says no lessor "or agent of the lessor" may require a tenant to pay the lessor or the agent anything beyond the four items above. A separate change to the broker licensing law says a broker's fee may be paid only by the party who hired and contracted with the broker.

In practice:

• If you list the unit with a broker, you pay the commission. The lease cannot shift it to the tenant, and the broker cannot add it to the move-in costs.
• A tenant who hires their own broker, under a contract only with the tenant, may still pay that broker. That payment does not go to you and does not count against the four permitted charges.

What must the written lease say?

The Attorney General's landlord-tenant regulation, 940 CMR 3.17, treats it as an unfair or deceptive practice to sign a written rental agreement that does not state, clearly and in plain language:

• the name, address, and phone number of the owner and of anyone responsible for maintenance and repairs;
• the name, address, and phone number of the person authorized to receive notices of code violations and accept court papers for the owner;
• the deposit amount, if any, and a summary of the deposit rules: the separate interest-bearing account and bank receipt, yearly interest, the statement of condition (and the tenant's right to return it with a list of other damage), the 30-day return, the itemized damage list with written evidence of repair costs, the ban on deductions for damage recorded in the initial condition statement or the tenant's separate damage list signed by you or your agent, and transfer of the deposit to a new owner.

The same regulation requires any automatic rent increase to be explained clearly in the lease, bans any term that violates a law, and requires you to give the tenant a copy of the signed lease within 30 days after the tenant signs. Because this is an Attorney General consumer protection regulation, a missing term can support a tenant's claim under the state consumer protection law, chapter 93A.

These disclosure duties attach to written agreements. If you rent on a handshake, read whether a verbal rental agreement is legally binding; a tax escalation clause, for example, must be written into the lease.

What lead paint forms does a pre-1978 unit need?

Before you enter into a tenancy for a unit built before 1978, 105 CMR 460.725 requires you to give the prospective tenant:

1. Two copies of the state's Tenant Lead Law Notification and Tenant Certification form. You and the tenant both sign, and each keeps a copy. If the tenant refuses to sign, check the box on the form stating you provided the documents.
2. A copy of any Letter of Full Compliance or Letter of Interim Control (certifying temporary compliance by controlling urgent lead hazards) for the unit.
3. The most recent lead inspection or risk assessment report for the unit and the building's common areas or exterior, if one exists.

The form is required whether or not a young child will live there. You may build it into the lease only if you reproduce it word for word, in the same order and type size.

Federal rules apply on top of the state form: include the federal Lead Warning Statement in the lease, give the EPA pamphlet "Protect Your Family From Lead in Your Home," disclose known lead hazards, and keep the signed disclosure for 3 years.

Disclosure is not the same as compliance. Under chapter 111, section 197, when a child under six lives in a unit with dangerous levels of lead, the owner must delead it or bring it under interim control. Refusing to rent to a family with young children to avoid that duty is illegal discrimination under chapter 111, section 199A.

How must a tax escalation clause be written?

A tax escalation clause makes the tenant pay part of a property tax increase during the lease. Chapter 186, section 15C voids the clause unless it states all three of these terms:

1. The tenant pays only the share of the increase that the unit bears to the whole taxed property.
2. The exact percentage of any increase the tenant will pay.
3. If you win a tax abatement, you refund the tenant's proportional share, minus reasonable attorney's fees.

Example: in a building of three equal units, each lease can set the tenant's share at 33.33%. If the tax bill rises $1,500, each tenant owes $500. If a lease sets the share higher than the unit's actual proportion, you must refund the excess plus 5% interest per year from the date you collected it. Under 940 CMR 3.17, you cannot bill a tax increase at all unless a valid clause was agreed before the tenancy began.

Which lease clauses does Massachusetts void?

These terms are unenforceable even if the tenant signs them:

Because 940 CMR 3.17 bans any lease term that violates a law, the clause itself can support a chapter 93A claim. Remove these terms from your form before the next signing, and use the Massachusetts maintenance obligations and eviction process guides when you draft the repair and default sections. For the general terms most leases cover, such as rent, term, and occupants, see what terms a rental agreement usually includes.