Massachusetts Landlord Maintenance and Repair Obligations

Massachusetts landlords must keep every rental in line with the State Sanitary Code (105 CMR 410), which sets exact standards for heat, hot water, pests, and safety. You must heat the unit to at least 68 degrees from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. and 64 degrees overnight from September 15 through May 31. You also pay for heating and hot water fuel unless the unit has its own meter or tank and a written rental agreement makes the tenant pay. If a local Board of Health cites a violation and you do not fix it, tenants can repair and deduct up to four months' rent, withhold rent, or sue for damages.

What the State Sanitary Code requires

The current version of the Sanitary Code took effect May 12, 2023. It covers kitchens, bathrooms, plumbing, electrical service, structure, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms, and locks. The heat and hot water numbers are:

Temperature is measured 5 feet above the floor, on a wall more than 5 feet from an exterior wall. A local Board of Health can shorten the season to end as early as May 15 or start as late as September 30 for its town, and it must post the change on the municipal website.

Pests. In a building with two or more units, you must keep the building free of insects and rodents and pay for extermination. In a single-unit home, the tenant handles pests unless the infestation comes from your failure to keep the structure sealed. You must also inspect each unit for pests before a new tenant moves in. Before a commercial pesticide application indoors, the applicator must give tenants at least 48 hours' written notice.

When you must pay for heat and hot water

The default is that the owner pays. You can shift the cost to the tenant only when both conditions are met:

1. Separate service. For gas or electricity, the unit has a meter that serves only that unit. For oil, the unit has its own tank that serves only that unit.
2. Written agreement. A written rental agreement requires the tenant to pay.

An oral agreement, or a shared meter, leaves the bill with you. Even when the tenant pays for the fuel, you still must keep the water heater in good operating condition. Willfully failing to provide a utility you are required to provide, or switching a bill into the tenant's name without consent, violates M.G.L. c. 186, section 14.

How Board of Health inspections lead to orders

Code enforcement in Massachusetts is local. When a tenant asks the Board of Health to inspect, the inspector records any violations and the board orders you to correct them. In Boston, Worcester, and Cambridge, the city's housing inspection commissioner can also certify violations.

The deadline depends on the condition:

• Conditions that endanger health or safety. The code lists these, including no heat, too little hot water for 24 hours or more, a utility shutoff, missing smoke or carbon monoxide alarms, blocked exits, lead paint violations, and pest infestations. The board must issue an order within 12 hours after the inspection, and you must make a good-faith effort to correct within 24 hours of service.
• All other violations. The board issues an order within 7 days after the inspection, and you have up to 30 days from service to correct.

No order can give more than 30 days, and the board cannot extend the deadline unless a hearing is held. A certified inspection report is admissible in court as evidence of the conditions it records, and written notice of the inspection is presumed to give you knowledge of those conditions.

What tenants can do when repairs are not made

1. Repair and deduct (M.G.L. c. 111, section 127L). After a Board of Health, code agency, or court certifies violations that endanger or materially impair health, safety, or well-being, and you receive written notice, you have 5 days to begin repairs (or sign a contract for them) and 14 days to substantially complete them, unless the Board of Health, local code enforcement agency, or court orders correction sooner. That shorter deadline controls. If you miss an applicable deadline, the tenant can make the repairs and deduct the cost from future rent, up to four months' rent in any 12-month period. The tenant can also choose to end the tenancy and move out. You cannot raise the rent because of the repairs unless a court allows it. The law does not apply to conditions the tenant or a guest caused, or to a tenant who unreasonably refuses you access.
2. Rent withholding as an eviction defense (M.G.L. c. 239, section 8A). In a nonpayment or no-fault eviction, a tenant can raise code violations as a defense and counterclaim if you knew of the conditions before the tenant fell behind, the tenant did not cause them, and they can be fixed without the tenant moving out. The tenant owes only the fair value of the unit in its actual condition. If the tenant's award equals or exceeds your claim, you cannot recover possession. If your claim is larger, the tenant can still keep the unit by paying the balance, plus interest and costs, within one week of the court's notice. The Massachusetts eviction process explains how these counterclaims fit into summary process.
3. Damages for utilities and interference with use of the home (M.G.L. c. 186, section 14). If you willfully fail to provide heat, hot water, water, light, power, or gas that you are required to provide, or seriously interfere with the tenant's use of the home, you owe the greater of actual damages or three months' rent, plus the tenant's attorney's fees. The same conduct is a crime, punishable by a fine of $25 to $300 or up to six months in jail.

Lease clauses that waive these rights are void, with one narrow exception under section 127L for leases of two years, excluding renewal periods, where the tenant agrees to make defined repairs in exchange for substantially lower rent.

Lead paint duties when a child under 6 lives in the unit

If a child under 6 lives in a unit with paint, plaster, or other accessible surfaces containing dangerous levels of lead, M.G.L. c. 111, section 197 requires the owner to remove or cover the hazard using state-approved methods. The duty is triggered by the child living there, not by a poisoning. A new owner has 90 days to comply.

You have two paths:

• Interim control. A licensed inspector issues a letter of interim control after urgent hazards are fixed, such as peeling paint and leaks. The letter lasts one year and can be renewed once, for a maximum of two years.
• Full compliance. Lead on the required surfaces, such as peeling paint, window parts, and door frames, is removed or covered, and a licensed inspector issues a letter of full compliance. Licensed contractors do most of this work.

Repainting over lead paint does not count. Pregnant women and children under 6 cannot stay in the unit during deleading. When deleading requires temporary relocation, you must pay reasonable moving costs and temporary housing costs above the tenant's normal rent. While a valid letter is in effect, you are not strictly liable (responsible for damages without proof of carelessness) for a child's lead poisoning, but you can still owe damages if you fail to use reasonable care to keep the unit in compliance. See what to do if your rental has lead for testing and disclosure steps.

For the rules that apply in every state, see how much maintenance and repair landlords owe by law.