Massachusetts Eviction Protections for Tenants

In Massachusetts, a landlord can evict you only through a court case called summary process, and only a sheriff or constable acting on a court order can move you out. For unpaid rent, the case starts with a 14-day notice to quit, which you can usually cancel by paying what you owe: within 10 days if you have no lease and have not had another nonpayment notice in the past 12 months, or by your court answer deadline if you have a lease. If the nonpayment came from a financial hardship and you have applied for RAFT or other emergency rental assistance, the court must pause the case until the application is decided.

The 14-day notice to quit and your right to cure

A landlord can serve a 14-day notice to quit for unpaid rent on any day of the month. It can demand only rent, not late fees, attorney's fees, or constable fees. Under G.L. c. 186, section 31, it must come with a state form that explains rental assistance, including RAFT, and prominently states that the notice is not an eviction and that only a court order can force you to leave. A court will not accept a nonpayment case without proof that the landlord delivered that form.

Paying the rent owed, called curing, keeps your tenancy:

If you cure after the landlord has filed in court, get a dated receipt and a written agreement that the landlord will dismiss the case, then confirm the dismissal is filed. A tenant at will facing an eviction for any other reason, or for no reason, must get at least 30 days' notice or one full rental period, whichever is longer. If your building has certain federal subsidies or a federally backed mortgage, Legal Tactics says federal law, including the CARES Act, requires a 30-day notice to quit for nonpayment, so a 14-day notice there may be a defense.

What a pay-or-quit notice means compares these notices across states, and rent protections in Massachusetts covers late fees and rent increases.

RAFT and how a pending application protects you in court

Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT) is the state's emergency housing payment program, run through regional administering agencies. Community Teamwork, one of those agencies, lists these rules:

• Household income must be at or below 50% of the area median income, or up to 60% if you face housing instability because of domestic violence.
• A notice to quit or court summons is required for help with overdue rent.
• The benefit cap is $7,000 in any rolling 12-month period, and you can apply more than once as long as the total stays under the cap.
• Your landlord must complete a landlord application too, and legal immigration status is not required.

Under the FY27 RAFT Administrative Plan, if you have an income-based housing subsidy, the RAFT agency must also verify good cause for nonpayment, such as a documented hardship that temporarily made your rent share unaffordable without qualifying for a rent adjustment. RAFT covers no more than 6 months of overdue rent for these households in any rolling 12-month period, even below the $7,000 cap.

Apply as soon as you receive the notice to quit. Under G.L. c. 239, section 15, if the case is only for unpaid rent, the nonpayment came from a financial hardship, and you show the court a pending application for emergency rental assistance when your answer is due or on the trial date, the court must postpone the case. It also may not enter a judgment or issue an execution until the agency approves or denies the application, and it must stay execution of any judgment for possession while the application is pending.

How a summary process case moves

The Massachusetts Law Reform Institute's Legal Tactics guide describes these steps:

1. Summons and complaint. A sheriff or constable serves you. The papers list an entry date, a Monday at least 7 and no more than 30 days after service, by which the landlord must file the case. The complaint can claim unpaid rent but not late fees, security deposit amounts, parking fees, or constable fees.
2. Notice of the first court event. After the filing, the court sends the landlord a notice of your first court date, and a sheriff or constable must serve it on you at least 14 days ahead. In Housing Court, the first event is a mediation with a housing specialist; in District Court, it is a case management conference, often on Zoom.
3. Answer and discovery. Your written Answer lists your defenses and counterclaims. You must file it with the court and serve a copy on the landlord or their attorney at least 3 business days before the first court event. The same deadline applies to any discovery requests (written requests for documents and information from the landlord) and any request for a jury trial. The free MADE tool at GBLS.org/MADE helps you fill out the Answer.
4. First court event. Attendance is required; if you miss it, you lose by default. Most evictions end in an agreement. Sign one only if you understand it and can do what it says, and do not agree to a payment plan you cannot afford. If you do not settle, the court sets a hearing or trial, usually about two weeks later.
5. Transfer. Every community in Massachusetts is covered by a Housing Court. If the landlord filed in District Court, you have the right to move the case to Housing Court by filing a transfer form before the District Court hears it.

Counterclaims for bad conditions and retaliation

Under G.L. c. 239, section 8A, in a nonpayment or no-fault case you can raise any claim about your tenancy as a defense or as a counterclaim, meaning a claim for money against the landlord in the same case. That includes bad conditions, the landlord's breach of the rental agreement, and violations of other laws, such as the security deposit law. A claim about conditions counts only if:

• The landlord, its agent, or the person you pay rent to knew about the problems before you fell behind on rent.
• You or someone under your control did not cause them.
• You do not live in a hotel or motel, or in a rooming house where you have stayed less than 3 months.
• The problems can be fixed without you moving out.

A board of health inspection report showing code violations that may endanger health or safety creates a presumption that the conditions existed. If the court finds the landlord owes you as much as you owe in rent, or more, there is no eviction. If you still owe a balance, you keep your home by paying it, with interest and costs, to the court clerk within one week after the court's written notice of the amount. Habitability rights in Massachusetts explains inspections and rent withholding.

Retaliation is a separate claim under G.L. c. 186, section 18. The law bars reprisals for reporting code violations to the board of health, complaining in writing to the landlord about them, taking legal action to enforce housing laws, or joining a tenants' union. When a termination notice for a reason other than unpaid rent, a rent increase, or another major change in your tenancy arrives within 6 months after that activity, the court presumes it is retaliation, and the landlord must overcome that with clear and convincing evidence of an independent reason. Damages are at least one and up to three months' rent, or your actual losses if higher, plus attorney's fees.

Other common defenses include a notice to quit with the wrong time period, a missing state form, the landlord accepting rent after the notice without telling you it was "for use and occupancy only," and discrimination, including refusing a reasonable accommodation for a disability. Defenses against eviction explains how to present them.

After a judgment: appeals, stays, and the levy

Either side can appeal within 10 days, and the landlord cannot get an execution, the court order allowing the move-out, until those 10 days pass. An appeal usually requires a bond. If you cannot afford it, ask the court to waive it, which requires showing your appeal is not frivolous; the court can still order monthly rent payments while the appeal is pending.

In a no-fault case, such as a tenancy at will ended without a reason, you can ask the judge to stay the execution for up to 6 months, or up to 12 months if a person with a disability or someone 60 or older lives in the home. The judge will usually require you to keep paying your prior rent during the stay. Bring a list of the apartments you have tried to rent. These stays are for no-fault cases, not evictions for unpaid rent, where the rental assistance stay described above is the one that can apply.

Only a sheriff or constable can carry out the execution, called a levy, and the landlord pays that officer. State law sets these limits on the levy:

• The officer must give you written notice at least 48 hours ahead, stating the date and time of the move-out.
• No levy can happen before 9 a.m., after 5 p.m., or on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.
• In a nonpayment case, if the money judgment and all use and occupancy (the charge for staying in the unit after the judgment) are paid in full, the landlord cannot levy. The landlord does not have to accept that payment, though.

If you need more time after the 48-hour notice, go to the court that heard your case and file an emergency motion to stay the levy. Belongings left behind go to the licensed public warehouse named in the 48-hour notice, or to a licensed storage facility within 20 miles that you choose if you tell the officer in writing by the time of the move-out. The landlord pays to move them and can seek reimbursement from you. You can reclaim items with primarily personal or sentimental value and limited auction value, such as photographs and documents, once without paying storage fees, and the warehouse can sell property left unclaimed for 6 months.

A landlord who locks you out, removes your belongings, or shuts off utilities without a court order is breaking the law. You can ask the court for an order restoring you to the home and seek at least 3 months' rent in damages; lockouts and utility shutoffs are also crimes. Since May 5, 2025, Massachusetts courts can seal eviction records under rules that depend on the type of case and how it ended; sealing an eviction record explains the process, and the eviction timeline compares these stages with other states.