Your Security Deposit Rights in Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, a landlord can collect only four payments before you 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 a new lock and key. The landlord must keep the deposit in a separate Massachusetts bank account, pay you interest on it and on any prepaid last month's rent, and return it within 30 days after the tenancy ends, keeping only the deductions the law allows, with a sworn, itemized list for any damage charges. Under General Laws chapter 186, section 15B, if a landlord misses the 30-day deadline, a court must award you three times the amount owed, plus interest, court costs, and attorney's fees.

What a landlord can charge when you move in

At or before the start of a tenancy, the landlord can require only:

• rent for the first full month;
• rent for the last full month, at the same rate as the first;
• a security deposit of up to one month's rent; and
• the purchase and installation cost of a new lock and key.

Massachusetts legal aid's tenant manual lists charges this rules out, including application and holding fees, upfront pet fees, cleaning fees, amenity fees, and credit check fees. Since August 1, 2025, the same limit applies to anyone acting as the landlord's agent, so a broker working for the landlord cannot require you to pay a fee. You owe a broker fee only if you hired the broker before the broker began working with the landlord.

Example: on $2,100 monthly rent, the most a landlord can collect at signing is $6,300 (the first month, the last month, and a $2,100 deposit) plus the lock cost.

After you move in, the landlord cannot demand more than the current month's rent in advance or a deposit above the limit. Legal aid says a landlord can raise the deposit or last month's rent only when you agree to a new tenancy at a higher rent, and neither can be more than the new monthly rent. A 2024 law also lets the state's Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities issue rules for an optional fee in place of a deposit. Under the statute, that fee can be fully or partly nonrefundable, which the lease must disclose and you must acknowledge in writing, and the fee plus any deposit cannot exceed one month's rent.

A lease clause that conflicts with section 15B, or any waiver of it you sign, is void. Vacation rentals of 100 days or less are not covered. Nonrefundable deposits and fees compares upfront charges in other states, and our overview of state deposit laws covers other states' limits.

Receipts and the statement of condition

You should receive these papers:

If you do not get the bank receipt within 30 days, you are entitled to the immediate return of your deposit. Last month's rent vs. security deposit explains how the two payments differ.

You have 15 days after you receive the statement of condition or move in, whichever is later, to sign it and return it, attaching your own signed list of any damage it leaves out. If you do not return it in time, a court may treat the landlord's list as complete. The landlord must respond to your list within 15 days by signing it or attaching a statement of disagreement. Later, the landlord cannot deduct for damage listed on the statement, or on your list once the landlord signs it.

Because section 15B ties the landlord's right to hold a deposit to this statement, Massachusetts legal aid says a tenant who never receives one may ask for the deposit back. You can also write your own statement and send it to the landlord with dated photos. Documenting your apartment's condition covers what to record.

The bank account and the interest you are owed

The landlord must hold the deposit in a separate, interest-bearing account at a bank in Massachusetts, set up so the landlord's creditors cannot reach it. If it does not, you can demand the deposit back right away, and a landlord that refuses can owe triple damages, as described below.

A landlord that holds your deposit for a year or more owes you interest from the first day of the tenancy at 5% a year, or the lower rate the bank actually paid. Legal aid's manual says the law is unclear on whether any deposit interest is owed if you move out before the first year ends. At the end of each year of the tenancy, the landlord must send a statement with the bank's name and address, the account number, the deposit amount, and the interest owed, and must either pay the interest or tell you to deduct it from your rent. If neither arrives within 30 days after the year ends, you may deduct the interest from your next rent payment.

Last month's rent does not have to sit in a separate account, but the landlord owes you interest on it from the first day of the tenancy however long you stay: 5% a year, or less only if the landlord keeps the money in a bank that pays less. It is paid each year the same way, and no interest builds up during the final month that the payment covers. If the tenancy ends between anniversaries, the interest built up since the last payment is due within 30 days after it ends. If the landlord does not pay the interest on last month's rent within 30 days after the tenancy ends, a court must award you three times that interest, plus court costs and attorney's fees.

Example: you pay a $1,800 deposit and $1,800 in last month's rent, and the landlord keeps both in a bank account paying 1.5%. At the end of the first year you are owed $27 on each, or $54 in all. If you get neither the money nor a notice within 30 days, you can pay $54 less in rent and attach a letter explaining the deduction. If the landlord had kept the last month's rent outside a bank, the interest on it would be 5%, or $90 for the year. Deposit interest rules by state covers the other states that require interest.

The 30-day return and the sworn list of damages

The deadline is 30 days after the tenancy ends. Without a written lease, that means 30 days after you move out. With a written lease, it means 30 days after the lease's end date, even if you leave earlier; Massachusetts lease rights covers ending a lease early.

The landlord may deduct only:

• unpaid rent or water charges that you did not lawfully withhold;
• an unpaid property tax increase you owe under a tax escalation clause, a lease term that passes tax increases on to you and must meet state rules; and
• the reasonable cost to repair damage caused by you, your household, or your guests, beyond reasonable wear and tear.

For any damage deduction, the landlord must give you, within the 30 days, an itemized list signed "under the pains and penalties of perjury," meaning the landlord swears it is true. It must describe each item of damage and the repair it needs, with written evidence of the cost such as estimates, bills, invoices, or receipts. Without that list, the landlord forfeits the right to keep any part of the deposit, and if you sue, it cannot counterclaim (raise its own damage claim in your case). Legal aid's manual says reasonable wear and tear includes routine painting and cleaning, new locks and keys, and small carpentry repairs.

In the last 30 days of the tenancy, or after either of you gives notice to end it, the landlord may enter to inspect for damage. Ask to walk through together, photograph every room, and give the landlord your forwarding address in writing.

Triple damages and how to bring a claim

A court must award three times the deposit or the balance you are owed, plus 5% interest from the date it was due, court costs, and reasonable attorney's fees, if the landlord:

• did not keep the deposit in a separate account as required (while you still live there, legal aid's manual says this applies once the landlord refuses your demand to return the deposit, and filing a lawsuit counts as a demand);
• did not return what you are owed, with interest, within 30 days after the tenancy ended; or
• did not transfer the deposit to a new owner, or, as a new owner, did not follow the transfer rules.

Legal aid's manual notes that you do not have to prove the landlord acted in bad faith. A missing or defective sworn list of damages is not among the violations section 15B names for triple damages: it costs the landlord the right to keep the deposit, so expect a court to order the deposit returned but not necessarily tripled when that is the only problem. Example: a landlord that keeps a $2,000 deposit past the 30-day deadline without claiming any lawful deduction owes $6,000, plus 5% interest from the due date and your court costs.

1. Send a demand letter. Ask for the full deposit and interest, send it by certified mail with a return receipt, and keep a copy.
2. File in small claims. You can start a small claims case with a claim of $7,000 or less, and the court can still award triple damages above that amount. You can file in the district where the rental is located, and small claims sessions are held in the Housing Court, the District Court, and the Boston Municipal Court.
3. Ask for your fees. If you hire a lawyer and win, the landlord must pay your reasonable attorney's fees.

If the building is sold, the old landlord must transfer your deposit and interest to the new owner, who must notify you in writing within 45 days. If the deposit is never transferred, the new owner is still responsible for it, except in limited cases such as a bank that takes the property through foreclosure.