Is there rent control in Massachusetts?
No. Rent control in Massachusetts has been banned statewide since voters approved Question 9 in 1994, which created the Massachusetts Rent Control Prohibition Act, Chapter 40P of the General Laws. Section 4 of that chapter says no city or town may enact, maintain or enforce rent control of any kind, apart from a narrow voluntary exception that no city uses in practice.
That remains the law in October 2026. Proposals to allow local rent stabilization are pending in the Legislature, and one town’s petition has moved partway through the Senate, but none has been enacted. A rent control initiative petition was headed for the ballot until the Supreme Judicial Court ruled in June 2026 that it could not appear, so the nine statewide questions on the November 3, 2026 ballot do not include rent control.
How Massachusetts voters repealed rent control in 1994
Question 9 on the 1994 state ballot, an initiative petition to prohibit rent control for most privately owned housing, passed with 1,034,599 yes votes (51.3%) to 980,736 no votes (48.7%), according to the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s election statistics. The margin was about 54,000 votes statewide.
Before the vote, rent control was a local program, run by Boston, Cambridge and Brookline under their own ordinances. The statewide result ended those programs for privately owned housing. Because the ban came from a statewide vote, current proposals are written as local options that a city or town could choose, rather than as a statewide cap.
What Chapter 40P bans
Chapter 40P defines rent control broadly, as any regulation that in any way requires below-market rents for residential property, including rules on occupancy, services, evictions and condominium conversion when they are part of a rent control scheme (Section 3). Section 5 declares rent control a matter of statewide concern and says the chapter preempts any conflicting state or local law.
The ban has a stated purpose in Section 2: a uniform statewide policy that broadly prohibits any regulatory scheme based on rent control, to be read broadly. In practice, a city cannot cap annual increases, freeze rents or require below-market rent on private units without new legislation.
| Chapter 40P section | What it does |
|---|---|
| Section 1 | Names the law the Massachusetts Rent Control Prohibition Act |
| Section 2 | States a uniform statewide policy against rent control, to be read broadly |
| Section 3 | Defines rent control; excludes publicly owned, publicly subsidized and federally assisted housing and mobile homes |
| Section 4 | Bars any city or town from enacting, keeping or enforcing rent control, with a narrow voluntary exception |
| Section 5 | Preempts any conflicting state or local law |
The narrow exception in Section 4
Section 4 lets a city or town that accepts the chapter adopt a form of rent control, but only on terms that make it close to unusable. After six months, compliance must be entirely voluntary, so owners who decline are not affected. The program may not regulate occupancy, services, evictions or condominium conversion. It cannot apply to owners with fewer than ten rental units or to units with a fair market rent above $400. And the city must pay owners the difference between fair market rent and the controlled rent out of general municipal revenue.
With a $400 rent ceiling written in 1994 and a duty to compensate owners, the exception has no practical effect today. Any city that wants real rent stabilization has to go to the Legislature.
Housing that Chapter 40P does not cover
The ban protects private, market-rate housing. Section 3 excludes publicly owned housing, publicly subsidized housing, federally assisted housing and mobile homes from the definition of rent control, so rent limits in those programs still apply.
For an apartment owner, that matters most if your building has units under a regulatory agreement, such as a tax-credit or subsidy contract, or tenants with project-based assistance. Those rent limits come from the agreement and the program rules, not from Chapter 40P, and they bind a buyer too. Put copies of every regulatory agreement in the sale package.
Home-rule petitions and local-option bills in 2025 and 2026
Because Chapter 40P preempts local action, a city that wants rent stabilization files a home-rule petition, a request that the Legislature pass a special act for that one community. Several are pending in the 194th General Court (2025 and 2026). The furthest along is Senate Bill 960, which would authorize the town of Brookline to implement rent stabilization and tenant eviction protections. The Joint Committee on Housing reported it favorably, with changes, on December 11, 2025, and on January 29, 2026 the Senate read it a second time and ordered it to a third reading. It has not passed the Senate or the House.
Statewide local-option bills would let any city or town choose rent stabilization without a separate special act. House Bill 1477, An Act enabling local options for tenant protections, would remove the prohibition on rent control and add tenant and foreclosure protections. It was referred to the Joint Committee on Housing in February 2025 and scheduled for a hearing on November 19, 2025, and its history shows no further action. Senate Bill 1447 and House Bill 2328, An Act enabling cities and towns to stabilize rents and protect tenants, take a similar approach.
| Bill (194th General Court) | What it would do | Latest action |
|---|---|---|
| S.960 | Let Brookline adopt rent stabilization and eviction protections | Ordered to a third reading in the Senate, January 29, 2026 |
| H.1477 | Remove the rent control ban; local options for tenant protections | Joint Committee on Housing hearing, November 19, 2025 |
| S.1447 / H.2328 | Let cities and towns stabilize rents and protect tenants | Still in committee: S.1447 in Municipalities and Regional Government, H.2328 in Housing |
Is rent control on the 2026 Massachusetts ballot?
No. Initiative Petition 25-21 would have repealed the statewide ban and capped yearly rent increases at 5% or the change in the consumer price index, whichever is lower. On June 23, 2026, in Cella v. Attorney General, the Supreme Judicial Court held that the petition could not go on the ballot, because its exemption for units in facilities run for religious purposes made it relate to religion, a subject Article 48 of the state constitution keeps off the ballot. Supporters have talked about a 2028 question.
The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s 2026 Information for Voters guide lists nine statewide questions for the November 3, 2026 election, and none would allow or require rent control. They cover public records, collective bargaining for Committee for Public Counsel Services employees, state primaries, election-day registration, a state revenue limit, a conservation fund, single-family homes, retail marijuana sales and firearms regulation.
Question 7, on single-family homes, is the only housing question. It would allow single-family homes on smaller lots and let local governments regulate matters such as height and short-term rentals. It does not touch rent amounts or rent increases.
So for any lease you sign or any building you buy or sell in 2026, rent remains whatever the lease sets. A future change would need either a statute from the Legislature or a new initiative petition for a later ballot.
Tenant protections that still apply in Massachusetts
Massachusetts has no rent control, but its tenant protection statutes are detailed, and the penalties for getting them wrong are high. The table lists the rules a landlord uses most, all from Chapter 186 of the General Laws.
| Rule | Massachusetts requirement | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Upfront payments | No more than first month’s rent, last month’s rent, a security deposit up to one month’s rent and the cost of a lock and key | G.L. c. 186, s. 15B(1)(b) |
| Holding the deposit | Separate interest-bearing account in a Massachusetts bank; receipt within 30 days; signed statement of condition | G.L. c. 186, s. 15B |
| Interest on the deposit | 5% a year, or the lower rate the bank pays, paid yearly | G.L. c. 186, s. 15B |
| Returning the deposit | Within 30 days after the tenancy ends, with a sworn itemized list for damage deductions | G.L. c. 186, s. 15B |
| Penalty for violations | Three times the deposit, plus 5% interest, costs and attorney fees | G.L. c. 186, s. 15B |
| Late fees | No interest or penalty until rent is 30 days late | G.L. c. 186, s. 15B(1)(c) |
| Ending a tenancy at will | Notice equal to the rental period or 30 days, whichever is longer | G.L. c. 186, s. 12 |
| Nonpayment | 14 days’ notice to quit; tenant may cure within 10 days once in 12 months | G.L. c. 186, s. 12 |
| Retaliation | Presumed if a notice, rent increase or lease change follows protected tenant activity within 6 months; 1 to 3 months’ rent in damages | G.L. c. 186, s. 18 |
Rent increases without rent control
You can raise rent by any amount in Massachusetts, but only at the right time and in the right way. For a tenant with a lease, rent changes when the lease ends or as the lease allows. For a tenant at will, you give notice equal to a full rental period or 30 days, whichever is longer, and Section 12 lets that notice include an offer of a new tenancy at the new rent.
The retaliation rule is the main limit. If you raise rent, or change lease terms in a big way, within six months after a tenant reports a code violation, complains in writing or joins a tenants’ union, the law presumes the increase is a reprisal. You can rebut that only with clear and convincing evidence of an independent reason. Keep written records of why and when you set rents, especially across a portfolio where increases follow a schedule.
The 2025 change to upfront fees
The fiscal 2026 state budget, Chapter 9 of the Acts of 2025, amended the upfront payment rule in Section 15B effective August 1, 2025. The limit on what a tenant can be required to pay at the start of a tenancy now covers payments to the landlord’s agent as well as to the landlord. A broker working for the landlord is the landlord’s agent, so landlords who used to pass a listing broker’s fee to the incoming tenant should review how they handle leasing.
Check your leasing agreements and application forms for any fee that goes beyond first month, last month, a deposit and a lock. A buyer’s attorney will ask about it, because Section 15B violations carry triple damages.
Worked example: deposits on a Massachusetts building
A unit rents for $2,400 a month. At move-in, the most a landlord can require is $7,200: first month, last month and a $2,400 security deposit, plus the cost of a new lock and key. Interest on the deposit runs at up to 5% a year, or up to $120 a year on $2,400. If the landlord never put the deposit in a separate Massachusetts bank account, the tenant can sue for three times the deposit, $7,200, plus interest, costs and attorney fees.
Now a sale. A 24-unit building with a $2,000 deposit on every unit holds $48,000 in deposits. If eight months of interest has built up at 5%, another $1,600 is owed to tenants. Under Section 15B, the seller must transfer the deposits and interest to the buyer, and the buyer must notify each tenant in writing within 45 days. If the seller doesn’t transfer them, the buyer is liable anyway, so the buyer will insist on a credit at closing for the full $49,600.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Monthly rent | $2,400 |
| Maximum upfront (first, last, deposit) | $7,200 plus lock cost |
| Deposit interest at 5% for a year | $120 |
| Triple-damages exposure on one deposit | $7,200 plus interest and fees |
| Deposits held on a 24-unit building | $48,000 |
| Eight months of interest at 5% | $1,600 |
| Credit to buyer at closing | $49,600 |
What a buyer checks when you sell
With no rent control, a Massachusetts buyer prices your building on the actual leases and the market, and spends its diligence time on compliance.
- A rent roll with every lease end date, rent, deposit and last month’s rent held.
- Bank statements showing each deposit in a separate interest-bearing Massachusetts account, with receipts and condition statements.
- Records of annual interest payments to tenants.
- Any notices to quit, pending summary process cases and recent complaints that could trigger the retaliation presumption.
- Regulatory agreements for any subsidized or tax-credit units, which Chapter 40P does not override.
Selling a Massachusetts apartment building
Skyline buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Massachusetts, with tenants in place. We buy directly, close on your timeline, and can work inside 1031 deadlines. We take over the leases, deposits and interest as Section 15B requires, and we price the building on its real rent roll.
If a local rent stabilization bill passing in the future is part of why you are thinking about selling, our guide to selling a rent-controlled building explains how buyers price regulated income in other states. Massachusetts is one of the clawback states for 1031 exchanges, so speak with your CPA about the state side of an exchange before you sign.
