Best bets
Eviction for landlords and Eviction for tenants, Mass. Trial Court.
Eviction guides written from the point of view of the landlord or the tenant.
Eviction basics and Notices to Quit, Mass. Legal Help, 2025.
Answers common questions about the eviction process and notices to quit.
Housing court resources, Mass. Housing Court.
Web-based version of the civil information sheet, which provides concise information on procedures of the Housing Court. Page also includes downloadable PDFs of civil information sheets for each regional court division.
Legal tactics, Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, 2025.
Chapter 12 covers evictions and includes forms.
Eviction sealing
Eviction sealing, Mass. Legal Help, 2025.
"On May 5, 2025 a new law goes into effect that allows tenants in Massachusetts to 'seal' their eviction record." Find out about eligibility and how to file a petition to have your record sealed.
Sealing eviction court records, Mass. Trial Court.
Find information about asking the court to seal an eviction case, including a link to a Guided Interview to file a Petition to Seal Eviction Records, and other forms and information about the eviction sealing process.
Summary of Massachusetts Eviction Record Sealing Law, Mass. Legal Services, 2025.
Legal assistance
Eviction legal services and mediation, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
Available to both tenants and landlords.
Massachusetts legal resource finder, Legal Services Corp.
Information for legal aid offices, government agencies and court programs that may be able to help you for free or at low cost.
- Guide me: I have a housing problem
"Answer a few questions. We will give you information to help you understand what your legal rights and responsibilities are. We will also give you a you a list of steps you can take that give you more control over what happens next."
Volunteer Lawyers Project
Call or request legal help online. VLP also offers in-person Housing Court clinics.
Boston only:
Access to Counsel Program, a partnership between the Mayor’s Office of Housing, Boston Public Schools, Family Aid Boston, and Greater Boston Legal Services.
The program aims to prevent evictions for eligible households with children enrolled in K-12 schools by providing full legal representation for the family at risk of eviction.
Legal help for housing crisis, Boston Office of Housing Stability.
Offers virtual or in-person legal clinics for small landlords and tenants. Please register beforehand.
Massachusetts laws
Note
There are no laws against evicting, for valid reasons, tenants with children, tenants with disabilities, or evicting tenants during the winter season. However, if the eviction was determined by a judge to not be your fault, or if you can show a judge that you can't find a good place to live, you may be able to request a "Stay of Execution" for up to 6 months (or a year for tenants who are elderly or have a disability).
Primary eviction law
MGL c. 239 Summary process for possession of land (eviction)
- New section: § 16 Effective May 5, 2025, people with eviction records on file in a court may petition to have such records sealed
Other Massachusetts laws relating to eviction
MGL c. 121B, § 32 Evictions, local housing authorities
MGL c. 139, § 19 Use of premises for illegal activities, voiding of lease
MGL c. 184, § 18 Forcible entry forbidden
MGL c. 186, § 11 Determination of lease for nonpayment of rent
MGL c. 186, § 11A Termination of lease for nonpayment of rent
MGL c. 186, § 12 Notice to determine estate at will
MGL c. 186, § 13 Recovery of possession after termination of tenancy at will
MGL c. 186, § 13A Tenants deemed to be at will upon foreclosure
MGL c. 186, § 14 Quiet enjoyment violation
MGL c. 186A Tenants in foreclosed properties
Massachusetts regulations
105 CMR 410 State sanitary code - minimum standards of fitness for human habitation
940 CMR 3.00 General regulation
- 940 CMR 3.17(5) Unfair and deceptive acts by landlord
Federal laws and regulations
Laws
34 U.S.C. § 12491 Housing protections for victims of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking
42 U.S.C. § 1437f Low-income housing assistance
42 U.S.C. §§ 13601-13644 Residency and service requirements in federally assisted housing
50 U.S.C. § 3951 Evictions and distress (Relates to active servicemembers)
PL 111-22 An act to prevent mortgage foreclosures and enhance mortgage credit availability
Defines homelessness to include one who has received an eviction notice, 42 U.S.C. 11302.
Regulations
24 CFR 247 Evictions from certain subsidized and HUD-owned projects
Court rules and jury instructions
Uniform rules of summary process (eviction rules)
District and Boston Municipal Courts
District Court
- District Court Fourth Amended Standing Order 10-20: Court operations for the adjudication of summary process cases (effective June 20, 2023)
- Trial Court administrative and standing orders (eviction)
Jury instructions
Residential summary process (District Court civil model jury instructions)
Forms
Notices to Quit
If you are looking for sample notices to quit, please contact your local law library or use one of our Ask a Law Librarian services.
Selected cases
Web sources
Apply for EA emergency family shelter, Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
Learn how to apply for shelter if you are pregnant or have children under 21 years old.
Disability rights in housing, Mass. Office on Disability.
"An applicant/resident/tenant with a disability does not have more or less rights under tenant-landlord laws because of their disability." A tenant with a disability may be evicted for valid reasons in Massachusetts regardless of their disability.
Emergency Assistance (EA) advocacy guide: A guide to emergency shelter and re-housing services for families with children experiencing homelessness in Massachusetts, Mass. Law Reform, October 2023.
This online book includes eligibility, placement, disability, language access, appeals, and extensive contact information.
Eviction process in Massachusetts: Rules for landlords and property managers, Nolo.
Eviction storage. "If the tenant does not move out of the rental unit and a law enforcement officer has to remove the tenant as part of the eviction, then the law enforcement officer will also remove the tenant's belongings and place them in storage. This will be done at the landlord's expense, but the landlord can try to get reimbursement from the tenant. The storage facility will need to hold onto the property for six months before disposing of it. If the property has value, then it can be sold."
Housing appeals guide, Mass. Appeals Court.
This guide explains the process of getting an appeal from the trial court into the Appeals Court. If you are looking to stop an imminent eviction, skip down to Staying execution on a judgment.
Residential Assistance for Families in Transition (RAFT), Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities.
This program provides short-term emergency rental assistance and funding to help you with foreclosure, loss of utilities, and other housing emergencies.
Tenants at sufferance, Mass. Legal Help, 2025.
A tenant at sufferance is a tenant who does not have their landlord's permission to stay in their dwelling after the lease or agreement ends or after the landlord terminates tenancy with a notice to quit.
Tenant defenses to evictions in Massachusetts, Nolo.
Explains grounds for eviction as well as defenses.
Protecting yourself in an eviction, Mass. Legal Help, 2025.
The first of fifteen booklets on the eviction process for tenants, this one provides an overview of the steps required in representing yourself. Also available in Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, Vietnamese, and Simplified Chinese.
Print sources
Handbook of civil procedure in the Mass. District Court, 5th ed., by Marc G. Perlin, Lawyers Weekly, 2018 with annual supplement.
Chapter 14: Summary process.
The Massachusetts landlord survival guide, 9th ed., by Philip S. Lapatin, Greater Boston Real Estate Board, 2020.
Massachusetts landlord tenant law, 2nd ed., by George Warshaw, Lexis, with supplement (includes forms).
Sample Notices to Quit at Forms 4-1 through 4-5[C].
Landlord and tenant law: with forms, 3rd edition, (Massachusetts practice, vol. 33A) West Group, 2000 with supplement.
Chapter 15: Sample Notices to Quit at sections 15:13 – 15:16.
Massachusetts real estate, 3rd ed., by Robert Marzelli, Lexis, with supplement (Includes forms). (eBook available with library card)
Sample Notices to Quit at Forms 102 and 103.
Property management manual for Massachusetts rental owners, 6th ed., by H. John Fisher, HAPHousing, 2015.
Residential and commercial landlord-tenant practice in Massachusetts, 5th ed. MCLE, 2024.
Chapter 11: Termination of residential tenancies, Sample Notices to Quit at Exhibits 11B - 11G, and notes to cases.
Residential landlord-tenant benchbook, Flaschner Judicial Institute, 2013.
Contact
Online
| Last updated: | May 5, 2025 |
|---|