| Rent Increase Facts | Answer |
| Reason Needed? | No |
| Maximum Amount | None |
| Required Notice | 30 Days or Frequency of Rent Payments |
Does Massachusetts Have Rent Control Laws?
Massachusetts does not have rent control laws limiting the amount landlords may ask for. State law prohibits local governments from establishing local rent control laws unless participation by landlords is completely voluntary.
When Can a Landlord Raise Rent in Massachusetts?
Landlords in Massachusetts can raise the rent at any time, as long as they comply with the following:
- Give reasonable notice
- Wait until the end of the lease term (unless otherwise specified in the lease)
- Aren’t raising rent for discriminatory or retaliatory reasons
If a lease agreement contains a provision that allows for a rent increase during the lease term, it must state clearly and conspicuously the terms and conditions of the rent increase, including the exact amount of the increase. The only exception is for a tax escalator clause.
When Can’t a Landlord Raise Rent in Massachusetts?
Landlords in Massachusetts may not raise the rent if:
- It is during the middle of a lease’s fixed term (unless agreed otherwise in the lease)
- It is done as retaliation against a protected tenant action, such as filing a complaint
- The increase is applied in a way that discriminates against one of the protected classes specified in the Fair Housing Act
How Often Can Rent Be Increased in Massachusetts?
Landlords in Massachusetts can increase the rent as often as they want as long as sufficient notice is provided each time.
How Much Can a Landlord Raise Rent in Massachusetts?
In Massachusetts, landlords can raise the rent by any amount. There is no legal limit or cap on the amount of a rent increase.
How Much Notice is Needed to Raise Rent in Massachusetts?
Massachusetts law requires that landlords give at least 30 days’ notice for a tenancy-at-will before increasing rent, or the amount of time equal to the frequency of rent payments (e.g. every two months), whichever is longer.
If the tenant pays rent every two months, the landlord must give 60 days of advance notice before increasing rent.
For tenants on a year lease, landlords must wait until the end of the lease term before increasing rent. There is no specific notice period required in this situation, but landlords are required to act in a fair, reasonable way.
Sources
- 1 Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 40P § 4
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No city or town may enact, maintain or enforce rent control of any kind, except that any city or town that accepts this chapter may adopt rent control regulation that provides:
(a) after six months from the date of the initial adoption of rent control regulation by a particular city or town, compliance on the part of property owners as to the rent control regulation or any subsequently adopted rent control regulation shall be entirely voluntary and uncoerced, and the property of a person or entity declining to have his or its property subjected to such regulation shall be wholly unaffected by any aspect of the rent control regulation or any subsequently adopted rent control regulation;
(b) such regulation may not include the regulation of occupancy, services, evictions, condominium conversion or the removal of properties from such regulation, nor may such regulation apply to any rental unit that is owned by a person or entity owning less than ten rental units or that has a fair market rent exceeding $400; and
(c) a municipality adopting such regulation shall compensate owners of rent controlled units for each unit in the amount of the difference between the unit’s fair market rent and the unit’s below market, rent controlled rent, with such compensation coming from the municipality’s general funds, so that the cost of any rent control shall be borne by all taxpayers of a municipality and not by the owners of regulated units only.
Source Link - 2 940 CMR, § 3.17(3)(a)(2)
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It shall be unfair or deceptive act or practice for an owner to include in any rental agreement any term which:
…
2. Fails to state clearly and conspicuously in the rental agreement the conditions upon which an automatic increase in rent shall be determined. Provided, however, that nothing contained in 940 CMR 3.17(3)(a)2. shall be deemed to invalidate an otherwise valid tax escalator clause.
Source Link - 3 Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186 § 15C
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No lease relating to residential real estate shall contain a provision which obligates a lessee to make payments to the lessor on account of an increased real estate tax levied during the term of the lease, unless such provision expressly sets forth (1) that the lessee shall be obligated to pay only that proportion of such increased tax as the unit leased by him bears to the whole of the real estate so taxed, (2) the exact percentage of any such increase which the lessee shall pay, and (3) that if the lessor obtains an abatement of the real estate tax levied on the whole of the real estate of which the unit leased by the lessee is a part, a proportionate share of such abatement, less reasonable attorney’s fees, if any, shall be refunded to said lessee. Any provision of a lease in violation of the provisions of this section shall be deemed to be against public policy and void.
If the exact percentage of any such increased tax contained in such a provision is found to exceed that proportion of such increased tax as the lessee’s unit bears to the whole of the real estate so taxed, then the lessor shall return to the lessee that amount of the tax payment collected from the lessee which exceeded the lessee’s proportionate share of the increased tax, plus interest calculated at the rate of five per cent per year from the date of collection.
Source Link - 4 Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186 § 18
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…The receipt of any notice of termination of tenancy, except for nonpayment of rent, or, of increase in rent, or, of any substantial alteration in the terms of tenancy within six months after the tenant has commenced, proceeded with, or obtained relief in such action, exercised such rights, made such report or complaint, or organized or joined such tenants’ union or within six months after any other person has taken such action or actions on behalf of the tenant or in, or relating to, the building in which the tenant resides, shall create a rebuttable presumption that such notice or other action is a reprisal against the tenant for engaging in such activities.
Source Link - 5 Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186 § 12
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Estates at will may be determined by either party by three months’ notice in writing for that purpose given to the other party; and, if the rent reserved is payable at periods of less than three months, the time of such notice shall be sufficient if it is equal to the interval between the days of payment or thirty days, whichever is longer.
Source Link
- 6 Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 93A § 2
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Unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are hereby declared unlawful.
Source Link
