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Tenants' Rights in Massachusetts: Private Housing

Produced by Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Reviewed May 2023

The chapters below are from Legal Tactics: Tenants' Rights in Massachusetts, 2017. This handbook provides practical information about tenants' rights in private housing—housing that is owned by an individual or a privately-owned company.

We update some of the different chapters, booklets and forms before we update the whole volume, so some of the files in this list are more recent than 2017.

Each chapter begins with a 2-page handout with highlights of the chapter. The handout is also available as a separate PDF. Below find self-help eviction booklets and forms referenced in each chapter.

You may also buy a paper copy from  Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education by calling 1-800-966-6253 or ordering online.

Download individual PDF files below or get the entire book as an eBook - Find Out How.

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Chapters and 2-page Handouts

PDF icon Chapter 1 Moving In (April 2018)

PDF icon Handout 1 Moving In (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 2 Tenant Screening (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 2 Tenant Screening (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 3 Security Deposit (April 2018)

PDF icon Handout 3 Security Deposit (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 4 Tenancies (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 4 Tenancies (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 5 Rent (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 5 Rent (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 6 Utilities (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 6 Utilities (January 2022)

PDF icon Chapter 7 Discrimination (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 7 Discrimination (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 8 Getting Repairs Made (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 8 Getting Repairs Made (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 9 Lead Poisoning (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 9 Lead Poisoning (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 10 Getting Organized (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 10 Getting Organized (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 11 Moving Out (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 11 Moving Out (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 12 Evictions (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 12 Evictions (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 13 Taking Landlords to Court (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 13 Taking Landlords to Court (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 14 Using the Court System (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 14 Using the Court System (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 15 Rooming Houses (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 15 Rooming Houses (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 16 Mobile Homes (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 16 Mobile Homes (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 17 Condos (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 17 Condos (June 2017)

PDF icon Chapter 18 Foreclosures (June 2017)

PDF icon Handout 18 Foreclosures (June 2017)

Reviewed May 2023

Booklets

PDF icon Booklet 1 Protecting Yourself in an Eviction (January 2022) 

What steps to take before going to court and what to bring to court.

PDF icon Booklet 2 Housing Code Checklist (May 2023)

An easy-to-use checklist that tells you what conditions violate the State Sanitary Code. You can also use the free self-help guided interview, MADE: Up To Code.

PDF icon Booklet 3 The Answer (January 2022)

The Answer is a court form that tenants facing evictions can file with the court to outline your legal claims and tell the court your side of the story. You can also use Greater Boston Legal Services' free self-help guided interview, MADE. The interview is based on Booklet 3. It asks you questions and helps you build the Answer you need to file at court.

PDF icon Booklet 3A Late Answer & Discovery (January 2022)

How to ask the court to accept your Answer and Discovery forms late.  You can also use Greater Boston Legal Services' free self-help guided interview, MADE.

PDF icon Booklet 4 Discovery (January 2022)

A form with instructions for tenants facing eviction to get information to prepare for their trial.

PDF icon Booklet 4A Tenant Foreclosure Discovery (May 2019)

A form with instructions for tenants in foreclosed properties to get information to prepare their case. 

PDF icon Booklet 5 Transfer (January 2022)

A form you can file to transfer your eviction case from a District Court to a Housing Court.

PDF icon Booklet 6 Removing Default (January 2022) 

How to get a new court date if you missed your court date.

PDF icon Booklet 7 Appeals (June 2017)

If you lost your eviction trial and think you have a good case, you may appeal. This document tells you which Appeal form to use.

PDF icon Booklet 7A Appeals In All Housing Courts (June 2017) 

How to file an appeal from a case in Housing Court.

PDF icon Booklet 7B Appeals In All District Courts (June 2017) 

How to file an appeal from a case in District Court.

PDF icon Booklet 8 Stay (January 2022)

How to get time to stay in your home if you lost your case.

PDF icon Booklet 9 Affidavit of Indigency (January 2022) 

How to ask the court to pay for court costs. 

PDF icon Booklet 10 Negotiating a Settlement of Your Case (March 2018)

How to think through the terms you want in an agreement. Includes a worksheet and stipulation forms to use when you go to court. Read this booklet as webpages and watch the videos!

PDF icon Booklet 11 Error Correction Booklet (June 2017)

How to correct errors on your online court records. Booklet includes the court form you can save to your computer, fill out, save again and print when ready.

Produced by Massachusetts Law Reform Institute with assistance from Massachusetts Legal Services Programs
Reviewed January 2021

Forms Checklists and Letters

PDF icon Form 1 Moving In Checklist (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 2 Sample Rent Receipt (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 3 Statement of Condition (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 4 Security Deposit Last Months Rent Receipt (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 5 Security Deposit Demand Letter (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 6 Security Deposit Demand Tenants (June 2017)
Or try the MassAccess interactive interview, MassAccess interactive forms icon Form 6 Security Deposit Demand Letter (January 2021), that lets you complete, review, sign and send your letter to your landlord from your smart phone or computer.

PDF icon Form 7 Ilness Utility Doctors (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 8 Illness Utility Forms for Doctors (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 9 Repair Letter (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 10 Repair Demand (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 11 Inspection Request (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 12 Rent Withholding (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 13 Repair and Deduct (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 14 Tenant Petition (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 15 Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) (June 2017) You can use this form to ask a court to order your landlord to correct a problem, like making an emergency repair, or stop doing something illegal like locking you out of your apartment.
Or try the MassAccess interactive interview, MassAccess interactive forms icon Complaint for a Temporary Restraining Order, that lets you complete, review, sign and send your request for a Temporary Restraining Order to the court from your smart phone or computer.

PDF icon Form 16 Tenant Lead Law (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 17 Moving Out Checklist (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 18 Lockout Demand (June 2017) Use this form if you have been locked out of your apartment illegally, or if your landlord has shutoff your utilities illegally.

PDF icon Form 19 Summary Process (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 20 Motion to Dismiss (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 21 Sample Execution (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 22 Tenant Survey (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 23 Sample Collective Bargaining Agreement (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 24 Sample Resolution (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 25 Sample Organizing Petition (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 26 Conditions Rent Tender Letter (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 27 Organizing Flier (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 28 Organizing Letter to Owner (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 29 Organizing Press Release (June 2017)

PDF icon Form 30 Organizing Meeting Agenda (June 2017)

 

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