Buying · Due diligence

The Massachusetts rules that catch new landlords

Buying a rental here is not the same as buying one in New Hampshire. Three bodies of law reach into a small rental, and each carries a cost or a liability that a general home inspection will not surface. Establish all three before the offer, because two of them can make a property unrentable to the tenants you were counting on.

Lead paint carries strict liability

The Massachusetts Lead Law requires a property built before 1978 to be deleaded if a child under six occupies it. The trigger is occupancy by a child, not a positive blood test, and it reaches owner-occupied homes as well as rentals.

Two features make this harsher than most buyers expect. Owners are held strictly liable for lead injuries, so a child poisoned in your unit is your responsibility unless you can show the apartment was deleaded, even though exposure could have happened elsewhere. And you cannot contract out of it: an agreement in which a tenant accepts the presence of lead paint does not protect you.

Nor can you sidestep it by choosing tenants. Refusing to rent to a family with young children because of lead paint is discrimination and carries penalties. On pre-1978 stock, which is most of the South Shore, the practical position is that you either delead or you have restricted who may lawfully live there.

Title 5, if it is not on sewer

A septic system must be inspected at the time of transfer, or within the two years before it. The window extends to three years where the system has been pumped annually. If weather prevents an inspection, up to six months after the sale may be allowed, provided the seller notifies the buyer of the requirement in writing.

The exemptions are narrower than people assume. Transfers between parents and children, between full siblings, between current spouses, and certain transfers involving trust beneficiaries are exempt, under 310 CMR 15.301(4)(d). An ordinary arm's length sale is not.

Read our Taunton page before assuming a septic property can take another unit. Taunton's Board of Health bars using or expanding any system built before the current Sanitary Code for an ADU, and requires a passing Title 5 inspection before the building permit issues. Other towns apply their own rules.

The security deposit statute, which punishes paperwork

M.G.L. c.186 s.15B is where competent landlords get caught, because the penalties attach to procedure rather than to harm. Three categories of violation carry mandatory treble damages plus the tenant's attorney fees, whether or not the tenant lost a penny.

Requirement	What the statute demands
Amount	No more than one month's rent
Where it is held	A separate interest-bearing account in a Massachusetts bank, not your operating account
Receipt	Within 30 days, naming the bank, its address, the account number and the amount
Statement of condition	Within 10 days of the tenancy starting
Interest	After a year, 5% or the actual rate the bank paid, whichever is lower, paid or credited on the anniversary
Withholding anything	An itemised list within 30 days of termination, signed under the penalties of perjury, with invoices, bills, receipts or estimates attached
Unpaid interest	Failure to pay it within 30 days of termination gives the tenant treble the interest, plus costs and attorney fees

Inheriting tenants means inheriting their deposits and whatever the previous owner did or failed to do with them. Establish at the offer stage where each deposit is held, whether receipts and statements of condition were issued, and what interest has accrued. A seller who cannot produce this is handing you the liability.

The simplest protection is available and underused: take last month's rent instead of a security deposit, or take neither. The statute governs deposits. It cannot penalise the handling of a deposit you never took.

Questions people ask

Do I have to delead a Massachusetts rental?

If the property was built before 1978 and a child under six occupies it, yes. The requirement is triggered by a child living there, not by a blood test, and it applies to owner-occupied homes as well as rentals.

Can a tenant agree to accept lead paint?

No. Owners are strictly liable for lead injuries in Massachusetts, and an agreement in which a tenant accepts the presence of lead paint does not protect the owner.

Can I refuse to rent to a family with young children because of lead paint?

No. Refusing to rent on that basis is discrimination and carries penalties. The lawful route is to delead.

When is a Title 5 septic inspection required?

At the transfer of title or within the two years before it, extended to three years where the system has been pumped every year. Transfers between parents and children, full siblings, current spouses and certain trust beneficiaries are exempt under 310 CMR 15.301(4)(d).

What happens if I mishandle a security deposit in Massachusetts?

Three categories of violation under M.G.L. c.186 s.15B carry mandatory treble damages plus the tenant's attorney fees, regardless of whether the tenant suffered any actual loss. Failing to pay accrued interest within 30 days of termination gives the tenant treble that interest plus costs and fees.