Massachusetts rental fee FAQ

A Massachusetts Attorney General regulation on unfair and deceptive fees, enforced since September 2, 2025. It covers rental housing and requires the Total Price, including all required fees, to be shown clearly whenever a price is shown.

Only four things: first month's rent, last month's rent at the same rate, a security deposit of no more than one month's rent, and the cost of a new lock and key (M.G.L. c. 186, s. 15B).

No. An application fee is not one of the four charges a landlord may collect at or before move-in.

Since August 1, 2025, whoever hired the broker. A landlord cannot pass its own broker's fee to the tenant. A tenant who hires a broker may owe that broker.

Not until rent is 30 days late. No lease may impose interest or a penalty for late rent before then.

No more than one month's rent. It must be held in a separate interest-bearing account in a Massachusetts bank, with a receipt, and returned within 30 days after the tenancy ends.

Yes. Interest is owed each year, at 5% or the lower rate a bank paid on it.

Not as a separate upfront charge. Monthly pet rent for tenants with pets is generally allowed if it is disclosed.

Yes, as long as the full lease term is also disclosed clearly.

The regulation and the Attorney General guidance do not address utility usage directly. State clearly which utilities rent includes and which the tenant pays.

Not one that was left out of the disclosed price. Under 940 CMR 38.00, an undisclosed fee cannot be charged later.

The upfront charge limits in M.G.L. c. 186, s. 15B apply to residential tenancies whatever the number of units. The fee regulation covers rental housing generally. If your situation is unusual, ask a Massachusetts lawyer.

Fee violations are unfair or deceptive practices under Chapter 93A. Security deposit violations can cost up to three times the deposit plus interest, costs and attorney's fees.

No. Colorado also requires an all-in Total Price but bans a different list of fees. Illinois, from 2027, requires fees on the first page of the lease. See the state comparison page.