Free Massachusetts Lease Agreement Template

Last updated July 17, 2026

Download a free Massachusetts lease agreement template

A Massachusetts residential lease agreement records the deal between a landlord and tenant for a home in Massachusetts. It identifies the parties and premises, sets the rent and term, allocates utilities and maintenance responsibilities, and provides a written place for property rules. The free PDF and Word versions on this page are labeled for Massachusetts and are intended as a practical starting document—not a substitute for checking which statutes, disclosures, or local rules apply to a particular property.

The principal research authority for this page is Massachusetts General Laws chapters 111 and 186, chapter 112 broker-fee law, and 105 CMR 410 and 460. Research scope: Official Massachusetts Legislature and Commonwealth regulation sources governing residential agreement terms, move-in payments, security deposits and last-month rent, broker fees, habitability, access, lead and water disclosures, termination, retaliation, execution, and municipal health, housing, registration, and inspection overlays. Because residential rules can depend on property type, tenancy length, location, and regulated-housing status, review the completed agreement and any required addenda before signing.

Massachusetts lease topics to review

The current research draft for Massachusetts identifies the following topics as relevant to residential lease preparation. Use them as a checklist, and verify each rule's scope, current text, and exceptions before adding a term to the lease.

• Massachusetts residential rules include scope-specific exceptions and additional regimes for certain property, program, and occupancy types.
• Massachusetts makes lease provisions that conflict with or waive section 15B void and tightly controls residential move-in money.
• Massachusetts limits ordinary residential move-in collections to four statutory categories and caps the deposit and last-month-rent amounts by the first month's rent.
• Massachusetts residential fitness duties are governed in material part by the State Sanitary Code and enforced through local health authorities.
• Massachusetts requires a prescribed pre-tenancy lead-notification and document workflow for most pre-1978 dwellings.
• Massachusetts applies interval-based notice to ordinary tenancy-at-will termination and a 14-day nonpayment branch with residential cure protections.
• Massachusetts requires a duly executed lease copy within 30 days in the section 15D scenario and separately preserves section 15B's payment-document workflow.
• Massachusetts delegates major housing-code enforcement functions to local boards and permits relevant nonconflicting local health regulation, making city-or-town review mandatory.

The final lease should not waive protections that cannot lawfully be waived. If a selected term conflicts with a controlling statute, official form, court order, housing-program rule, or local ordinance, the controlling rule applies even when the parties signed different language.

What to include in a Massachusetts residential lease

• Landlord, tenant, and premises details — use the parties' full legal names, the complete Massachusetts property address, and a clear description of included parking, storage, furnishings, or shared spaces.
• Term and rent — state whether the tenancy is fixed-term or periodic, when it begins, when rent is due, accepted payment methods, and what happens at the end of the stated term.
• Deposits and charges — identify each deposit, prepaid amount, fee, and late-payment term separately so it can be compared with the current Massachusetts rule that applies to the property.
• Utilities, maintenance, and access — allocate day-to-day responsibilities without attempting to transfer a nonwaivable landlord or tenant duty.
• Rules and addenda — document pets, smoking, parking, guests, insurance, association rules, and any federal, state, local, or property-specific disclosure that applies.
• Notices and signatures — provide reliable notice addresses and retain a complete signed copy for every party.

State and local checks before signing

Massachusetts delegates major housing-code enforcement functions to local boards and permits relevant nonconflicting local health regulation, making city-or-town review mandatory. Confirm the property address and the current local text before signing.

Federal requirements can also apply. For example, most pre-1978 housing requires the federal lead-based-paint disclosure process. Manufactured housing, short-term occupancy, owner-occupied rooms, subsidized housing, and rent-regulated property may follow a different legal path from an ordinary residential lease.

Use the official source linked below to confirm the current statewide text. For a disputed tenancy, an eviction or termination, unusual fees, regulated housing, or a property in a city with additional renter protections, obtain advice about the specific facts before relying on a template.

How to use the free Massachusetts template

1. Download the Massachusetts PDF when you want a printable blank, or the Word file when you want to edit the text electronically.
2. Complete the parties, property, rent, term, deposit, utilities, maintenance, access, and notice fields.
3. Attach the disclosures and property-specific addenda that actually apply.
4. Compare the completed document with the current official source and local requirements.
5. Give every party the same final version to review before anyone signs, then retain the fully executed copy.

The guided builder is available when you prefer questions and a generated preview. Whether you use the free template or the builder, confirm the final agreement against the property and the parties' actual arrangement.