Landlord Atlas

Boston, Massachusetts: Rent Control (none; barred by state law)

Verified August 17, 2026 All Massachusetts topics →

Boston has no rent control or rent stabilization in force, and Massachusetts law bars the city from adopting either.

Cited to Massachusetts Rent Control Prohibition Act, Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 40P and 12 more sources · Verified August 17, 2026

A statewide ballot question Massachusetts voters approved in November 1994 bars every city and town from limiting rents, and Boston has not been able to get that changed. Boston voted against the ban at the time, 57,308 to 65,195, and lost statewide. The City Council passed a home rule petition on March 8, 2023 asking the Legislature for permission to cap rents; the request died at the State House in September 2024 and was not refiled. A statewide ballot question that would have capped increases at the lower of 5% or inflation was struck from the November 2026 ballot by the state's highest court on June 23, 2026. Guides that say Boston passed rent control are describing a request the Legislature never granted. What Boston does regulate is rental registration and inspection, notice when a tenancy ends, and condominium conversion, where tenants get 1 to 5 years' notice, a payment of $10,000 or $15,000 if they move out, and first chance to buy their unit.

What is in force

Boston has no rent control or rent stabilization, and Massachusetts law does not let the city adopt one. The Massachusetts Rent Control Prohibition Act, General Laws chapter 40P, created by a statewide ballot question voters approved in November 1994, says no city or town may enact, maintain or enforce rent control of any kind. Boston tried to get around it: the City Council passed a home rule petition on March 8, 2023 asking the Legislature for permission to cap rents and add eviction protections, and the request went to the State House as House Bill 3744. It died on September 9, 2024, when it was sent to study, and it was not refiled in the 2025-2026 session. A separate statewide ballot question that would have repealed chapter 40P and capped increases at the lower of 5% or the change in the Consumer Price Index was struck from the November 2026 ballot by the Supreme Judicial Court on June 23, 2026. Nothing has been enacted, so the ban still stands.

What housing is covered

The state ban reaches any rule that would require below-market rents for residential property in Boston, and any rule that forms part of such a scheme. It does not reach publicly owned housing, publicly subsidized housing, federally assisted housing, or mobile homes. A city may adopt a limited scheme only by formally accepting chapter 40P, which no Massachusetts municipality has done, and even then owner participation must be voluntary after six months and the city must pay owners the difference between market rent and the controlled rent out of its own funds.

Eviction and termination rules

State law governs evictions, and Boston has no general just-cause eviction rule. Two local rules do apply to how a tenancy ends. Under the Housing Stability Notification Act, Municipal Code section 10-11, a landlord who serves a notice to quit or a notice that a lease will not be renewed must file a copy with the city's Office of Housing Stability through the city's landlord portal and attach a notice of basic housing rights on the Office's form. Where the landlord is not renewing, that notice must reach the tenant at least 30 days before any eviction case is filed. Separately, in a unit already converted to a condominium or cooperative, a landlord seeking possession for any reason other than the conversion must state that reason in the termination notice and in the court complaint and must prove it, under section 10-2.10.

Other requirements

Boston's code still contains a chapter written for the rent control era, the Rental Housing Equity Ordinance at Municipal Code section 10-2, with headings such as Rent Equity Board and Maximum Rent. Its rent-setting provisions no longer operate: the ordinance's own text describes rent control authority as having ended, and state law now forbids it. What the chapter does today is govern condominium and cooperative conversion, under a separate 1983 state act. A landlord who intends to convert must give written notice on the Office of Housing Stability's form, file a conversion plan, and get a permit before converting, evicting for the conversion, or selling a unit for the buyer to move into. Notice runs at least 1 year, or at least 5 years for an elderly, disabled, or low or moderate income tenant, and the lease must be extended to cover that period. Rent on that extension may rise by no more than 10% or the previous calendar year's change in the Consumer Price Index, whichever is less. This is the only limit on rent anywhere in Boston's code, and it applies only during a conversion notice period. A tenant who does not buy is owed $10,000 when they move out, or $15,000 if they are elderly, disabled, or low or moderate income, and must first be offered the unit on terms at least as good as those offered to the public. These conversion rules are written to expire on December 31, 2026 unless the council extends them, as it has several times before, most recently on December 3, 2025. Separately, a state law in effect since August 1, 2025 provides that a rental broker's fee is paid by whichever side hired the broker. Every owner of a private residential rental unit in Boston, condominium units included, must register with the Inspectional Services Department by July 1 each year, listing the street address and the number of units owned there. Registration costs $25 the first time and $15 per unit each year after; owner-occupied buildings of six or fewer rental units pay nothing but must still register. An owner who does not live in the building must post a name, address and telephone number by the mailboxes, and an owner living outside Massachusetts must name a Boston-based agent to accept legal papers. Most units must be inspected at least once every five years, and failing to comply costs $300 a month. Those amounts are the ones in the code as published, current through Ordinance 2025 chapter 14, passed November 5, 2025.

Notes and caveats

Citations

This page records local law. Statewide rules — deposits, notice periods, late fees, entry, evictions — live on the Massachusetts hub, and the state-level position on local rent regulation appears there with its own citations and verification date.