Massachusetts Eviction Notice
Massachusetts eviction notice: the 14-day nonpayment and 30-day lease-violation notice rules under M.G.L. c. 186. Free template. Attorney review available.
Introduction
An eviction notice is a written notice a landlord serves on a tenant to begin ending a tenancy for cause, before filing a summary process case in court. The notice below is the actual document to fill out and serve, not a general explainer of how Massachusetts eviction law works. In Massachusetts, the notice period depends on why you're evicting: nonpayment of rent gets a 14-day notice to quit, while a lease violation or a no-fault termination of a month-to-month tenancy gets a 30-day notice (or one full rental period, whichever is longer). Both counts are calendar days, not court days, unlike some states that exclude weekends and holidays. Massachusetts imposes a content requirement most states don't: since April 1, 2023, every notice to quit for nonpayment of residential rent must be accompanied by a state-published form covering rental assistance programs and the tenant's legal rights, or the court cannot accept the eviction filing. That requirement sits inside General Laws Chapter 186 (tenancy termination and notice to quit); Chapter 239 governs the summary process case that follows. Beyond the accompanying form, there's no mandatory format for the notice to quit itself in most cases. A tenancy-at-will tenant also keeps a right to cure nonpayment within 10 days of the notice, once every 12 months. Serve the wrong notice period, or skip the required accompanying form, and the eviction case can be dismissed before it starts.
Key Things to Know
- 1
An eviction notice is a written notice a landlord must serve on a tenant to begin ending a tenancy for cause, before filing a summary process (eviction) case in court.
- 2
There's no state-mandated format for most notices to quit, but a written notice to quit for nonpayment of residential rent must be accompanied by a state-published form covering rental assistance programs and the tenant's rights. Courts cannot accept an eviction filing for nonpayment without proof this form was delivered. (Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 186, Section 31, effective April 1, 2023)
- 3
Nonpayment of rent gets a 14-day notice to quit, counted in calendar days. (Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 186, Section 11 for a written lease; Section 12 for a tenancy at will)
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A tenancy-at-will tenant who has not received a nonpayment notice in the prior 12 months can cure by paying all rent due within 10 days of receiving the notice, which keeps the tenancy alive. A tenant under a written lease can cure any time up to the day the answer is due in court. (Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 186, Sections 11-12)
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A lease violation that isn't nonpayment, or a no-fault termination of a month-to-month tenancy, generally gets a 30-day notice to quit, or one full rental period if longer. Massachusetts does not set a separate statutory cure period for non-monetary lease violations the way it does for nonpayment. (Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 186, Sections 12-13)
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Two situations do not require the standard notice-to-quit period: a fixed-term lease that ends by its own expiration (the former tenant becomes a "tenant at sufferance"), and use of the premises for illegal activity such as drug offenses, which lets the landlord elect to void the lease, though a court hearing is still required before removal. (Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 239, Section 1; Chapter 139, Section 19)
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A landlord cannot use force, change the locks, shut off utilities, or otherwise remove a tenant without a court order, no matter what the notice says. Self-help eviction carries fines, possible imprisonment, and civil damages of actual/consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees. (Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 186, Section 14)
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Eviction Notice in Massachusetts, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Eviction Notice guide walks through them.
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Massachusetts Requirements for Eviction Notice
14 calendar days' written notice to quit for nonpayment of rent (no weekend or holiday exclusion, unlike some states). A tenancy-at-will tenant who has not received a similar notice in the prior 12 months may cure by paying all rent due within 10 days of receiving the notice. A tenant under a written dwelling lease may cure any time up to the day the answer is due in the landlord's court action.
30 days' notice, or one full rental period if longer, for a non-monetary lease violation or a no-fault termination of a month-to-month tenancy at will. Massachusetts does not set a separate statutory cure period for this category the way it does for nonpayment; a rooming house paying rent weekly or daily gets a shorter 7-day notice under this same statute.
Massachusetts sets no statutory delivery hierarchy for the pre-filing notice to quit itself. The landlord bears the burden of proving the tenant actually received it. Personal delivery, or delivery by a constable or sheriff, is the most reliable documented method; a landlord cannot rely merely on a constable leaving the notice at the tenant's last known address if the tenant disputes receiving it.
A fixed-term lease that ends by its own limitation (expiration) does not require a further notice to quit before summary process; the former tenant becomes a tenant at sufferance. Separately, use of the premises for illegal activity such as drug offenses, illegal gaming, or violence against housing personnel lets the landlord elect to void the lease, though the statute still requires the tenant get notice and a hearing before any injunction issues.
The statutory basis for every notice type on this page and the summary process court procedure that follows if the tenant does not comply: Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 186 (Estates for Years and At Will), Sections 11 through 16 and Section 31, and Chapter 239 (Summary Process for Possession of Land).
A landlord may not use force, change the locks, shut off utilities, or otherwise interfere with a tenant's quiet enjoyment to regain possession without a court order. Violation carries a fine of $25 to $300 or imprisonment up to six months, plus civil liability for actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney's fees.
Since April 1, 2023, a written notice to quit for nonpayment of residential rent must be accompanied by a state-published form (from the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities) covering rental assistance programs, applicable trial court rules, and legal restrictions on residential evictions. No court may accept a summary process filing for nonpayment without proof the form was delivered.
Frequently Asked Questions
Massachusetts requires 14 days' notice to quit for nonpayment of rent, and 30 days (or one full rental period, whichever is longer) for a lease violation or a no-fault termination of a month-to-month tenancy. Both counts are calendar days. Federally-assisted housing tenants may get 30 days' notice for nonpayment instead of 14.
Almost never for an active tenancy: nonpayment and lease-violation/no-fault terminations both require a written notice to quit before filing a summary process case. The narrow exceptions are a fixed-term lease that has simply expired (the former tenant becomes a "tenant at sufferance") and certain illegal activity on the premises, though a court hearing is still required before removal in the illegal-activity case.
A compliant Massachusetts notice to quit must be in writing and state the tenant's name, the rental address, the reason for termination (nonpayment, lease violation, or no-fault), and the date the tenancy ends. For a nonpayment notice, state the exact amount of rent due, since the cure rights under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 186, Sections 11 and 12 turn on paying that specific amount. There's no single statewide format required beyond that content, except for the accompanying form described in the next question.
Not for the notice to quit itself in most cases: a landlord can write their own notice as long as it states the required elements above and uses the correct notice period. The one exception is nonpayment of residential rent: since April 1, 2023, that notice must be accompanied by a separate state-published form covering rental assistance programs and tenant rights, under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 186, Section 31, or the court cannot accept the eviction filing. Lease-violation and no-fault notices carry no such accompanying-form requirement.
Nonpayment of rent is curable: a tenant under a written lease can pay all rent due, with interest and costs, any time up to the day the answer is due in court, and a tenancy-at-will tenant who hasn't received a similar notice in the prior 12 months can cure within 10 days of receiving the notice. Massachusetts does not set a separate statutory cure period for a lease violation that isn't nonpayment; those generally proceed on the 30-day notice with no built-in right to fix the problem first. When filling out the notice, include the cure language only on a nonpayment notice that meets the conditions above.
Count 14 calendar days from the date the tenant receives a nonpayment notice, or 30 days (or one full rental period, whichever is longer) from receipt for a lease-violation or no-fault notice. Massachusetts counts straight calendar days; it does not exclude weekends or holidays. Enter the resulting date as the quit-by date on the notice, and keep a record of the date the tenant actually received it, since that date starts the count.
If the tenant hasn't moved out or cured by the quit-by date, the notice itself doesn't force anything further; it only ends the tenancy and sets up the next step. The landlord's next step is to file a summary process case, which requires proof the notice was properly served and that the correct notice period was used. Keep the signed, dated notice and your proof of service, since the court will look for both before the case can proceed.
Massachusetts law requires the notice to quit be given in writing by the landlord to the tenant, though it doesn't prescribe a specific signature block. In practice, sign and date the notice, since the date of service starts the 14-day or 30-day count and Massachusetts counts calendar days from that date, not court days. Keep a copy of the signed, dated notice as your record of when the notice period began, since the landlord bears the burden of proving the tenant actually received it.