Massachusetts Rental Application Form

Q: Can a Massachusetts landlord require a rental application fee at all?

No, because the charge is not one of the four things the statute permits. Chapter 186, Section 15B(1)(b) of the General Laws provides that at or prior to the commencement of any tenancy, no lessor or agent of the lessor may require a tenant or prospective tenant to pay, to the lessor or to an agent of the lessor, any amount in excess of rent for the first full month of occupancy, rent for the last full month of occupancy calculated at the same rate as the first month, a security deposit equal to the first month's rent on the conditions the section sets, and the purchase and installation cost for a key and lock. The list is closed. An application fee, a screening fee or a processing charge is not on it, so there is no permitted amount to quote and no cap to look up.

Q: Can a Massachusetts real estate broker charge an application or screening fee?

Not since August 1, 2025. That is the date the current wording of Section 15B(1)(b) took effect, and the change is exactly this point. The 2025 amendment inserted agent of the lessor into the prohibition and separately covered any amount required to be paid to the lessor or to an agent of the lessor. Before that date the four item limit bound only the lessor, which is why guidance written from older text treats a brokerage charge as an open question. It is not one now: what the landlord may not require, an agent acting for the landlord may not require either, and a payment routed to the agent is inside the limit rather than outside it.

Q: Which up-front charges can a Massachusetts landlord require before a tenancy starts?

Exactly four, and the statute lists them in order. Rent for the first full month of occupancy. Rent for the last full month of occupancy, calculated at the same rate as the first month. A security deposit equal to the first month's rent, provided the deposit is handled as subsection (3) requires and the tenant is given the statement of condition subsection (2) requires. And the purchase and installation cost for a key and lock. The Commonwealth's housing agency describes the same four in plain language. Anything beyond them, whatever it is called, is an amount in excess of the list. The 2025 amendment also authorised the state housing office to make regulations permitting an optional fee in lieu of a security deposit, capped in total at one month's rent, but that is a deposit alternative rather than an application fee and it depends on regulations this page does not assert exist.

Q: Does the Massachusetts up-front charge limit apply to a short vacation rental?

No, and that is the section's only exclusion. Section 15B(9) takes out of the section any lease, rental, occupancy or tenancy of one hundred days or less in duration which lease or rental is for a vacation or recreational purpose. Both elements have to be present, so a hundred day tenancy that is not for a vacation or recreational purpose stays inside the section, and a holiday let that runs longer than a hundred days does too. Outside that narrow gap the limit applies to any tenancy of residential real property, with no exemption for a small landlord, an owner occupied building, a seasonal rental or a condominium unit.

Q: Can a Massachusetts landlord ask an applicant to hand over their own criminal record?

No. Chapter 6, Section 172(d) provides that except as authorized by that section it shall be unlawful to request or require a person to provide a copy of his criminal offender record information. The distinction is between what a landlord may obtain through the authorised channel and what it may demand from the applicant directly, and the second is barred. Section 172(a)(3) is the authorised channel: it permits a requestor to obtain criminal offender record information to evaluate applicants for rental or lease of housing, and it caps what is released. Pushing the task onto the applicant instead is not a way around that cap.

Q: How far back does a Massachusetts housing record check reach?

The limit is on what the Commonwealth releases, and Chapter 6, Section 172(a)(3) sets it. For a requestor evaluating applicants for rental or lease of housing, the information made available is limited to felony convictions or findings of not guilty by reason of insanity for ten years following the disposition, including termination of any period of incarceration or custody; misdemeanor convictions for five years following the disposition on the same measure; and pending criminal charges, which include cases that have been continued without a finding until the case is dismissed. Two provisos run alongside: prior misdemeanor and felony conviction records remain available for the entire period that the subject's last available conviction record is available, and a violation of the abuse prevention and harassment prevention sections the statute names is treated as a felony for this purpose. A housing authority operating under Chapter 121B has its own narrower authorisation for housing it owns.

Q: Must a Massachusetts landlord give an applicant their record before asking about it?

Yes, and the sequence is the point. Chapter 6, Section 171A provides that in connection with any decision regarding housing, a person in possession of an applicant's criminal offender record information shall provide the applicant with the criminal history record in the person's possession, whether obtained from the department or any other source, prior to questioning the applicant about his criminal history. If an adverse decision is then made on the basis of criminal history, the record must be provided again unless it was already handed over before the questioning. Anyone who annually conducts five or more criminal background investigations, from any source, must also maintain a written policy providing that it will notify the applicant of the potential adverse decision, provide a copy of the record and the policy, and provide information concerning the process for correcting a criminal record. Note what Massachusetts does not require: no conditional offer step and no individualized assessment. Enforcement under Section 171A runs through investigation, hearing and sanctions by the board rather than through a new private claim.

Q: Can a Massachusetts lease make a prospective tenant waive these limits?

No. Section 15B(8) provides that any provision of a lease which conflicts with any provision of the section, and any waiver by a tenant or prospective tenant of any provision of the section, shall be deemed to be against public policy and therefore void and unenforceable. A prospective tenant is named in that sentence, so a waiver signed at the application stage fails on the same terms as one signed at the lease. Section 15B(6)(c) adds a consequence for trying: the lessor forfeits the right to retain any portion of the security deposit where he uses in any lease signed by the tenant a provision which conflicts with the section and attempts to enforce it, or attempts to obtain from the tenant or prospective tenant a waiver of any provision of the section. Beyond that, the section states no damages figure for an unlawful up-front charge.

Chapter 186, Section 15B(1)(b) of the Massachusetts General Laws is a closed list of what may be required at or before the start of a tenancy: first month's rent, last month's rent at the same rate, a security deposit equal to the first month's rent, and the cost of a key and lock. A rental application or screening fee is not on the list. Since August 1, 2025 the limit has bound agents of the lessor too.

Find out where you stand in Massachusetts

Which side of the rental application are you on?

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Introduction

Four things, and only four things, may be required from a Massachusetts tenant or prospective tenant at or before the start of a tenancy, and a rental application fee is not among them. Chapter 186, Section 15B(1)(b) of the General Laws reads as a closed list rather than as a cap: no lessor or agent of the lessor may require a tenant or prospective tenant to pay, to the lessor or to an agent of the lessor, any amount in excess of rent for the first full month of occupancy, rent for the last full month of occupancy calculated at the same rate as the first month, a security deposit equal to the first month's rent on the conditions the section sets, and the purchase and installation cost for a key and lock. That is the whole list. Because an application fee, a screening fee, a processing charge and a holding charge are none of those four things, none of them can lawfully be required. Framing it as a list rather than as a ban is worth the extra sentence, because the list is what makes the answer predictable: the question is never how much, it is whether the charge is one of the four, and for a screening fee it is not. The date in this rule matters more than usual. The wording above took effect on August 1, 2025. Before that date the limit bound only the lessor, which left room to route a charge through a broker or a managing agent instead. The 2025 amendment inserted agent of the lessor into the prohibition and also covered payment made to an agent of the lessor, so the broker route closed. Any Massachusetts summary written from the older text states the rule too narrowly, and the statute page itself still displays both versions in sequence, which is how the old rule keeps circulating. The Commonwealth's own housing agency describes the same four permitted charges in plain language and does not mention an application fee at all. One exclusion exists and it is narrow: Section 15B(9) takes out any lease, rental, occupancy or tenancy of one hundred days or less in duration which is for a vacation or recreational purpose. There is no small-landlord carve-out and no owner-occupied carve-out, which makes this limit broader in reach than the application-fee rules of most states.

Key Things to Know

1
August 1, 2025 is the date to check a Massachusetts source against. On that day the limit in Section 15B(1)(b) stopped binding only the lessor and began binding, in the statute's own words, no lessor or agent of the lessor, with the payment itself described as a payment to the lessor or to an agent of the lessor. The change was made by two short sections of the 2025 act and brought into force by that act's commencement clause. Its practical effect is that a brokerage, a managing agent or a listing agent cannot collect what the landlord may not collect. The statute page still shows the pre-amendment and post-amendment wording one after the other, so a reader who stops at the first version gets the narrower rule.
2
Nothing on the list is an application fee, and that is the entire mechanism. The four permitted items are rent for the first full month, rent for the last full month at the same rate as the first, a security deposit equal to the first month's rent subject to the deposit and statement-of-condition conditions in the section, and the purchase and installation cost for a key and lock. A charge that is not one of those four has no place to sit. The Commonwealth's housing agency states the same four in its own guidance, saying landlords are allowed to collect the first and last month's rent, a security deposit equal to one month's rent and money for the purchase and installation costs for a lock and key.
3
The only tenancy outside this limit is a short holiday let. Section 15B(9) excludes any lease, rental, occupancy or tenancy of one hundred days or less in duration which lease or rental is for a vacation or recreational purpose. Both halves of that test have to be satisfied: the hundred days and the purpose. There is no exemption anywhere in the section for a landlord with few units, for an owner-occupied two family or three family, or for a condominium or seasonal rental, which is where several other states draw a line and Massachusetts does not.
4
There is no refund rule here, because there is nothing to refund. Section 15B creates no refund, itemization or receipt duty for an application or screening fee, since the section does not permit one to be collected. What it does create are receipt duties attached to the payments it allows: a receipt on advance payment of the last month's rent carrying seven specified items, a signed receipt on receiving a security deposit which reaches a prospective tenant as well as a tenant, a written statement of the present condition of the premises with a prescribed twelve point bold face notice, and a bank and account number receipt within thirty days. Section 15B also states no damages figure for collecting a prohibited up-front amount, so what happens next in that situation is a question for a lawyer rather than something the section answers.
5
Two separate Massachusetts rules bar things a rental application might otherwise ask for. Chapter 6, Section 172(d) provides that except as authorized by that section it shall be unlawful to request or require a person to provide a copy of his criminal offender record information, so a landlord may not make the applicant produce their own record. And Chapter 186, Section 25 provides that an owner shall not refuse to enter into a rental agreement, nor shall a housing subsidy provider deny assistance, based on an applicant having terminated a rental agreement as a survivor under Section 24 or based on an applicant having requested a change of locks under Section 26. Section 28 makes a waiver of those protections void and unenforceable.
6
What a Massachusetts landlord can be given for a housing application is capped at source. Chapter 6, Section 172(a)(3) authorises a requestor to obtain criminal offender record information to evaluate applicants for rental or lease of housing, and then limits what is made available to felony convictions or findings of not guilty by reason of insanity for ten years following the disposition including termination of any period of incarceration or custody, misdemeanor convictions for five years following the disposition on the same measure, and pending criminal charges including cases continued without a finding until the case is dismissed. Two provisos travel with it: prior misdemeanor and felony conviction records stay available for the entire period that the subject's last available conviction record is available, and a violation of the abuse prevention and harassment prevention sections the statute names is treated as a felony for that purpose. A housing authority operating under Chapter 121B has a separate and narrower authorisation covering housing it owns.
7
Massachusetts hands the applicant their own record first, and prescribes nothing like a conditional offer. Chapter 6, Section 171A requires a person in possession of a housing applicant's criminal offender record information to provide the applicant with that record, from whatever source it came, before questioning the applicant about his criminal history, and again if an adverse decision is made on the basis of criminal history unless it was already provided. A person who annually conducts five or more criminal background investigations must maintain a written policy committing to notify the applicant of the potential adverse decision, provide a copy of the record and the policy, and provide information concerning the process for correcting a criminal record. What Massachusetts does not do is set out a conditional offer sequence or require an individualized assessment, and Section 171A is explicit that it creates no independent cause of action beyond Chapter 151B, with enforcement running instead through investigation, hearing and sanctions by the board.

Key decisions before you file

Before you file a Rental Application Form in Massachusetts, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Rental Application Form guide walks through them.

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MASSACHUSETTS RENTAL APPLICATION (SKELETON)

There is no fee part to this form. Chapter 186, Section 15B(1)(b) of the General Laws lists what may be required at or before the start of a tenancy, and an application or screening fee is not on that list. Part A records that; the applicant completes B through G.

A. NO APPLICATION OR SCREENING CHARGE No amount is required, and none may be paid to the landlord or to an agent of the landlord, to submit, process or decide this application. The only amounts that may be required at or before the start of the tenancy are: (i) rent for the first full month of occupancy; (ii) rent for the last full month of occupancy at the same rate as the first month; (iii) a security deposit equal to the first month's rent, handled as Section 15B(3) requires and accompanied by the statement of condition Section 15B(2) requires; and (iv) the purchase and installation cost for a key and lock. This limit has bound agents of the lessor as well as the lessor since August 1, 2025. Applicant initials: ____

B. APPLICANT Full legal name. Telephone. Email. Current mailing address.

C. ADDRESS HISTORY Current address, dates of occupancy, monthly rent, landlord or manager name and telephone. Two prior addresses with the same details.

D. INCOME AND REFERENCES Employer, position, length of employment, gross monthly income. Other lawful income, including any housing subsidy or other rental assistance.

E. OCCUPANTS, VEHICLES AND PETS Every person who will occupy the unit. Vehicles. Pets, and whether any animal is required as a disability accommodation, which is handled separately from this application.

F. RECORD NOTICE, WHERE A CRIMINAL OFFENDER RECORD CHECK IS RUN If the landlord or its agent obtains the applicant's criminal offender record information, Chapter 6, Section 171A requires that a copy of the record in its possession be given to the applicant, whatever its source, before the applicant is questioned about criminal history, and again if an adverse decision is made on that basis. A person conducting five or more criminal background investigations a year must maintain a written policy covering notice of a potential adverse decision, delivery of the record and the policy, and information on correcting a record. Written policy provided with this form: [ ] This application does not ask the applicant to supply a copy of their own criminal offender record information. Chapter 6, Section 172(d) makes requesting or requiring that unlawful except as that section authorizes.

G. CONSENT I authorize verification of the information above and the obtaining of a consumer credit report.

Signature: ____________________ Date: ________

WAIVER NOTE. Section 15B(8) provides that any lease provision conflicting with Section 15B, and any waiver by a tenant or prospective tenant of any provision of it, is against public policy and therefore void and unenforceable. Nothing signed on this form changes the four item limit above.

REFUSAL NOTE. Section 25 provides that an owner shall not refuse to enter into a rental agreement, and a housing subsidy provider shall not deny assistance, based on an applicant having terminated a rental agreement under Section 24 or having requested a change of locks under Section 26.

National form and other states: Rental Application Form. The tenancy itself begins with a Residential Lease Agreement.

Massachusetts Requirements for Rental Application Form

The Closed List of Four Permitted Up-Front Charges
Chapter 186, Section 15B(1)(b) provides that at or prior to the commencement of any tenancy, no lessor or agent of the lessor may require a tenant or prospective tenant to pay, to the lessor or to an agent of the lessor, any amount in excess of the following: rent for the first full month of occupancy; rent for the last full month of occupancy calculated at the same rate as the first month; a security deposit equal to the first month's rent, provided the deposit is handled as subsection (3) requires and the statement of condition subsection (2) requires is given; and the purchase and installation cost for a key and lock. The list is closed, so the test is membership rather than amount. A rental application fee, a tenant screening fee and a processing charge are none of the four, and therefore cannot lawfully be required.
Since August 1, 2025 the Limit Binds an Agent of the Lessor Too
The current wording took effect on August 1, 2025, and the change is the most current thing about Massachusetts on this subject. Two short sections of the 2025 act inserted agent of the lessor into the prohibition and rewrote the payment language to cover an amount paid to the lessor or to an agent of the lessor; a third section of the same act set the commencement date. Before then the four item limit bound the lessor alone, leaving room to route a charge through a broker or managing agent. A page or policy written from pre-August-2025 text states the rule too narrowly, and the statute page still prints both versions in sequence, which is how the older one keeps circulating.
The Only Exclusion: a Vacation Tenancy of One Hundred Days or Less
Section 15B(9) excludes from the section any lease, rental, occupancy or tenancy of one hundred days or less in duration which lease or rental is for a vacation or recreational purpose. Both limbs must be satisfied, so a short tenancy that is not for a vacation or recreational purpose remains inside the section and a holiday let longer than a hundred days does as well. Note what is absent: there is no exemption for a landlord with few units, for an owner occupied building, for a seasonal rental or for a condominium unit, which makes this limit broader in reach than most states' application fee rules.
No Refund Rule, and No Damages Figure Stated for an Unlawful Charge
Massachusetts solved this upstream rather than with a refund rule, so Section 15B contains no refund duty, no itemization duty and no receipt duty for an application or screening fee. There is nothing to refund because nothing may be collected. It is also worth saying plainly that the section states no damages figure for collecting a prohibited up-front amount: the treble damages in Section 15B(7) attach to the security deposit failures listed in subsection (6), not to an unlawful charge at the application stage. What happens next where one was collected is a question for a lawyer, and attorney review is available as an option.
Receipts Attach to the Permitted Payments, One of Them Pre-Tenancy
The receipt regime in Section 15B is elaborate, and it exists for the amounts the statute allows. Section 15B(2)(a) requires a receipt at the time of advance payment of the last month's rent, carrying seven specified items. Section 15B(2)(b) requires a signed receipt on receiving a security deposit from a tenant or prospective tenant, stating the amount, the name of the person receiving it, the name of the lessor where an agent received it, the date of receipt and a description of the premises; that is the one receipt duty in the section that reaches an applicant rather than a tenant. Section 15B(2)(c) requires a written statement of the present condition of the premises within ten days of the commencement of the tenancy or on receipt of the deposit, whichever is later, including a prescribed twelve point bold face notice, and Section 15B(3)(a) requires a receipt giving the bank name and account number within thirty days.
The Fee in Lieu of a Security Deposit Is Not an Application Fee
Recorded here because the two are routinely confused. The 2025 act added a proviso to Section 15B(1)(b)(iii) authorising the state housing office to promulgate regulations, after consulting the Attorney General, allowing a lessor and a tenant or prospective tenant to agree to a fee in lieu of payment of a security deposit. The statutory conditions are specific: the fee must be used to cover unpaid rent or unit damage under that tenant's lease, non-refundability must be disclosed in the lease, the total including any deposit actually paid may not exceed one month's rent, the option must be optional for both sides with the tenant free to pay a full deposit instead, it must be offered to every approved applicant regardless of income, race, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, immigration status, household size or credit score and those factors may not be used to set the amount, and the tenant may opt out later by paying the deposit. It is a deposit alternative, not a charge for processing an application, and it exists only to the extent those regulations are made. Whether they have been made is not stated here.
The Record Goes to the Applicant Before Any Questioning
Chapter 6, Section 171A provides that in connection with any decision regarding housing, a person in possession of an applicant's criminal offender record information shall provide the applicant with the criminal history record in the person's possession, whether obtained from the department or any other source, prior to questioning the applicant about his criminal history, and shall provide it again on an adverse decision made on that basis unless it was already provided. A person who annually conducts five or more criminal background investigations, from the department or any other source, must maintain a written policy providing that it will notify the applicant of the potential adverse decision, provide a copy of the record and the policy to the applicant, and provide information concerning the process for correcting a criminal record. Chapter 6, Section 172(d) separately makes it unlawful, except as that section authorizes, to request or require a person to provide a copy of his criminal offender record information, so the applicant may not be made to produce it. Massachusetts prescribes no conditional offer sequence and no individualized assessment, and Section 171A is explicit that it creates no independent cause of action beyond Chapter 151B; enforcement runs through investigation, hearing and sanctions by the board.
A Waiver Signed by a Prospective Tenant Is Void
Section 15B(8) provides that any provision of a lease which conflicts with any provision of the section, and any waiver by a tenant or prospective tenant of any provision of the section, shall be deemed to be against public policy and therefore void and unenforceable. A prospective tenant is named, so a waiver taken at the application stage is in the same position as one taken at signing. Section 15B(6)(c) adds a consequence for the attempt: the lessor forfeits the right to retain any portion of the security deposit where he uses in any lease signed by the tenant a provision which conflicts with the section and attempts to enforce it, or attempts to obtain from the tenant or prospective tenant a waiver of any provision of the section. Separately, Chapter 186, Section 25 bars an owner from refusing to enter into a rental agreement, and a housing subsidy provider from denying assistance, based on an applicant having terminated a rental agreement as a survivor under Section 24 or having requested a change of locks under Section 26; Section 28 makes a waiver of those protections void as well.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a Massachusetts landlord require a rental application fee at all?

Can a Massachusetts real estate broker charge an application or screening fee?

Which up-front charges can a Massachusetts landlord require before a tenancy starts?

Does the Massachusetts up-front charge limit apply to a short vacation rental?

Can a Massachusetts landlord ask an applicant to hand over their own criminal record?

How far back does a Massachusetts housing record check reach?

Must a Massachusetts landlord give an applicant their record before asking about it?

Can a Massachusetts lease make a prospective tenant waive these limits?

Find out where you stand in Massachusetts

Introduction

Key Things to Know

Key decisions before you file

Customize your Rental Application Form Template with DocDraft

Massachusetts Requirements for Rental Application Form

The Closed List of Four Permitted Up-Front Charges

Since August 1, 2025 the Limit Binds an Agent of the Lessor Too

The Only Exclusion: a Vacation Tenancy of One Hundred Days or Less

No Refund Rule, and No Damages Figure Stated for an Unlawful Charge

Receipts Attach to the Permitted Payments, One of Them Pre-Tenancy

The Fee in Lieu of a Security Deposit Is Not an Application Fee

The Record Goes to the Applicant Before Any Questioning

A Waiver Signed by a Prospective Tenant Is Void

Frequently Asked Questions