Massachusetts Roommate Agreement
The Massachusetts rules that shape the document: no self-help removal under the criminal trespass statute, occupant versus tenant status, and the narrow two-family fair housing exemption.
Find out where you stand in Massachusetts
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Introduction
A roommate agreement is a private contract between co-tenants, not a lease, and it does not bind the landlord or change what the lease says. In Massachusetts, a handful of state rules sit on top of the national template: the criminal trespass statute expressly excludes tenants and occupants who entered rightfully, so removing a roommate, even one never added to the lease, always requires a formal eviction; no statute defines whether a roommate is a co-tenant or a mere occupant of the tenant who brought them in; and the state fair housing exemption for owner-occupied shared living is narrower than the federal Mrs. Murphy exemption. Everything else, the rent split, chores, guests, and quiet hours, is covered by the national template.
Key Things to Know
- 1
Massachusetts has no lodger law. The opposite is codified: Mass. Gen. Laws c.266, Section 120, the criminal trespass statute, expressly excludes tenants and occupants who rightfully entered the premises, so even a roommate never on the lease cannot be removed by self-help. The owner or the tenant who brought them in may recover possession only through civil summary process, the same court eviction used against any tenant.
- 2
No Massachusetts statute defines whether a roommate added by an existing tenant is a co-tenant or a subtenant or licensee. Absent being added to the lease itself, that roommate is treated as an occupant of the tenant who brought them in, not as a party to the landlord relationship.
- 3
No Massachusetts statute gives a tenant an affirmative right to add a roommate over the landlord's objection, unlike New York's Roommate Law. Whether a new roommate may move in depends on the lease's own sublet or assignment clause, not on a statewide default.
- 4
No Massachusetts statute sets a joint-and-several or pro-rata default for rent liability among co-tenants on one lease. The lease itself controls whoever signed it; this agreement should state how the roommates reimburse each other explicitly.
- 5
Massachusetts' security deposit statute, Mass. Gen. Laws c.186, Section 15B, speaks only of returning the deposit to 'the tenant' in the singular and never mentions co-tenants or roommates, so how departing roommates split a refund is left entirely to this agreement.
- 6
Massachusetts' fair housing exemption for owner-occupied shared housing, Mass. Gen. Laws c.151B, Section 4(7)(c), is narrower than the federal Mrs. Murphy exemption. It covers only a single apartment or flat in an owner-occupied two-family dwelling, not buildings of up to four units the way federal law does.
- 7
No Boston, Cambridge, or Somerville ordinance addressing roommate selection, liability, or deposit splitting was found. Massachusetts' statewide ban on local rent control forecloses the kind of city-level tenant-protection layering seen in cities like Chicago.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Roommate Agreement in Massachusetts, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Roommate Agreement guide walks through them.
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Massachusetts Requirements for Roommate Agreement
Massachusetts Bars Self-Help Roommate Removal
Mass. Gen. Laws c.266, Section 120, the criminal trespass statute, expressly excludes tenants and occupants who rightfully entered the premises, so even a roommate never added to the lease cannot be removed by self-help. Removal requires civil summary process under c.239, the same eviction used against any tenant. The agreement should not suggest any lockout or self-help removal right.
Massachusetts Co-Tenant Status Is Undefined by Statute
No Massachusetts statute defines whether a roommate brought in by an existing tenant is a co-tenant, subtenant, or licensee. Absent being added to the lease itself, that roommate is treated as an occupant of the admitting tenant. Status depends on the lease's sublet or assignment clause, not on the roommate agreement.
Massachusetts Rent Liability to the Landlord
No Massachusetts statute sets a joint-and-several or pro-rata default for rent liability among co-tenants on one lease. The lease itself controls; the agreement should state how the roommates reimburse each other explicitly.
Massachusetts Security Deposit Split Between Roommates
Mass. Gen. Laws c.186, Section 15B addresses only the landlord's return of a deposit to 'the tenant' in the singular and never mentions co-tenants. How departing roommates split a refund or reimburse each other for damage is left entirely to the agreement.
Massachusetts Fair Housing Exemption Is Narrower Than Federal Law
Mass. Gen. Laws c.151B, Section 4(7)(c) exempts only the leasing of a single apartment or flat in an owner-occupied two-family dwelling, not owner-occupied buildings of up to four units as the federal Mrs. Murphy exemption allows. Selection based on a protected class outside that narrow setting remains fully covered.
No Massachusetts Right to Add a Roommate Over Landlord Objection
No Massachusetts statute gives a tenant an affirmative right to add a roommate over the landlord's objection, unlike New York's RPL 235-f. The lease's sublet or assignment clause and the landlord's consent control whether a new roommate may move in.