{
    "dataset": "Homzora Massachusetts Security Deposit Statute Reference 2026",
    "jurisdiction": "Commonwealth of Massachusetts",
    "scope": "Section 15B of Chapter 186 of the Massachusetts General Laws, governing the amount, handling, interest and return of a residential security deposit.",
    "how_massachusetts_compares": "The strictest of the five states Homzora covers, and the only one requiring a written Statement of Condition at move in. A landlord who fails to provide it loses the right to deduct for pre existing damage at all. Treble damages are mandatory rather than discretionary and apply regardless of whether the tenant lost money. Georgia and Chicago also provide multiplied damages but require bad faith or willfulness; Massachusetts does not.",
    "the_statement_of_condition": "On receipt of the deposit or within ten days of the tenancy starting, whichever is later, the landlord must furnish a separate written statement of present condition. The statute requires that statement to contain a comprehensive listing of any damage then existing in the premises, to be signed by the lessor or their agent, and to carry a prescribed notice in twelve point bold face type at the top of the first page. The tenant then has fifteen days to review, sign and return it, attaching a separate signed list of anything they think is missing. If the landlord never provides it, they cannot deduct for pre existing damage. Asking for it is the highest value thing a Massachusetts tenant can do at move in.",
    "the_five_way_comparison": "Cap: one month in Massachusetts and New York, two months in Georgia, none in Illinois or Florida. Return: fourteen days in New York, thirty in Massachusetts and Georgia, forty five in Chicago, fifteen or thirty in Florida depending on whether a claim is made. Multiplied damages: mandatory treble in Massachusetts, up to double in New York and Chicago, treble for bad faith in Georgia.",
    "documented_source_error": "One published source refers in passing to a three day return deadline where its own surrounding text and every other source state thirty days. Homzora treats that as a typographical error and publishes thirty days.",
    "basis": "Compiled from published practitioner and tenant advocacy summaries of section 15B, several of which quote the statutory language directly. Sources agreed closely on every figure.",
    "sources": [
        "Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 186 Section 15B, as summarized by multiple practitioner and tenant advocacy sources, 2026"
    ],
    "verified": "2026-09-13",
    "note": "This is not legal advice and does not evaluate any particular tenancy. Massachusetts deposit law is unforgiving of procedural error in both directions, and a dispute is worth taking advice on.",
    "license": "CC BY 4.0 for the Homzora compilation. Statutory text is a public record.",
    "methodology": "https://homzora.co/boston-renter-survey-methodology/",
    "rows": [
        {
            "provision": "M.G.L. c.186 s.15B(1)(b)",
            "subject": "One month cap",
            "what_it_requires": "A landlord may not require a deposit exceeding one month rent.",
            "key_figure": "1 month",
            "notes": "Massachusetts also limits what else may be collected at signing, which is why the first month, last month, deposit and lock fee structure is specific here."
        },
        {
            "provision": "M.G.L. c.186 s.15B(2)(b)",
            "subject": "Receipt at the moment of payment",
            "what_it_requires": "A signed receipt must be given when the deposit is paid, stating the amount, the date, who received it and a description of the unit.",
            "key_figure": "immediate",
            "notes": "This is not a thirty day obligation. It attaches at the point of collection."
        },
        {
            "provision": "M.G.L. c.186 s.15B(2)(c)",
            "subject": "Statement of Condition within 10 days",
            "what_it_requires": "Within ten days of the tenancy beginning, the landlord must give a written signed statement of the unit condition, containing a comprehensive listing of any damage then existing in the premises, including any state sanitary or building code violations certified by a local board of health or building official or adjudicated by a court.",
            "key_figure": "10 days",
            "notes": "No other state Homzora covers requires this. It functions as a mandatory move in inspection record."
        },
        {
            "provision": "M.G.L. c.186 s.15B(2)(c)",
            "subject": "What the statement must tell the tenant",
            "what_it_requires": "It must contain statutory notice language telling the tenant they have fifteen days to review, sign and return it, and to attach a separate signed list of any damage they believe is missing.",
            "key_figure": "15 days for the tenant",
            "notes": "The tenant window runs from the later of receiving the statement or moving in."
        },
        {
            "provision": "M.G.L. c.186 s.15B(2)(c)",
            "subject": "Consequence of not providing it",
            "what_it_requires": "A landlord who fails to provide the Statement of Condition loses the right to deduct for pre existing damage.",
            "key_figure": "loses deduction rights",
            "notes": "The single most useful provision for a tenant to know at move in, because it costs nothing to request."
        },
        {
            "provision": "M.G.L. c.186 s.15B(3)(a)",
            "subject": "Separate interest bearing account",
            "what_it_requires": "The deposit must be held in a separate interest bearing account at a Massachusetts bank, apart from the landlord own funds and beyond the reach of their creditors.",
            "key_figure": "Massachusetts bank required",
            "notes": "The deposit remains the tenant property held in trust."
        },
        {
            "provision": "M.G.L. c.186 s.15B(3)(a)",
            "subject": "Bank notification",
            "what_it_requires": "Within thirty days of receiving the deposit, the landlord must give the tenant a statement identifying the bank, the account number and the amount deposited.",
            "key_figure": "30 days",
            "notes": ""
        },
        {
            "provision": "M.G.L. c.186 s.15B(3)(b)",
            "subject": "Annual interest",
            "what_it_requires": "Interest is payable annually and again at the end of the tenancy, at the lesser of five percent or the actual interest earned by the account.",
            "key_figure": "5 percent or actual",
            "notes": "The interest obligation carries its own treble damages exposure, separate from the return obligation."
        },
        {
            "provision": "M.G.L. c.186 s.15B(4)",
            "subject": "Thirty day return",
            "what_it_requires": "The deposit plus any interest owed, less lawful deductions, must be returned within thirty days after the tenancy ends.",
            "key_figure": "30 days",
            "notes": "Where no forwarding address was given, the window starts when a written forwarding address is received."
        },
        {
            "provision": "M.G.L. c.186 s.15B(4)(iii)",
            "subject": "Sworn itemized statement",
            "what_it_requires": "Where any amount is withheld for damage, the landlord must provide a sworn itemized statement signed under the pains and penalties of perjury, with receipts or estimates.",
            "key_figure": "sworn statement",
            "notes": "A plain itemization is not enough. The statute requires it sworn."
        },
        {
            "provision": "M.G.L. c.186 s.15B(6)",
            "subject": "Treble damages",
            "what_it_requires": "A landlord who fails to return within thirty days, fails to hold the deposit properly, fails to give the Statement of Condition or bank information, or uses a lease with an unlawful deposit clause, forfeits the right to keep any of the deposit and is liable for three times the deposit plus five percent interest, court costs and reasonable attorney fees.",
            "key_figure": "three times the deposit",
            "notes": "Mandatory rather than discretionary, and available regardless of whether the tenant suffered actual financial harm. There is no grace period and no cure window once the deadline passes."
        },
        {
            "provision": "M.G.L. c.186 s.deductions",
            "subject": "What may be deducted",
            "what_it_requires": "Unpaid rent and documented damage beyond normal wear and tear.",
            "key_figure": "limited grounds",
            "notes": "Deducting for normal wear and tear, or for damage not listed on the Statement of Condition, exposes the withheld amount to trebling."
        },
        {
            "provision": "M.G.L. c.186 s.forum",
            "subject": "Where disputes are heard",
            "what_it_requires": "Small claims court handles most deposit disputes without a lawyer, with a limit of 7,000 dollars.",
            "key_figure": "7,000 dollar limit",
            "notes": ""
        }
    ],
    "corrections": [
        {
            "date": "2026-09-14",
            "what_changed": "The Statement of Condition row previously described the landlord obligation as covering damage in common areas affecting the unit. The statute refers to damage then existing in the premises, together with certified or adjudicated code violations, and does not use the common areas formulation. The wording has been tightened to the statutory language.",
            "prompted_by": "A reader challenge on a public forum, which prompted a recheck against the statute text."
        }
    ]
}