Massachusetts tenant screening laws

At or before the start of a tenancy, a landlord or the landlord's agent may not require any payment to them beyond first month's rent, last month's rent, a security deposit equal to one month's rent and the cost of a key and lock. The list has no application fee (Mass. G.L. c. 186, § 15B(1)(b)).

• A lease term that conflicts with this rule, and any waiver of it, is void (Mass. G.L. c. 186, § 15B(8)).

Massachusetts bars housing discrimination because of race, religious creed, color, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, genetic information, ancestry, marital status, veteran or military status, or disability, and against families with children and recipients of public assistance or housing subsidies such as rental vouchers. Landlords may not ask about or record these traits or advertise a preference (Mass. G.L. c. 151B, § 4(6), (7), (10), (11); Mass. G.L. c. 151B, § 4(7B)).

• Refusing reasonable accommodations, or refusing reasonable modifications at the tenant's cost, is discrimination; in publicly assisted housing and in housing of ten or more units the owner pays for reasonable modifications, short of undue hardship (Mass. G.L. c. 151B, § 4(7A)).
• Refusing to rent because a home has or may have lead paint, or to avoid lead law duties, is unlawful (Mass. G.L. c. 111, § 199A).
• Narrow exceptions include renting one unit of an owner-occupied two-family home (Mass. G.L. c. 151B, § 4(7), (11)).
• Distinguish a commercial screening package from access to the state CORI system. The Attorney General's housing guide says a housing provider must obtain written permission before accessing an applicant's CORI through the state system and must follow additional steps when using a private consumer reporting agency. A housing provider may not ask an applicant to supply their own CORI or arrest records; the guide separately identifies a public housing authority's ability to request court docket sheets. Verify the correct lawful request process and the actual package rather than assuming criminal information is always included or always unavailable (Massachusetts AGO: CORI and housing).
• The Attorney General explains that housing providers may refuse housing based on criminal records, but blanket rejection of everyone with a record may violate civil rights law. Its guidance recommends an individual assessment of the nature and severity of the conviction, time elapsed, circumstances, age at the conduct, tenant history and rehabilitation. Public and federally assisted housing have additional admission rules. Confirm the applicable program and full CORI procedures; an agency report or screening score does not itself determine a lawful housing outcome (Massachusetts AGO: individual housing assessment).
• Massachusetts protection for assistance animals continues under state law. The Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination confirmed in July 2026 that withdrawal of federal enforcement guidance does not narrow those state protections. Assistance animals can include trained or untrained animals providing disability-related support, including emotional support; failure to meet the federal service-animal definition alone is not a sufficient basis to reject the request (MCAD: assistance animals in housing, July 31, 2026).
• Assess an assistance-animal request individually through an interactive process. The commission identifies the central question as whether the accommodation is necessary for the person with a disability to have an equal opportunity to use and enjoy the home. Evaluate that disability-related need rather than treating every assistance animal as an ordinary pet (MCAD: individual accommodation review).