Being Evicted
G.L. c. 186, § 12 — fourteen days' notice for unpaid rent, and a right to pay it within ten
Fourteen days for unpaid rent. In Massachusetts, when rent goes unpaid, a written fourteen days' notice to quit from the landlord ends either a lease or a tenancy at will. The landlord then recovers possession through a court action called summary process.
A tenant at will who has not received a similar notice in the previous twelve months stops the termination by paying the full rent due within ten days after receiving the notice. The notice has to say so; if it does not, the tenant has until the day the answer is due in the court case. A tenant under a written lease can stop it by paying all rent due, with interest and costs, by the day the answer is due.
| Ending a tenancy at will for another reason | Written notice |
|---|---|
| Ending a tenancy at will for another reasonRent paid at periods of less than three months | Written noticeThe interval between rent days, or thirty days, whichever is longer |
| Ending a tenancy at will for another reasonRent paid at longer periods | Written noticeThree months |
| Ending a tenancy at will for another reasonA rooming house, rent paid weekly or daily | Written noticeSeven days before an action may be brought |
A tenancy at will is not ended by the landlord selling or leasing the building, or by foreclosure. Where rent was late because a government payment was delayed, the court continues the hearing at least seven days, and the tenancy survives if all rent with interest and costs is tendered in that time.
No lease or rental agreement may charge interest or a penalty for late rent until thirty days after the rent was due.
Sources for this section (5)
- G.L. c. 186, § 11 — Ending a lease for nonpayment of rent
- G.L. c. 186, § 12 — Notice to end a tenancy at will
- G.L. c. 186, § 13 — Recovery of possession after a tenancy at will ends
- G.L. c. 239, § 1 — Persons entitled to summary process
- G.L. c. 186, § 15B — Security deposits, last month's rent, and entry before a lease ends
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Massachusetts attorney.