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Your Responsibilities as a Tenant in Massachusetts


As a tenant in Massachusetts most of your responsibilities will be stated in your lease agreement. For example, your lease would generally include terms requiring you to prevent waste and hold you liable for damages in excess of normal wear and tear.

Massachusetts law does forbid you from engaging in acts that would be considered “unreasonable or improper use, abuse, mismanagement, or omission of duty touching real estate by one rightfully in possession which results in its substantial injury.” This just means that if you do something that causes injury to yourself of someone else you might be more liable in Massachusetts than in another state.

The only situation where this doesn’t apply is if your landlord expressly agreed in writing to let you do any of these things or to handle them himself. If you violate your obligation as a tenant then it will be more difficult or impossible for you to claim that your landlord is violating the Massachusetts warranty of habitability and get damages or the ability to leave right away - so make sure to keep up your end of the bargain as a tenant.

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The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal advice.