What Can a Landlord Legally Charge and Ask For in Massachusetts? A 2026 Tenant Screening Guide for Quincy
At or before the start of a residential tenancy in Massachusetts, a landlord or the landlord's agent generally may require no more than four things: the first full month's rent, the last full month's rent at the same rate, a security deposit that does not exceed one month's rent, and the purchase and installation cost of a key and lock. Application fees, credit check fees, move-in fees, pet deposits, and holding deposits are not among the amounts the statute permits. And since August 1, 2025, a renter can be charged a broker fee only if the renter is the one who hired the broker.
That surprises people on both sides of the table. Renters coming from almost any other state expect to pay $50 or $75 just to apply. Landlords who bought their first two-family here often assume they can charge for the credit pull they are about to run. Screening itself is still completely legal, and you should absolutely do it. What is regulated is who pays for it, what you are allowed to look at, and what you are allowed to ask.
Quincy makes this more than a technical point. A large share of the city's housing stock is two and three-family buildings owned by people who live in one of the units, which means much of the screening here is done by regular owners with a couple of units rather than by a management company with a compliance department. The rules apply to both the same way.
Who this applies to
Quincy landlords with anywhere from one unit to a small portfolio, especially owner-occupants of a two or three-family filling a vacancy themselves. Investors underwriting a Quincy multi-family who want to know what screening will actually look like once they own it. Renters searching Quincy who want to know whether what they are being asked for is legal. And adult children or personal representatives who have inherited a tenant-occupied property and suddenly have to fill a unit correctly.
If you are a landlord, none of this stops you from being selective. It shapes how you get there.
This post is general information, not legal advice. Fair housing coverage and exemptions can turn on the type of housing involved, so have a Massachusetts landlord-tenant attorney review your specific forms and process before you rely on them.
What can a landlord legally charge before a tenancy starts?
Massachusetts General Laws chapter 186, section 15B limits what a landlord or the landlord's agent may require a tenant or prospective tenant to pay at or before the start of a tenancy. There are four permitted amounts.
- The first full month's rent.
- The last full month's rent, at the same rate as the first.
- A security deposit that does not exceed one month's rent.
- The actual purchase and installation cost of a key and lock.
At a rent of $2,800 a month, first plus last plus a one-month security deposit is $8,400 before the lock and key cost. That is the barrier a Quincy renter clears at move-in, and the statute does not permit a landlord to add to it. There is a narrow statutory exception for vacation or recreational rentals, and the state's housing office has authority to write regulations authorizing security deposit alternatives, so check the current rules before assuming an unusual arrangement is allowed.
| What a landlord asks for | Legal in Massachusetts? | What actually governs it |
|---|---|---|
| First full month's rent at signing | Yes | One of the four amounts permitted by c.186 s.15B(1)(b) |
| Last full month's rent, at the same rate, with a receipt given at the time it is paid | Yes | c.186 s.15B; interest runs from the first day of the tenancy at 5% or the lesser rate the bank actually paid |
| Security deposit not exceeding one month's rent | Yes, with strict handling rules | Signed receipt when it is taken, separate interest-bearing Massachusetts bank account, bank and account receipt within 30 days, statement of condition on time |
| $50 application fee to review a rental application | No | Not among the four amounts permitted by c.186 s.15B(1)(b) |
| $35 credit check or background check fee passed to the applicant | No | Same, screening cost sits with the landlord as a cost of doing business |
| Non-refundable pet deposit or pet fee collected at move-in | No | Not a permitted pre-tenancy charge; get counsel before adopting any recurring pet-rent policy |
| Move-in fee, amenity fee, or key deposit | No | Not permitted under c.186 s.15B(1)(b) regardless of what it is called |
| Holding deposit to take the unit off the market | No | Not among the four permitted amounts |
| Broker fee charged to a renter who did not hire the broker | No, as of August 1, 2025 | The party who hired the broker or salesperson pays the fee |
| Any pet-related fee or surcharge for a service or assistance animal | No | A reasonable accommodation is not a pet, and no accommodation-related fee may be imposed |
Statutory limits checked against Massachusetts General Laws chapter 186, section 15B and Mass.gov guidance in September 2026.
Are rental application fees and credit check fees legal in Massachusetts?
No. Because chapter 186, section 15B sets out an exclusive list of what a landlord may collect before a tenancy begins, and application and screening fees are not on that list, charging one is a violation even if the applicant agrees to it in writing and even if the amount is small.
This trips up new Quincy landlords more than any other single rule, usually because the screening software they signed up for is built for a national market and offers to bill the applicant by default. Turn that setting off. If you want a credit report, you have two clean options: run it yourself and absorb the roughly $20 to $40 cost, or ask the applicant to bring you a report they pulled themselves from a free annual source. Neither one costs you the tenancy, and the second is common practice here.
Who pays the broker fee in Massachusetts in 2026?
The party who hired the broker or salesperson pays the fee. That rule took effect August 1, 2025 and it changed the default that had governed Boston-area rentals for decades.
A landlord who lists a Quincy unit with an agent to advertise it and negotiate the lease pays that agent. The landlord cannot require the incoming tenant to pay that fee, or the same fee renamed to look like something else. A renter pays a broker fee only when the renter hired that broker to represent them in their own search and agreed to it in writing.
An improper fee can expose a landlord, a broker, or another responsible party to consumer protection and other legal claims. If you are a renter who thinks you were charged improperly, the Attorney General's Office takes consumer reports through its Consumer Advocacy and Response Division, and a housing attorney can tell you what you are actually owed.
For Quincy landlords, the practical effect is that the cost of filling a unit moved onto your side of the ledger. If you are underwriting a three-family here, build leasing cost into your turnover assumptions rather than assuming the tenant covers it.
Can a landlord run a credit check or criminal background check in Massachusetts?
Yes to both, with conditions.
Credit reports are permitted and are the most useful single document in a screening file. Get written authorization from the applicant, run the report, and pay for it yourself. If you deny someone based even in part on what a credit report or tenant screening report says, federal law requires an adverse action notice naming the reporting agency, stating that the agency did not make the decision, and telling the applicant they can get a free copy of the report and dispute anything in it.
Criminal history runs through CORI, the Criminal Offender Record Information system. A private landlord, property management company, or real estate agent may register for an iCORI account and has Standard access for housing applicants. Standard access returns all pending criminal charges, including cases continued without a finding until they are dismissed, misdemeanor convictions where the conviction or release date is less than 5 years old, felony convictions where it is less than 10 years old, and certain murder, manslaughter, and sex offense convictions regardless of age unless they have been sealed. It does not return non-convictions, sealed records, juvenile matters, or civil and non-incarcerable offenses. Have the applicant sign a CORI Acknowledgment Form and follow the current Department of Criminal Justice Information Services rules and forms.
Standard CORI does not return non-convictions, so an arrest that never produced a conviction should not be showing up in your file. Do not rely on arrest-only information you found somewhere else without legal advice. And keep in mind that federal fair housing guidance treats blanket criminal history exclusions as producing a discriminatory effect, so look at each applicant individually, weigh how recent and how relevant a conviction is to the tenancy, and give the applicant a chance to respond.
Access levels and record scope checked against 803 CMR 5.00 and Mass.gov CORI access guidance in September 2026.
What is a landlord not allowed to ask a rental applicant?
Massachusetts fair housing protections are broader than federal law, though the exact coverage can depend on the type of housing and a limited exemption applies in some situations. Do not make decisions, ask questions, run advertisements, or set terms based on race, color, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran or military status, genetic information, disability, children who occupy or will occupy the premises, or receipt of public assistance or a housing subsidy.
Two nuances are worth knowing rather than guessing at. Massachusetts protects recipients of federal, state, or local public assistance and tenants receiving housing subsidies including rental assistance, which is narrower than a general source of income protection covering every kind of private income. And the familial status protection under chapter 151B does not reach dwellings of three units or fewer where one unit is occupied by an elderly or infirm person. Exemptions narrow parts of chapter 151B in limited cases, but the federal Fair Housing Act, the lead paint law, advertising rules, and brokerage rules can still apply, so do not read an exemption as freedom to discriminate.
Questions that sound conversational are where owner-occupants get in trouble. Some examples of what to avoid and what to ask instead.
| Do not ask | Ask this instead | Why the swap works |
|---|---|---|
| "Are you planning to have kids?" or "How many children?" | "How many people will be living in the unit?" | A consistently applied occupancy standard based on the state sanitary code's minimum square footage rules is lawful; asking about children is not |
| "Where are you originally from?" | "Can you provide employment and prior landlord references?" | National origin and ancestry are protected; references are neutral and verifiable |
| "Do you have a disability?" or "What is that service animal for?" | "Do you need any accommodation to use the unit?" | You may confirm that an accommodation is needed, you may not probe the diagnosis |
| "Do you have a voucher?" asked in order to screen it out | "What is your income relative to the share of rent you would be paying?" | Receipt of a housing subsidy is protected; measuring the tenant-paid share is a neutral affordability test |
| "Is that a church group?" | Nothing, skip it | Religious creed is protected and has no bearing on tenancy |
| "No pets, period," applied to a service or assistance animal | "Our policy is no pets, and we handle assistance animal requests as accommodations" | An assistance animal is not a pet, and no pet fee or surcharge may be charged for one |
Advertising counts too. A Quincy listing that says "no Section 8," "adults preferred," or "perfect for a single professional" can create liability before anyone has even applied. A discrimination complaint under chapter 151B generally must be filed with and received by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination within 300 days of the last discriminatory act, so a bad ad has a long tail.
Can a landlord refuse a Section 8 or MRVP voucher in Quincy?
No. Chapter 151B, section 4(10) makes it unlawful to discriminate against a recipient of federal, state, or local public assistance or a tenant receiving a housing subsidy including rental assistance, either because they receive it or because of a requirement of the program.
You can still screen a voucher holder. Do not use an income standard that automatically excludes voucher holders because it ignores the subsidy. Instead, apply a written, consistently used affordability method that evaluates the applicant's ability to pay the share of rent they are actually responsible for and that complies with the voucher program's own rules. Running a flat "three times the rent" test against the full contract rent, when the tenant's share is $400, is the version of this that gets landlords in trouble.
Subsidized programs typically require the unit to pass an inspection before payment begins, though the specific process depends on the program and the administering agency. That is a condition of the program, not a reason to decline the applicant.
What changed with eviction records in 2025?
Massachusetts eviction record sealing took effect May 5, 2025 under chapter 239, section 16, enacted as part of the Affordable Homes Act. It is broader than most summaries suggest, and the waiting period depends on how the case ended.
| Case type or outcome | When the tenant may petition to seal |
|---|---|
| Dismissal, or final judgment for the tenant | At any time after the case concludes and all appeals are exhausted |
| No-fault eviction | At any time after the case concludes and all appeals are exhausted |
| Nonpayment case with a satisfied judgment or satisfied agreement | After the case concludes and the judgment or agreement is satisfied |
| Nonpayment case with an unsatisfied judgment | After 4 years, if there has been no intervening eviction action for nonpayment or fault and the tenant certifies that economic hardship prevented satisfaction |
| Fault eviction | After 7 years, if there has been no intervening eviction action for fault or nonpayment |
For several of those pathways the statute builds in a notice and objection process, and a judge can deny a petition in specified circumstances.
Two consequences matter for screening. Once a record is sealed, a consumer reporting agency may not disclose it in a consumer report and must remove it from reports within 30 days after learning of the sealing order, so a clean screening report today does not mean what it meant three years ago. And a tenant whose record is sealed may lawfully answer "no record" when asked about prior evictions. A Massachusetts housing or credit application that asks about prior eviction actions has to include the statutory notice telling applicants they may answer "no record" if their record is sealed. Check your application form for that language.
The practical response is to lean harder on the parts of screening that still tell you something: verified income, direct conversations with prior landlords, and a payment history you can confirm.
Sealing categories, waiting periods, and reporting rules checked against M.G.L. c.239 s.16 and Mass.gov eviction sealing guidance in September 2026.
What are Quincy rents actually doing right now?
Published Quincy rent and vacancy numbers disagree with each other, because each platform measures a different universe. Some track advertised listings, some track all units, some report medians and some averages, and availability rate is not the same measurement as vacancy rate. Use the number with its source and its date attached, or do not use it.
| Source and date | Metric | Quincy figure |
|---|---|---|
| Boston Pads, August 7, 2026 | Average advertised rent, all unit types | $2,514 |
| Boston Pads, August 7, 2026 | Real-time availability rate, not a vacancy rate | 2.31% |
| Apartment List, August 21, 2026 | Citywide median rent | $2,311 |
| Apartment List, August 21, 2026 | Average two-bedroom rent | $3,293 and up |
| Zumper, August 15, 2026 | Citywide median rent | $2,751 |
| Zumper, August 15, 2026 | Median two-bedroom rent | $3,100 |
Rent and availability figures checked against Boston Pads, Apartment List, and Zumper Quincy pages in August 2026. If you are underwriting a purchase, do not price a unit off any of these alone. Pull actual comparable leases.
How to screen a Quincy tenant legally and still protect the property
The goal is a process you run identically for every applicant, documented well enough that you could hand the file to someone else and have them reach the same conclusion.
- Write your criteria down before you advertise. Income standard, credit standard, prior landlord references, and an occupancy limit based on the sanitary code's square footage requirements. Put it in writing and do not change it mid-search.
- Advertise the unit, not the tenant. Describe bedrooms, rent, parking, laundry, and the T. Say nothing about who you picture living there.
- Use one application form for everyone, charge nothing for it, and confirm it carries the sealed-eviction notice language.
- Get written authorization, then run the credit report yourself and absorb the cost.
- If you want criminal history, register for iCORI, get the signed CORI Acknowledgment Form, and evaluate any result individually rather than as an automatic disqualifier.
- Verify income with pay stubs, an offer letter, or bank statements, measured against the share of rent the tenant will actually pay when a subsidy is involved.
- Call the prior landlord, not just the current one. A current landlord who wants a problem tenant gone has a reason to be generous.
- Decide, document why, and send an adverse action notice if a consumer report played any role in a denial.
- Collect only the four permitted amounts at signing, give a signed receipt when you take the deposit, put it in a separate interest-bearing Massachusetts bank account, deliver the bank and account receipt within 30 days, and deliver the statement of condition on receipt of the deposit or within 10 days after the tenancy begins, whichever is later.
Step nine is where more Quincy landlords lose money than anywhere in steps one through eight, because the security deposit rules carry their own penalties independent of anything about screening.
What it costs to get this wrong
| The mistake | Exposure | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Charging a $50 application fee to eight applicants | Refund of every fee, plus consumer protection exposure under chapter 93A | The charge sits outside the four amounts permitted by c.186 s.15B(1)(b) |
| Requiring a renter to pay a broker fee the landlord's own agent earned | Consumer protection and other legal claims against the landlord, the broker, or both | The August 1, 2025 rule that the party who hired the broker pays |
| Holding a security deposit in a personal or operating account | Loss of the right to keep any part of the deposit, with multiple damages available for specified violations | c.186 s.15B(6) and (7) |
| Missing the 30-day bank receipt or the statement of condition deadline | Statutory penalties that apply even when the tenancy is otherwise uneventful | c.186 s.15B(2) |
| "No Section 8" in a Craigslist ad | An MCAD complaint filed any time within 300 days of the ad, before a single applicant is screened | Public assistance and housing subsidy protection under c.151B s.4(10) |
| Automatically rejecting every applicant with any conviction | Fair housing exposure on a discriminatory effect theory | Federal fair housing guidance on blanket criminal history bans |
| Charging a pet fee to an applicant with a service or assistance animal | Reasonable accommodation violation, plus an unlawful pre-tenancy charge | Fair housing accommodation rules plus c.186 s.15B |
Statutory citations checked against Massachusetts General Laws chapters 186, 151B, and 239 in September 2026. Remedies in any individual case depend on the facts and on procedural requirements, so treat this as a map of where the risk sits rather than a prediction of any particular outcome.
The Bottom Line
Massachusetts gives landlords real screening power and takes away the ability to charge for it. You can run credit, you can run CORI, you can verify income, you can call prior landlords, and you can hold to a written standard. You cannot bill the applicant for any of it, you cannot collect anything at signing beyond first, last, a one-month security deposit, and the lock, and since August 1, 2025 you cannot hand your own broker's fee to the tenant.
For renters in Quincy, the takeaway is simpler. If someone asks you for an application fee, a credit check fee, a move-in fee, or a broker fee for an agent you did not hire, that request does not match what the statute permits, and you are allowed to say so.
For investors underwriting a Quincy two or three-family, the number that moves is turnover cost. Screening expense and leasing commission now sit with the owner. In a market this tight, that cost is worth carrying, because a well-screened tenant who stays three years is the whole ballgame.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a Massachusetts landlord charge me an application fee?
No. At or before the start of a tenancy a landlord may require only the first full month's rent, the last full month's rent, a security deposit of no more than one month's rent, and the actual cost of a key and lock. An application fee is not among them, and agreeing to pay one in writing does not change that.
Who pays the broker fee on a Quincy apartment in 2026?
Whoever hired the broker. If the landlord listed the unit with an agent, the landlord pays. A renter pays only when the renter hired a broker to represent them in their own search and agreed to it in writing. The rule took effect August 1, 2025.
Can a landlord in Quincy run a criminal background check on me?
Yes, through the state CORI system, after registering for an iCORI account and getting your signature on a CORI Acknowledgment Form. Standard access shows pending charges, misdemeanor convictions less than 5 years old, felony convictions less than 10 years old, and certain murder, manslaughter, and sex offense convictions unless sealed. It does not show non-convictions, sealed records, or juvenile matters, and the landlord is expected to consider each result individually.
Can a landlord say no to a housing voucher in Massachusetts?
No. Chapter 151B, section 4(10) protects recipients of public assistance and tenants receiving housing subsidies including rental assistance. A landlord may apply neutral, consistent screening criteria, but the affordability test has to look at the share of rent you would actually pay, not the full contract rent.
What should I do if a Quincy landlord already charged me an illegal fee?
Ask for it back in writing and keep a copy of the request. If that goes nowhere, the Attorney General's Consumer Advocacy and Response Division takes consumer reports, and a housing attorney can tell you quickly whether the charge supports a claim and what it is realistically worth.
Does an eviction case from four years ago still show up?
It depends on how it ended and whether it has been sealed. Since May 5, 2025, dismissed cases, cases decided in the tenant's favor, and no-fault cases can be petitioned for sealing once the case concludes, satisfied nonpayment cases once the judgment or agreement is satisfied, unsatisfied nonpayment cases after 4 years with conditions, and fault cases after 7 years with conditions. Once sealed, a case cannot appear in a consumer report and the tenant may answer "no record."
If you own a two or three-family in Quincy and want a second set of eyes on how you are filling a vacancy, or you are buying one and want to understand what you are inheriting, reach out through the contact page. I am glad to walk through the numbers and the process with you.