Somerville, MA — landlord and rental rules

Massachusetts has no rent control. A statewide ballot measure capping increases at CPI or 5%, whichever is lower, was struck by the Supreme Judicial Court on 23 June 2026 as an excluded matter — on a technicality, not on the merits.

It polled 62.6% support and an exemption for religious-institution housing is what made it an excluded matter. Expect a redrafted measure in 2028; a hold period past that date should not assume today's freedom to raise rents.

Deleading is mandatory where a child under six occupies a pre-1978 unit, at roughly $8,000–15,000 per unit. Refusing to rent to families with children in order to avoid it is illegal discrimination.

Treat deleading as a capital item on any pre-1978 building, not as a contingency: the trigger is a tenant's family composition, which the owner cannot lawfully control.

Construction

Built before 1978

Deleading cost per unit

$8,000–15,000

The security deposit statute imposes mandatory treble damages and attorney's fees for a long list of technical failures — the wrong account type, late notice, a missing itemisation.

For an absentee owner the defensible position is to take last month's rent only and no security deposit at all. The statute punishes paperwork, and paperwork is what a remote landlord does worst.

Damages

3× the deposit, plus fees

From 1 August 2025 the party who hired the broker pays the fee, rather than the tenant paying by convention.

On annually-turning stock this is a new recurring landlord cost — budget roughly one month's rent per turnover.

Paid by

the party who hired the broker

In effect since 2025-08-01.

Somerville requires a certificate of registration before operating a short-term rental, and the rental must be the operator's primary residence.

An operator may rent only to one group at a time. A tenant operator must submit the property owner's approval affidavit; an adjacent unit that is not the operator's primary residence is not eligible.

Unhosted annual limit

90 days per calendar year

Maximum occupancy

10 people or two people per guest bedroom, whichever is fewer

In effect since 2023-04-01.