Massachusetts

Limit on amounts charged at the start of a tenancy

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, § 15BState law

At or before the start of a tenancy, a lessor may not require payment of amounts beyond the listed first month's rent, last month's rent at the same rate, a compliant security deposit equal to the first month's rent, and the purchase and installation cost of a key and lock. A fee in lieu of a deposit may be authorized by regulation subject to the stated requirements.

Answers the question “How much deposit can they ask?”

The source

… of any tenancy, no lessor may require a tenant or prospective tenant to pay any amount in excess of the following: [ Introductory paragraph of clause (b) of subsection (1) as amended by 2025, 9, Secs. 54 and 55 effective August 1, 2025. See 2025, 9, Sec. 136. For text effective until August 1, 2025, see above.] (b) At or prior to the commencement of any tenancy, no lessor or agent of the lessor may require a tenant or prospective tenant to pay, to the lessor or to an agent of the lessor, any amount in excess of the following: (i) rent for the first full month of occupancy; and, (ii) rent for the last full month of occupancy calculated at the same rate as the first month; and, (iii) a security deposit equal to the first month's rent provided that such security deposit is deposited as required by subsection (3) and that the tenant is…

Official law: Open the official source
Document: D052, retrieved Oct 1, 2026
Dates: In force
Status on Oct 1, 2026: In force

What it depends on

Covers: Conditions not extracted yet.
Key value: Security deposit may not exceed the first month's rent
What you can do next: Read the law at its official source

Audit trail

The model reads the law; code decides who it covers. The line between them stays visible.

Extracted by the model

What the model read from the source text, checked by code (the quote must appear word for word).

Category: Deposits
Requirement: At or before the start of a tenancy, a lessor may not require payment of amounts beyond the listed first month's rent, last month's rent at the same rate, a compliant security deposit equal to the first month's rent, and the purchase and installation cost of a key and lock. A fee in lieu of a deposit may be authorized by regulation subject to the stated requirements.
Key value: Security deposit may not exceed the first month's rent
Effect: protection_or_duty
Quote found in source: yes
Confidence: 90%

reasoning boundary

Decided by code

Deterministic: same rules, facts and date give the same answer.

Jurisdiction: listed only for addresses whose state or legal city is MA.
Dates: no effective date in the text; treated as in force.
Coverage: no building condition the data can test; conditions in words stay with the text.

As of Oct 1, 2026Engine run

Sources retrieved Oct 1, 2026.

Which buildings it reaches

All 110 sample addresses in Massachusetts on Oct 1, 2026.

110 applies

Boston and Cambridge

Every dot is the rule engine’s result for that address. The larger dots are the example addresses listed below. 6 addresses have no coordinates and are counted but not drawn.

Decided by code for the example addresses

On Oct 1, 2026. Rules that don’t apply are left out.

471 Columbia Rd, Dorchester: Applies. Statewide Massachusetts rule in force (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, § 15B); no building condition in it excludes this address.
134 Oxford St, Cambridge: Applies. Statewide Massachusetts rule in force (Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, § 15B); no building condition in it excludes this address.