The Massachusetts Rental Agreement

The Massachusetts Rental Agreement

A Massachusetts rental agreement can be one of two types:

1. tenancy at will, or
2. lease.

In a tenancy at will, either the landlord or renter can end the relationship with 30 days’ notice, or one full rental period, whichever is longer. A lease is a contract for a longer period of time, typically a year. Lease agreements are helpful only if there's a serious downside to having someone leave within a year.

People often say “lease” for any kind of rental agreement. It’s very important that you know which one you're using. Our downloadable forms have numbered paragraphs so you can easily compare sections. The lease page points out differences by paragraph number.

Is There a Massachusetts Standard Lease?

There is no court- or state-sanctioned lease agreement for use in Massachusetts. When people refer to a "Massachusetts standard lease", they either mean the one given away for free by the Realtors, the one available for purchase at the Greater Boston Real Estate Board or the MassLandlords forms included free with membership.

Our forms are the only ones regularly updated and reviewed by practicing attorneys in all Massachusetts courts.

Download the Right Massachusetts Rental Agreement for You

If you want to see the list of forms that will complete your rental package, visit our forms page.

If you already know which rental agreement you want, you can download the tenancy at will or lease forms directly.

What Happens if You Don't Use a Valid Massachusetts Rental Agreement?

In Massachusetts, you can wind up with what's called a "tenant at sufferance" if you don’t use a valid rental agreement.

What does that mean? If it comes to an eviction, the process of giving notice may be faster, but that’s the only advantage. In every other way having a "tenant at sufferance" is a worse state of affairs. The judge will use their knowledge of the law to determine who wins in any difference of opinion. If you don’t have your paperwork in order, the judge is likely to view that negatively.

Spanish Rental Agreements and How To Navigate Language Barriers

Landlords who only speak English have options for leases and other rental communication with Spanish-speaking renters.

New Spanish language rental forms make it easier for bilingual landlords to communicate with their Spanish-speaking renters, but what can you do if you don’t speak your tenant’s language?

While English is the most frequently spoken language in the commonwealth, Massachusetts does not have an official language. Landlords who speak only English may find themselves lost when they have renter applicants who only speak Spanish, or any other language.

Landlords who do speak Spanish will find they have more options for clear communication, thanks to our translated forms. In the following sections, we’ll discuss offering a lease in Spanish, what that means if you have to go to court, and how to navigate a language barrier so you can communicate with your tenants.

Should You Offer a Lease in Spanish?

We have always wanted our rental forms to be easy to understand. Our rental agreements already use short sentences and easily understood phrasing, but your lease should be in whatever language works best for both you and your renter. Many people in Massachusetts now speak Spanish, including many landlords. In 2025, with the help of our translator David, we began converting our forms into Spanish, including our rental agreements.

You can see all of our translated rental forms on our Spanish language website.

Tip: Use our forms, not automatic translation services.

There are many services available that purport to offer automatic or real-time translations. Sometimes, these services do a good job, but sometimes they mess up very basic sentences. Contract language is nuanced and precise. An app may not be able to properly translate a rental form’s true meaning. Mis-translations could turn into costly legal errors.

What happens in housing court if I have a Spanish rental agreement?

It makes sense to offer a rental agreement in the language you and your renter best understand. However, the courts in Massachusetts still operate in English. If you end up in housing court, and your lease is not in English, you will have to have it translated.

You can’t use Google translation services or AI to do this. Some local legal aid and nonprofit groups will provide translation services free, but you can’t use them either: You must have a court-certified translation for any document to be used in court.

If that’s the case, why do we offer rental forms in Spanish? The answer is, it’s practical. And the odds are very low that your rental agreement will end up in court.

In 2023, there were more than 38,000 eviction cases filed in Massachusetts housing courts. That’s a lot, but there are more than 1 million renter households in Massachusetts. This means roughly 96% of all renter households avoid eviction each year.

In other words, there is a very small chance that your rental agreement will wind up in front of a judge in a given year. If it does, you will have to pay for translation. We believe that’s a small price to pay for years of effective communication with your renters in the language that works best for everyone.

I Speak English Only, but Many of My Renters Speak Spanish Only. What Do I Do?

If you need to conduct business in Spanish, but you only speak English, you have a few options. Some are more practical than others. The discrimination laws do not compel you to offer services in Spanish (or other languages), but you may be required to accommodate reasonable requests for translation-related delays.

Translation and Interpreting: What’s the difference?

Though the two terms are sometimes used interchangeably, there is a difference between translating and interpreting .

Translation refers to written content such as books or documents (like our rental forms). It is not an immediate process. Translators take time and utilize other resources to ensure their work is as accurate as it can be, and that the words they choose are as precise as possible. It can take weeks or longer to translate large bodies of work.

Interpreting, on the other hand, refers to spoken (or signed) language and happens in real-time. Instead of taking hours, days or weeks to ensure every word choice is precise and accurate, interpreters think on the spot to convey the tone, intent and meaning of what is being spoken.

You would not use a translator to act as a go-between for a casual discussion, and you wouldn’t use an interpreter for a set of rental forms.

It’s up to you to decide whether, and how, you want to pay for translation and/or interpreting.

Step 1: Use English forms, and allow time for translation.

This option is very economical, but does take more time. All of our rental forms are free for members, but your renter will need to have time to have them reviewed and translated or interpreted.

However, if there is language barrier between you and your renters, you may still find it difficult to converse. You can use translation apps for casual conversation, but be careful with important discussions. You will probably need something else too.

Step 2: Know who your renters rely on for interpreting.

If your renters do not speak any (or much) English, they will need someone who can interpret day-to-day interactions for them. This includes conversations with their landlord.

Often, people will put a bilingual friend on speakerphone to act as an interpreter. Make sure your renters have someone who can help. Find out who this person is ahead of time, if possible.

Please if possible do not rely on a minor resident of the household to be interpreter. Many children of non-English speaking parents will speak excellent English, but they are still children. Depending on age, they may not understand or be able to cope with the full context of what you are saying, especially if you need to talk about adult matters like eviction, arrest, drugs or other things that children should not, in a just world, have to contend with.

Larger businesses: Keep interpreters on staff or on speed dial.

This is an option many larger rental operations use. Owners in rental markets where most renters do not speak English also frequently choose this. If you can afford it and it makes sense for your business, this can be an excellent option for maintaining solid landlord-renter relationships. You keep everything in English, and pay for in-office interpreting as part of doing business in your market.

Depending on your rental market, this could set you apart from other landlords offering similar rentals. Convenience is an attractive amenity.

Leaving translation and interpreting up to your renters could cost you business.

A scenario where you do not offer any language support services and rely on your renter to find their own translation and interpreting solutions may seem like the most economical option for you. But remember: Without any bilingual staff or services, you may find it hard to compete with other landlords, depending on your market. If everything else is equal, your renters are probably going to choose to do business with the housing provider who makes it easier to communicate.

Be prepared to accommodate for delays.

In any case, you will still need to accommodate reasonable delays for translation or interpreting services.

Renters who must find their own translation help may need time to find someone who can assist. Even if you have Spanish rental agreements or Spanish-capable staff, you might still receive an application from a Bhutanese family speaking Dzongkha, and have no staff who can translate. If you reject the applicant because you don’t want to wait for translation, you could be sued for discrimination on the basis of national origin.

Whatever type of rental agreement you choose, make sure to use one in writing!