Housing & Tenant · Eviction Notice
Eviction Notice in Massachusetts
How many days of written notice a landlord must give before filing an eviction in Massachusetts, broken down by reason, and what you can do about it, cited to the statute.
Every notice period in Massachusetts
The written notice for each reason a landlord can end a tenancy, and what each one means.
| Reason for the notice | Notice in Massachusetts | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Nonpayment of rent under a written lease | Can fix and stay14 days | Fourteen days notice to quit ends the lease on paper, but the cure right runs to the day the answer is due in the landlord possession action, not to the end of the 14 days (G.L. c. 186, 11). Paying all rent due with interest and costs by that date keeps the tenancy. |
| No cause, tenancy at will, rent payable under three months | The rent interval or 30 days, whichever is longer | A no-cause end of a tenancy at will takes the interval between rent days or 30 days, whichever is longer (G.L. c. 186, 12). |
| No cause, tenancy at will, rent payable every three months or more | Three months | Where rent is payable at intervals of three months or more, the no-cause notice is three months (G.L. c. 186, 12). |
| After the notice | Court | A notice to quit, then a summary process action. The statute also forces the court to continue the hearing by at least seven days where the nonpayment was caused by a government delay in a subsistence or rental payment, and to treat the tenancy as never terminated if everything owed is tendered in that window. Only a court can order a tenant removed. |
| Statute | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, §11; §12 | The controlling statute for these notice periods. Read the full text through the source link below. |
Section 11 is written around a tenancy under a written lease. The notice period for nonpayment by a tenant at will, which is the more common arrangement, should be confirmed before the 14-day figure is treated as the answer for every renter.
What you can do right now
Concrete, neutral steps if you have received an eviction notice in Massachusetts. This is legal information, not legal advice.
- Find your court answer date
In Massachusetts the number on the notice is not your real deadline to pay. The statute lets you keep a written-lease tenancy by paying everything owed with interest and costs by the day your answer is due in the summary process case. Find that date, because it is usually weeks after the 14 days.
- Pay everything owed by the answer date
To use the cure right, pay or tender all rent due, plus interest and costs of suit, on or before the answer date. Get written proof. If your rent was late because a government benefit payment was delayed, the court must pause the case at least seven days.
- Check whether you have a written lease
The 14-day rule is framed around a written lease. If you are a tenant at will with no written lease, the notice period may work differently, so confirm your exact situation rather than assuming 14 days applies.
- Get local legal help
A local Massachusetts legal aid office can confirm your answer date, your cure rights, and any local just-cause rule in your city. Search for legal aid in your area and act before the court date.
This is general legal information, not legal advice. Read your own lease and check for a local ordinance, since either can change the notice that applies to your home.
What Massachusetts renters get wrong
In Massachusetts the number on the notice is not the deadline that matters. Fourteen days notice to quit ends a written-lease tenancy on paper, but the statute gives the renter until the day the answer is due in court to pay everything owed with interest and costs and have the tenancy treated as intact (G.L. c. 186, 11). That pushes the real cure deadline weeks past the notice. Massachusetts also protects renters whose rent was late because a government benefit payment was delayed, by forcing the court to pause the case for at least seven days and treat the tenancy as never terminated if the balance is tendered in that window. One important limit: section 11 is written around a tenant under a written lease, and the notice period for nonpayment by a tenant at will, which is the more common arrangement, is not settled from these sections, which is why this page is marked as cited. No-cause endings of an at-will tenancy run on their own clock under section 12, from the rent interval up to three months. After the notice to quit, a summary process action follows, and only a court can order a tenant out.
Common questions
When is my real deadline to pay in Massachusetts?
For a written-lease tenancy, it is the day your answer is due in the summary process case, not the end of the 14 days. G.L. c. 186, 11 lets you keep the tenancy by paying all rent due with interest and costs by that date, which is usually weeks after the notice.
What is the answer date and how do I find it in Massachusetts?
It is the deadline to file your written answer in the eviction case, set by the court after the landlord files. It appears on the summons and complaint you are served with. That date, not the notice date, controls your cure right under G.L. c. 186, 11.
What if my benefit check was late in Massachusetts?
The statute helps you. Where the nonpayment was caused by a government delay in mailing or delivering a subsistence or rental payment, the court must continue the hearing at least seven days, and the tenancy is treated as never terminated if you tender everything owed in that window.
Does the 14-day notice apply if I have no written lease in Massachusetts?
That is the open question. G.L. c. 186, 11 is framed around a written lease, and the notice period for nonpayment by a tenant at will is not clear from that section. If you have no written lease, confirm your exact notice period rather than assuming 14 days applies, which is why this page is marked as cited.
Not legal advicePlainStatute provides plain-language summaries of public law for general information only. This is not legal advice. Statutes change; always confirm current requirements with the official source linked above before acting.