Wherewithal

Massachusetts security deposit return obligations for landlords

What the statute requires of you in Massachusetts: return deadlines, clock triggers, itemization / notice duties, deposit caps, and penalties for non-compliance — drawn from Wherewithal’s statute research corpus. A landlord who complies correctly does not create a statutory penalty claim.

Confidence: PRIMARY

PRIMARY — main elements read against statute text

Deadline to return / account	30 days
When the clock starts	tenancy ends + vacate
Penalty for non-compliance	3× for specific §15B violations + int + fees (not any late return)
Deposit cap (maximum you may collect)	1 mo
Escrow / interest requirements	yes (5%)
Citation	M.G.L. c. 186 § 15B

Source: M.G.L. c. 186 § 15B

Compliance flags / traps

⚠ treble is violation-specific

Residual review notes

MA §15B treble triggers: Violation-specific confirmed; full list of which §15B breaches treble is for lawyer.

Corpus version: d9e904ab1309ca2b (hash of human fields; use as last-updated fingerprint)

Deadline calculator

Compliance tool only — estimates the statutory return / accounting window from Wherewithal’s corpus fields. Not legal advice. No case is created.

This state’s corpus encodes a primary numeric window of 30 days. Enter the move-out / possession-delivery date the statute keys on.

Move-out / termination date (when possession is delivered)

Tenant side: Massachusetts security deposit return rules

Same statute corpus, framed for tenants organizing a deposit-return claim.

Nearby states (landlord side)

Wherewithal is an organizational tool only. Not legal advice. Consider consulting a licensed attorney. This page is compliance information for landlords summarizing statutory duties — not legal advice.

Terms · Privacy · Support