Can I Withhold My Rent in Massachusetts? Yes, If Your Landlord Knows About the Bad Conditions

Before withholding rent in Massachusetts, tenants should know what situations allow withholding and what the landlord must know before you stop paying. G.L. c. 239, § 8A lets a tenant raise bad conditions as a defense and counterclaim if the landlord brings an eviction case for unpaid rent. The law does not require written notice before you withhold, but the landlord must have known about the conditions before you fell behind on rent. Telling your landlord about the needed repairs in writing before you hold back any rent is the safest way to prove that.

Right to Withhold Rent

Every residential rental in Massachusetts, written or oral, comes with an implied warranty that the apartment is fit to live in. Your landlord must provide a heating system, water heating and plumbing, and must keep that equipment working. Your landlord must also provide a stove and oven unless a written rental agreement makes you responsible for them. These rules come from the State Sanitary Code, 105 CMR 410.000, which sets minimum standards for housing in Massachusetts.

Heat is a good example of how specific the Code is. From September 15 through May 31, the owner must heat every habitable room and every bathroom to at least 68 degrees between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., and at least 64 degrees between 11:01 p.m. and 6:59 a.m. A local board of health may shorten the season slightly by posting notice on the town’s website (105 CMR 410.180).

If your landlord violates the Sanitary Code, you can ask your local Board of Health to inspect. The request can be in writing, by phone, in person or electronically. If the problem is one of the serious conditions the Code lists, such as failure to provide required heat, or failure to provide enough hot and cold water for 24 hours or more, the Board of Health must inspect within one business day. For other problems, it must inspect within five business days. See 105 CMR 410.600 and 410.630.

Landlords are prohibited from retaliating against tenants who report code violations to the Board of Health or complain about them in writing to the landlord. See G.L. c. 186, § 18.

What the Law Requires Before You Withhold

Under G.L. c. 239, § 8A, a withholding defense based on bad conditions only works if:

1. Your landlord, the landlord’s agent or employee, or the person you normally pay rent to knew about the conditions before you were behind on rent;
2. You, or someone under your control, did not cause the conditions;
3. You do not live in a hotel or motel, or in a rooming house where you have lived for less than three months in a row; and
4. The conditions can be fixed without you having to move out. (Moving out temporarily for lead paint removal does not count against you.)

The statute does not require a special “notice of intent to withhold.” What matters is that the landlord knew about the problems before you fell behind. A written letter or email is the best proof of that. If the Board of Health inspects and sends the landlord written notice of the inspection, the law presumes the landlord knew about the conditions in that notice from the day the landlord received it. A certified inspection report can be used as evidence in court.

If you withhold rent and the landlord files an eviction, the judge, after hearing the case, may order you to pay the fair value of the apartment, minus whatever you are owed, to the court clerk. After the case starts, you can also choose to deposit the disputed rent with the clerk. Because of this, it is wise to set aside the rent you are withholding instead of spending it. If the court finds you owe the landlord less than or the same as the landlord owes you, the landlord cannot get possession. If you owe a balance, you can keep your tenancy by paying it to the clerk, with interest and costs, within one week after the court notifies you of the amount.

How to Withhold Rent, Step by Step

1. Write down the problems. Take dated photos and videos. Keep a short log of when each problem started and how it affects you.
2. Tell the landlord in writing. Send a letter, email or text that lists every problem. Keep a copy and proof of when you sent it.
3. Ask for an inspection. Call or write to the Board of Health, or in Boston, Inspectional Services. Ask for a comprehensive inspection and a copy of the report.
4. Decide how much to hold back. Withhold only what the conditions are worth. See the next section.
5. Set the money aside. Keep the withheld rent in a separate account so you can pay any balance the court finds you owe.
6. Keep paying attention to the mail. A 14-day notice to quit for nonpayment is likely. Do not ignore it.
7. File a written answer if you are sued. Raise the conditions as a defense and a counterclaim, along with any other claims you have.

How Much Rent Can You Hold Back?

The law measures your claim by the difference between the agreed rent and the fair value of the apartment given its condition (G.L. c. 239, § 8A). A broken window in a spare room is not worth the same as no heat in January. If you withhold the full rent for a minor problem, the judge may find you owe most of it, and you will have to pay that balance quickly to keep your home.

Your landlord’s good intentions do not delay the abatement. The Supreme Judicial Court held that rent abates as soon as the landlord has notice that the apartment fails the warranty of habitability, and that the landlord’s lack of fault and reasonable efforts to repair do not extend your duty to pay full rent (Berman & Sons, Inc. v. Jefferson, 379 Mass. 196 (1979)). The abatement starts when notice is given, which is one more reason to give notice in writing and keep proof of the date.

Notice and Your Landlord’s Knowledge

In Boston Housing Authority v. Hemingway, 363 Mass. 184 (1973), the Supreme Judicial Court held that every residential rental, written or oral, comes with an implied warranty that the apartment is fit to live in. The court also said a tenant can claim damages for the period the apartment was uninhabitable and the landlord had written or oral notice of the defects. Later that year, the Legislature amended § 8A so that the landlord’s knowledge of the conditions could take the place of written notice from the tenant. See McKenna v. Begin, 3 Mass. App. Ct. 168 (1975). Under § 8A today, what counts is that the landlord knew about the conditions before you fell behind on rent.

Written notice is not legally required, but it is still the best practice: if you are going to withhold rent, write to your landlord first and keep a copy. Do not rely on a conversation alone, because you may later have to prove what the landlord knew and when.

Repair and Deduct

In some cases, you can hire someone to make repairs yourself and take the cost out of your rent. Under G.L. c. 111, § 127L, you can do this only if all of the following are true:

1. The Board of Health or local code enforcement agency (in Boston, Worcester and Cambridge, the commissioner of housing inspection), or a court, has certified that the violations may endanger or materially impair your health, safety or well-being;
2. Your landlord or the landlord’s agent was notified of the violations in writing;
3. The landlord failed to begin all needed repairs (or sign a written contract with someone to do them) within five days after that written notice and to substantially finish the repairs within fourteen days after the notice. If the Board of Health or a court ordered a shorter deadline, that deadline applies; and
4. The conditions were not caused by you, a member of your family or household, or your guest.

You can then deduct the amount needed to pay for the repairs from rent that comes due later. You cannot use this remedy if you unreasonably refused the landlord access to make the repairs. You cannot deduct more than four months’ rent in any twelve-month period, or during your time in the apartment if that is shorter. The landlord can sue to recover any deduction that was excessive or unreasonable, so keep every receipt so you can show what you spent.

The landlord has to bring that claim as a separate contract claim. An excessive deduction cannot be recovered in an eviction case for possession (G.L. c. 111, § 127L). In judging whether a deduction was reasonable, a court looks at the alternatives you had when you first reported the problem, how urgent the repair was, and the quality and cost of the work.

What Happens in Housing Court

Once your landlord files, your written answer and counterclaims frame the case. Proof that the apartment violates the Sanitary Code or Building Code in a way that may endanger or materially impair health, safety or well-being creates a presumption that you are entitled to the defense (G.L. c. 239, § 8A). In Housing Court, a board of health or city housing inspector’s report is prima facie evidence of the facts stated in it (G.L. c. 185C, § 21). If the court finds the § 8A requirements are met, there is no recovery of possession while the case is pending.

Tenants who use § 8A are also protected from retaliation. The statute applies G.L. c. 186, § 18 to any tenant who invokes it, so a landlord who punishes you for raising conditions in court can owe you damages and attorney’s fees. Read our guide to landlord retaliation and the six-month presumption.

Common Mistakes

• Complaining only by phone, with nothing in writing.
• Withholding before the landlord knew about the problem.
• Spending the withheld rent, then being unable to pay the balance within one week.
• Skipping the inspection, then having no proof of a code violation at trial.
• Refusing the landlord access to make repairs.

Your Lease Cannot Take Away These Rights

The warranty of habitability applies whether your lease is written or oral, and to the extent it is based on the State Sanitary Code, a lease clause cannot waive it (Boston Housing Authority v. Hemingway, 363 Mass. 184 (1973)). A lease clause that waives your repair and deduct rights is also void, with one narrow exception: in a lease of two years, not counting renewals, a tenant may agree to make certain defined repairs or renovations in exchange for a substantially lower rent. A lease clause that waives your § 8A rights is also void (G.L. c. 239, § 8A).

If you need to take action to resolve problems with your unit, take the first step and notify your landlord in writing. Written notice is not legally required to withhold rent, but it is the best proof that your landlord knew about the problems before you fell behind. It is also important to have an inspector complete a full State Sanitary Code inspection. At the start of an inspection, the inspector must tell you that you have the right to a comprehensive inspection, and must do one if you ask (105 CMR 410.620).

Recent Massachusetts appeals decisions

These Massachusetts appellate decisions show what happens in court when tenants raise bad conditions against a claim for rent.

• Stafford Street Properties, LLC v. Peel (Appeals Court, June 4, 2026; unpublished): Tenants who withheld rent were still evicted because the jury believed the claimed defects were minor or absent.
• One North of Boston LLC v. Thakkar (Appeals Court, July 11, 2025; unpublished): A delay of more than eight months fixing a rotted floor after written notice breached habitability and quiet enjoyment.
• 133 West Main Street Realty, LLC v. Kimball (Appeals Court, February 14, 2025): An LLC renting one house was in trade or commerce; a harmless utility violation earns nominal damages plus fees.
• PRI Old Mill Glen LLC v. Sawyer (Appeals Court, May 14, 2025; unpublished): Repaired, minor code violations did not breach habitability in a subsidized nonpayment eviction.
• Gewecke v. Smith (Appeals Court, February 14, 2025; unpublished): A minor mouse problem and a one-day accidental water shutoff did not breach habitability or quiet enjoyment.
• Goncalves v. Caustrita (Appeals Court, February 5, 2025; unpublished): A new owner owed interest on last month’s rent it received, and a leaking sink and loose toilet left for months breached habitability.
• AvalonBay Communities, Inc. v. Vardenski (Appeals Court, July 20, 2026): A landlord cannot offset its own lease-based fee award against a tenant’s Chapter 93A attorney’s fee award.
• YMCA of Greater Boston, Inc. v. Bakri (Appeals Court, May 20, 2026; unpublished): A tenant lost her habitability claim because she offered no inspection reports or proof of a code violation.
• Slow Repairs and Chapter 93A: What the Appeals Court Said: A landlord who violates the Attorney General’s repair regulation has violated Chapter 93A, and the tenant’s case went back for damages and fees.

For more, see Massachusetts appeals decisions, 2026 and Massachusetts appeals decisions, 2025.

Frequently asked questions

Do I have to give written notice before I withhold rent?

No. The law requires that the landlord knew about the conditions before you fell behind (G.L. c. 239, § 8A). Written notice is simply the best proof of that.

Do I have to put the withheld rent in escrow?

Not before a case is filed. After the landlord files, you may deposit the disputed rent with the court clerk, and the judge may order you to pay into court (G.L. c. 239, § 8A). Either way, keep the money set aside.

Can I withhold rent if I live in a rooming house?

Only if you have lived there for at least three months in a row. The defense is not available in a hotel or motel (G.L. c. 239, § 8A).

Can my landlord evict me for withholding?

Your landlord can serve a notice to quit and file a nonpayment case. If you meet the § 8A requirements and the conditions are worth at least what you held back, the landlord cannot recover possession.

How much can I deduct to make repairs myself?

No more than four months’ rent in any twelve-month period, and only after the certification, written notice and repair deadlines in G.L. c. 111, § 127L are met.

If you are thinking about withholding rent, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006 first. This post is general information, not legal advice for your situation.