Top Five Options If Your Massachusetts Landlord Won’t Make Repairs

A burst pipe, a broken door hinge, or other damage to your apartment can disrupt your whole day. Most likely, the first thing you do when your apartment or house needs repairs is call your landlord and discuss when and how repairs can be made. After that call, one of two things can happen. Your landlord can be responsive and fix the problem or send a maintenance worker quickly. Or, as is often the case, your landlord may ignore your requests and leave the damage unrepaired.

If your landlord does not make repairs, what options do you have? Here are five options for what you can do if your landlord refuses to make repairs, plus one step that makes every option stronger.

First Step: Put It in Writing and Call the Board of Health

Before choosing an option, tell your landlord about the problem in writing and keep a copy. Then ask your local board of health to inspect. Under the State Sanitary Code, the board of health must inspect when an occupant asks, in person, by phone, in writing, or electronically, even if you have not told the landlord yet and even if an eviction is pending. Inspections must happen within one business day for the conditions the Code lists as always endangering health or safety (such as failure to provide required heat) and within five business days for others. See 105 CMR 410.600.

If the inspector finds violations, the board of health must order a good faith effort to fix those listed conditions within 24 hours after the order is served and order the rest fixed within 30 days (105 CMR 410.640). The inspection report is also important evidence for each option below.

1. Withhold Rent

One of the most effective tools you have as a renter in Massachusetts is your ability to withhold rent, though there are factors you should take into serious consideration if you go this route. By withholding rent, you have a powerful bargaining chip, as your landlord will take you seriously when their income is on the line.

However, you have to consider how your landlord will react. Are they prone to taking tenants to court? Withholding rent often leads to an eviction case for nonpayment, and your repair problems then become your defense in that case. If you are not ready for that, you can keep this option as a last resort.

Under G.L. c. 239, § 8A, you can raise bad conditions as a defense and counterclaim in an eviction for nonpayment only if:

• the landlord (or the person you pay rent to) knew about the conditions before you were behind on rent;
• you, or someone under your control, did not cause the conditions;
• the conditions can be fixed without you having to move out; and
• 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.

Proof of a sanitary code violation that may endanger or materially impair your health, safety or well-being creates a presumption in your favor, and written notice to the landlord of a board of health inspection creates a presumption that the landlord knew about the conditions. The law does not require you to give written notice before withholding, but a letter or email is the best proof of what the landlord knew and when, and the inspection report is strong evidence of the conditions.

Set the withheld rent aside. Do not spend it. After hearing the case, the court may order you to pay the clerk the fair value of the apartment, minus what you are owed. If the landlord ends up being owed more than you are, you will have one week after the court’s written notice to pay the difference, with interest and costs, to keep your home.

2. Make Repairs Yourself, and Deduct Costs from your Rent

In some situations you can make repairs yourself, or hire someone to make them, and deduct the cost from your rent. This is called “repair and deduct,” and it is governed by G.L. c. 111, § 127L. By doing repairs yourself, you can be sure they get done, but you also take on responsibility if they aren’t done right.

The rules are strict. You may use repair and deduct only if:

• the violations have been certified by the board of health, local code enforcement agency, or a court as violations that may endanger or materially impair your health, safety or well-being;
• you notified the landlord in writing; and
• the landlord failed to begin all needed repairs (or sign a written contract with someone to do them) within five days after your notice and to substantially complete them within fourteen days after your notice, unless the board of health, code enforcement agency or court set a shorter deadline.

You cannot use this remedy for damage caused by you, your household, or your guests, or if you unreasonably refused the landlord access to make the repairs.

You may deduct no more than four months’ rent in any twelve-month period, or during your time in the apartment if that is shorter. Your landlord can sue to recover any amount you deducted that was excessive or unreasonable, so keep every receipt and invoice, and be ready to defend them.

3. Organize your Fellow Renters

One of the most frustrating things about trying to get your landlord to make repairs is feeling powerless. But chances are, if your apartment needs repairs, other tenants who rent from the same landlord have had similar problems. To amplify your voice, you can organize your fellow renters.

Start by talking with your neighbors about repair problems and see whether others have had similar issues. If they have, discuss drafting a joint letter to your landlord and gathering signatures from the affected tenants. Organizing now will help you later if you decide to go to court.

Massachusetts law protects you while you do this. Under G.L. c. 186, § 18, a landlord who retaliates against you for organizing or joining a tenants’ union, or for reporting code violations to the board of health or in writing to the landlord, is liable for damages of one to three months’ rent or your actual damages, whichever is greater, plus costs and attorney’s fees. A notice ending your tenancy (other than for nonpayment), a rent increase, or a major change in your tenancy terms within six months of that activity is presumed to be retaliation, unless the landlord proves otherwise by clear and convincing evidence.

Organized tenants are also well placed to ask a court to appoint a receiver, a court-appointed manager who collects the rents and makes the repairs (see option 4).

4. Take your Conflict to Court

If your landlord refuses to make repairs, you can go to court. Housing cases can be brought in the Housing Court, which has six regional divisions (G.L. c. 185C, § 1). In a case to enforce the sanitary code, the judge can issue temporary restraining orders or injunctions, order tenants to pay rent to the court clerk, or appoint a receiver to collect rents and repair the property (G.L. c. 111, § 127I).

There are several types of cases you can bring:

• A tenant petition to enforce the sanitary code (G.L. c. 111, § 127C) asks the court to enforce the code. The petition usually states that the board of health inspected and found violations. If you asked for an inspection at least 24 hours earlier and none has happened, you may still file by describing the likely violations. If the court finds violations that may endanger your health, safety or well-being, it may let tenants pay rent to the clerk and direct the clerk to release that money to fix the violations (G.L. c. 111, § 127F).
• An emergency request for an injunction can result in a judge ordering your landlord to do something right away, including a temporary restraining order when the situation requires it.
• A criminal complaint can hold your landlord responsible for code violations. A landlord who fails to comply with a sanitary code order can be fined $10 to $500, and each day is a separate violation (105 CMR 400.700). A landlord who willfully fails to provide required heat, hot water, or other utilities, or who interferes with your quiet enjoyment, can be fined $25 to $300 or jailed for up to six months (G.L. c. 186, § 14).
• A civil lawsuit for damages can recover money for the time you lived with bad conditions after the landlord knew or was notified of them, measured by the difference between the apartment’s value as promised (the agreed rent can be evidence of that) and its value in its actual condition. If the landlord’s conduct also violates G.L. c. 186, § 14, for example by willfully failing to provide required heat or hot water or by interfering with your quiet enjoyment, you can recover actual and consequential damages or three months’ rent, whichever is greater, plus costs and attorney’s fees. Failing to make repairs within a reasonable time after you give notice of a defect is also an unfair or deceptive practice under Chapter 93A (940 CMR 3.17(1)(e)); once a judge finds that violation, the judge cannot excuse it and must award your attorney’s fees, and if the same conduct also violates another statute, you recover under whichever statute awards more (AIF Dartmouth, LLC v. Hanson, Nos. 24-P-961 & 25-P-341 (Mass. App. Ct. Sept. 14, 2026), citing McGrath v. Mishara, 386 Mass. 74 (1982)).

5. Break your Lease

Finally, if conditions are serious enough, you may be able to end your lease and move. Under the warranty of habitability, if a court finds a material breach, a tenant may terminate the lease and recover any security deposit. Whether a breach is material depends on how serious the defects are, how long they lasted, whether the landlord had notice, whether the apartment could be made livable within a reasonable time, and whether the tenant’s abnormal conduct or use caused the problems (Boston Housing Authority v. Hemingway, 363 Mass. 184 (1973)). Even then, you may still owe the reasonable value, if any, of the time you lived there.

This is not automatic. If you leave without a strong case, your landlord may sue you for rent or damages, so treat this option as a last resort unless you are in a dangerous or unhealthy situation, and talk to a lawyer first.

Recent court decisions

These Massachusetts appellate decisions show how repair claims, rent withholding and fee awards have turned out in court.

• AIF Dartmouth, LLC v. Hanson (Appeals Court, September 14, 2026): Once a judge found a landlord failed to make repairs within a reasonable time after notice (940 CMR 3.17(1)(e)), Chapter 93A liability and attorney’s fees followed.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• Ketchakeu v. 7Q59 Amherst, LLC (Appeals Court, October 7, 2026; unpublished): Defaulted landlords still owed tenants damages and fees for a gas leak and code violations.
• Henderson v. Bosco (Appeals Court, May 19, 2026; unpublished): A new landlord who chased rent the old landlord had waived interfered with quiet enjoyment and violated Chapter 93A.

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

The Bottom Line

You have quite a few options if your landlord doesn’t make repairs. Each one has strict requirements, and a misstep, such as withholding rent before the landlord knew about the problem or deducting repair costs without a certified violation, can put your tenancy at risk. The best thing you can do is have a good lawyer in your corner.

Doubleday Law is a Massachusetts law firm that knows the ins and outs of housing law. A lawyer can help you determine whether you have a case, choose the right option, and make sure you have all your paperwork in order before you act.

If your landlord will not make repairs, call Doubleday Law at (617) 575-2006. This post is general information, not legal advice for your situation.