Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts

Two years ago I rented a house, gave the landlord 1st, last & security along with a W9 to set the the security bank account.. We are getting ready to buy a house, let the landlord know what would be going on and mentioned the security and last month rent, to which he replies, " I didn't get either from you"..... to make a very long story short, I proved that he got all three, but he never set up the account for the security as required. I got the security back after a long battle and that is going to court for treble damages. During this battle, I found out he set up a saving account, put my name on it as a beneficiary along with his and has been using this account for his own personal business. The balance has been as high as 20K...but he won't give me any info on the account. My question is: Is that legal? Can he be charged with anything?


Asked on 12/02/10, 2:41 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

He can co-mingle funds of other tenants, but he cannot co-mingle his personal or other funds. He cannot use the account for his personal needs.

He is also required to pay you interest and give you a statement and the interest each year.

He is not permitted to put your social security number on a co-mingled account.

I do not think it is a criminal case, it is a violation of the Landlord-Tenant act and you can ask the court to order a complete accounting for that account including who received the 1099 for interest and where did the funds come from which may show some criminal act.

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Answered on 12/07/10, 2:51 pm


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