Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Massachusetts

Re: security deposit

The "security deposit" is for anything >beyond< normal wear and tear. Normally, a tenant is required to leave the apartment in "broom clean" condition, which I would interpret to mean that you can't leave the place looking like a garbage dump, but you're not required to make it look "like new". There's a middle ground that is different in each case. State law says that if the full deposit is not returned, you must be given a written explanation and itemization of what was done. Best wishes.