Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Massachusetts

Re: Landlord rights to come to apartment

The Consumer Protection Regulations of the Massachsuetts' Attorney General's office provide that a landlord may only enter your unit (i) to inspect the unit, (ii) to make repairs to it, (iii) to show it to a prospective tenant, purchaser or mortgagee or its agent, (iv) pursuant to a court order, or (v) if the premises appear to have been abandoned by the tenant. Violation of these regulations is a violation of the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act. Your written lease, if you have one, may contain other restrictions. If so, the landlord is bound by the stricter of the restrictions in the lease or in the regulations.

Re: Landlord rights to come to apartment

The enclosed info is available on the state of Mass website at www.state.ma.us/consumer/. The short answer is that the landlord is generally required to provide notice and is only allowed "reasonable" access. I am not sure why the landlord would be showing your unit to a potential renter if you only began renting a month ago?

Rights Against Unlawful Entry: Your landlord, or an agent for your landlord, may only enter your apartment for the following reasons:

to inspect the premises;

to make repairs;

to show the apartment to a prospective tenant, purchaser, mortgagee or its agents;

in accordance with a court order;

if the premises appear to be abandoned, or

to inspect the premises within the last 30 days of tenancy in order to determine the amount of damage to be deducted from the security deposit.

The landlord should be reasonable and attempt to arrange a mutually convenient time to visit the apartment. If the landlord insists on entering your apartment in an unreasonable fashion, you may file for a temporary restraining order at your local district court. (M.G.L. c. 186 �� 14 and 15B)