By Jon Merwin, Founder and CEO
Massachusetts has more rental housing than most of New England, and much of it is old: two-families in Quincy and Lowell, triple-deckers in Worcester, Dorchester and Somerville, brownstone units in the Back Bay, student apartments near Allston and Amherst, and seasonal cottages on the Cape. Landlord insurance here has to deal with two things other states handle more loosely, the Lead Law and the security deposit statute, along with heat obligations, short-term rental rules and flood.
Portsmouth Atlantic Insurance is a family-owned independent agency in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, licensed in Massachusetts. We work with Massachusetts owners by phone and email and can shop 40+ carriers. We are New Hampshire’s highest-rated agency on Google. Phone (603) 431-4020.
Key takeaways
- Close to 3 in 8 Massachusetts homes are rented, and more than a third of rented homes were built in 1939 or earlier.
- If a child under six lives in a pre-1978 unit, the Lead Law puts the duty on the owner; liability coverage for lead depends on having an interim control or full compliance letter.
- An insurer that excludes lead on a non-compliant unit must offer to sell it back at the same time, with separate limits.
- Security deposit mistakes can cost three times the deposit; those penalties are compliance risks, not insured losses.
- Short-term rentals need at least one million dollars of liability coverage per unit unless the platform provides it, and your homeowners insurer must be told.
What Massachusetts rental housing looks like
The Census Bureau counts about 1,043,900 renter-occupied homes in Massachusetts out of about 2,785,000 occupied homes, a bit under 3 in 8 (ACS 2024, B25003). Boston is close to two-thirds renters and Worcester a little over half (Boston, Worcester).
| Rented homes in Massachusetts | Approximate share | What it means for the policy |
|---|---|---|
| In two- to four-unit buildings | More than 1 in 3 statewide; about 45 in 100 in Worcester | Dwelling or owner-occupied multi-family forms; shared stairs, porches and basements |
| In buildings of 5 to 49 units | About 3 in 10 | Usually a commercial apartment policy rather than a personal dwelling form |
| In buildings of 50 or more units | A bit more than 1 in 6 | Commercial lines, often with an association or management company |
| Single-family houses | About 1 in 7 | A dwelling policy, with vacancy rules between tenants |
| Built in 1939 or earlier | About 1 in 3 (about 4 in 10 in Boston and Worcester) | Knob-and-tube or older wiring, galvanized pipes, lead paint |
| Built before 1980 | Close to 8 in 10 | The Lead Law reaches every unit built before 1978 |
Sources: B25032 (units in structure), Worcester, B25036 (year built), Boston. About half of Massachusetts renters heat with utility gas and about a third with electricity; fuel oil is down to fewer than 1 in 10 rented homes (B25117), which still matters for older buildings outside the cities.
The Lead Law and your liability coverage
Massachusetts’s Lead Law, G.L. c. 111, § 197, applies whenever a child under six lives in a home built before 1978 that contains dangerous levels of lead. The owner must abate or contain the hazards, and a new owner has 90 days after taking title. An owner can work toward compliance in two steps: a Letter of Interim Control under an emergency lead management plan, then a Letter of Full Compliance.
Insurance follows those letters. G.L. c. 175, § 111H and the Division of Insurance regulation, 211 CMR 131, set the rules for regular-market carriers:
| Situation | What the regular-market liability policy must do |
|---|---|
| A Letter of Interim Control or Full Compliance is in effect | Cover injury from lead in the dwelling, except when caused by the owner’s gross or willful negligence |
| The unit is not in compliance | The insurer may exclude lead, but must offer to sell the coverage back at the same time it tells you about the exclusion |
| Buyback limits | Separate limits of at least $100,000 per occurrence on a personal lines policy and $300,000 on a commercial policy |
| Buyback timing | Chosen within 30 days of the offer, it dates back to the start of the policy; after that it starts on the date you ask |
| A single-family home the owner lives in | Lead liability is part of the homeowners policy and may not be excluded |
| A surplus lines policy | None of the above applies, so read the lead wording closely |
The Division of Insurance’s lead disclosure Q&A walks through the same points. For landlords, the practical steps are simple: keep copies of every compliance letter, give them to us when we quote, and decide on the buyback before the 30-day window closes if a unit is not yet compliant.
Security deposits and last month’s rent
Section 15B of chapter 186 limits what a landlord, and since August 1, 2025 a landlord’s agent, can collect at the start of a tenancy: first month’s rent, last month’s rent, a security deposit no larger than one month’s rent, and the cost of a new lock and key. Then the paperwork starts:
- A signed receipt when you take the deposit, and a statement of the unit’s condition within ten days.
- The deposit goes into a separate, interest-bearing account at a bank in Massachusetts, out of reach of your creditors, and the tenant gets a receipt within 30 days naming the bank and account.
- Interest is owed on the deposit and on last month’s rent, with a yearly statement.
- Within 30 days after the tenancy ends, return the deposit or send a sworn, itemized list of damage with the balance.
- If you sell, the deposit and last month’s rent, with interest, pass to the buyer, who becomes responsible for them.
Get any of these wrong and the tenant can recover three times the deposit plus interest and court costs. A landlord liability policy is built for bodily injury and property damage; statutory deposit penalties are usually outside it, so the protection here is good bookkeeping rather than insurance.
Heat, utilities and quiet enjoyment
The State Sanitary Code sets the heating season from September 15 through May 31 and requires at least 68 degrees from 7 AM to 11 PM and 64 degrees overnight in habitable rooms and bathrooms; a local board of health may shorten the season slightly (105 CMR 410.180). Separately, G.L. c. 186, § 14 makes a landlord who willfully fails to furnish heat, hot water or other required services, or who interferes with a tenant’s quiet enjoyment, liable for actual damages or three months’ rent, whichever is greater.
Two insurance points follow. First, a frozen pipe in an occupied unit is usually a covered water loss, but many dwelling forms limit frozen-pipe claims in a vacant or unheated building unless heat was maintained or the water was shut off and drained, so keep heat on between tenants. Second, tenant claims under section 14 are often not the kind of bodily injury or property damage a liability form covers; ask how each carrier treats them before you assume.
Short-term and seasonal rentals
Renting by the night on the Cape, the Islands or in Boston brings its own statute. G.L. c. 175, § 4F requires each operator to carry liability insurance of at least one million dollars for each short-term rental, unless the platform maintains equal or greater coverage, and the coverage must defend and indemnify the operator and other owners or tenants in the building. The same section lets homeowners and renters insurers exclude short-term rental claims entirely and requires operators to tell their homeowners or renters insurer before they start.
Seasonal rentals by the week or month often sit in between. A dwelling policy written for seasonal occupancy, or a homeowners policy with a rental endorsement, may fit; a nightly operation usually needs a policy written for short-term use. Our Massachusetts second-home page covers the house itself, and condo owners who rent their units should read our Massachusetts condo guide first, because the master policy and bylaws shape what you need.
Which policy fits which building
| Property | Usual policy | Carriers we look at first |
|---|---|---|
| Single-family, condo or two- to four-family you do not live in | Dwelling (landlord) policy | Hanover, plus other markets depending on the building |
| Two- or three-family where you live in one unit | A homeowners-type policy for the owner’s unit, with the rental units disclosed | Depends on the building and your other policies |
| Five or more units | Commercial apartment building policy | Safety, Concord Group, Vermont Mutual, Andover, Providence Mutual |
| Condo association master policy | Commercial association policy | Safety, Concord Group, Vermont Mutual, Andover, Providence Mutual |
| Nightly or weekly rentals | Short-term rental coverage meeting § 4F | Depends on the platform and occupancy |
For Massachusetts rentals we can write with American Modern, Andover, Chubb, Cincinnati, Concord Group, Foremost Signature, Foremost Specialty, Hanover, Liberty Mutual, MPIUA, National General, Openly, Plymouth Rock, Providence Mutual, Safety, Stillwater, Universal and Vermont Mutual. For short-term and Airbnb-style rentals, one specialty option we can write is Proper. Whether a particular carrier will write a given Massachusetts building depends on its age, wiring, heat, roof, lead status and loss history. For the liability side, many landlords add an umbrella policy above the building’s liability limit, especially with several units or properties.
Flood and coastal wind for rental property
Rental buildings in Quincy, Revere, Hull, Scituate, New Bedford and along the Cape face the same surge and wind as owner-occupied homes, plus one extra gap: lost rent. The NFIP dwelling policy does not pay rent you lose while a flooded building is repaired. We place new NFIP policies through Selective and compare private flood from Neptune Flood, Beyond Floods, Flow Flood, The Flood Insurance Agency, CatCoverage and Aon Edge, some of which can add loss of rents. Check the address on the FEMA flood map; our flood insurance page explains the basics. Many coastal dwelling policies also carry a separate named-storm or wind deductible, which we show in dollars.
Owning rentals in an LLC
Many Massachusetts landlords hold buildings in an LLC. The policy should name the LLC as the insured that owns the building, with you and any property manager added where appropriate, and the umbrella should follow the same entity structure. A mismatch between the deed, the policy and the lease is one of the most common problems we find when we review a landlord’s file.
Rentals in other states and towns
We also have statewide landlord pages for Connecticut and Vermont, and our general landlord insurance page covers New Hampshire. Massachusetts town pages with rental detail include Brookline, Newton, Salem and Plymouth, and our Massachusetts homeowners page covers the house you live in.
How we work with Massachusetts landlords
Send us the building details and your current declarations, and we compare dwelling and commercial options across our 40+ carriers, checking the lead wording, vacancy and frozen-pipe conditions, loss of rents, liability limits and the named insured. We don’t charge any fees. When a tenant reports a loss, we help you open the claim and keep it moving. Read about the agency or about founder Jon Merwin.
Get a Massachusetts landlord quote
Request a quote. There’s no obligation to buy. Landlords with one condo and landlords with several buildings are both part of our 1,000+ Google reviews and over 2,000 testimonials. Call (603) 431-4020 or write to insure@portsmouthatlanticins.com; you can also use the form below or our quotes page. Phones are answered Monday to Thursday, 9 AM to 5 PM, and Friday, 8 AM to 4 PM, Eastern.
Frequently asked questions
Is landlord insurance required in Massachusetts?
No statute makes a long-term landlord carry it, but a mortgage lender will require property coverage on the building, and a condo association may require unit owners who rent to carry their own. Short-term rentals are different: Massachusetts requires liability coverage for each one, as explained below. In practice, renting without a policy written for a rental leaves the building and your liability exposed.
Can I use my homeowners policy if I rent out my house?
Usually not once nobody in your family lives there. Homeowners forms are written for owner-occupied homes, and many carriers restrict or deny claims on a house that has become a full-time rental. An owner who lives in one unit of a two- or three-family can often keep a homeowners-type policy with the rental units disclosed; a non-owner-occupied building generally needs a dwelling (landlord) policy. Tell us how the building is used and we will match the form.
Does landlord insurance cover lead paint claims in Massachusetts?
It depends on whether the unit complies with the Lead Law. Under G.L. c. 175, § 111H and the Division of Insurance rules, a regular-market liability policy on a pre-1978 rental must cover lead injury claims when a Letter of Interim Control or Letter of Full Compliance is in effect (except gross or willful negligence). For a non-compliant unit the insurer may exclude lead, but it must at the same time offer to sell the coverage back. Surplus lines policies are not bound by these rules.
What happens if I mishandle a security deposit?
Massachusetts is strict. Under G.L. c. 186, § 15B a landlord who does not hold the deposit in a separate interest-bearing Massachusetts bank account, or does not return it or send an itemized list of damage within 30 days after the tenancy ends, can lose the right to keep any of it and may owe three times the deposit plus interest and the tenant’s court costs. Treat these as compliance issues; a landlord policy is not designed to pay them.
Do I need special insurance for an Airbnb or other short-term rental in Massachusetts?
Yes. G.L. c. 175, § 4F requires an operator to carry liability insurance of at least one million dollars for each short-term rental unless the booking platform provides equal or greater coverage, lets homeowners and renters insurers exclude short-term rental claims, and requires you to notify your homeowners or renters insurer before you start. We look at the platform coverage and your own policy together.
Does a landlord policy cover flood or lost rent after a flood?
No for flood on a standard dwelling or homeowners form. An NFIP dwelling policy covers the building and, if you choose, your own contents, but not rent you lose while the building is repaired. Some private flood policies add loss of rents; we compare that when the property is near the coast or a river.
What do you need to quote a Massachusetts rental property?
The address, number of units, year built, whether you live in one of the units, heat type and age of the roof, wiring and plumbing, lead compliance letters for pre-1978 units, lease length (long-term, seasonal or nightly), current policy and loss history, and whether the property is owned personally or by an LLC. Request a quote. There’s no obligation to buy. The fastest way to start is (603) 431-4020.
Sources
- G.L. c. 111, § 197, duty of residential owners (Lead Law)
- G.L. c. 175, § 111H, liability insurance for owners complying with the Lead Law
- 211 CMR 131.08, coverage for premises not in compliance
- Division of Insurance, lead poisoning and residential rental property disclosure Q&A
- G.L. c. 186, § 15B, security deposits and last month’s rent
- G.L. c. 186, § 14, utilities, services and quiet enjoyment
- G.L. c. 175, § 4F, short-term rental liability insurance
- 105 CMR 410.180, State Sanitary Code temperature requirements
- FEMA Flood Map Service Center
- Census Bureau ACS 2024 (5-year), Massachusetts, Boston and Worcester: B25003, B25032, B25036, B25117
Written as general guidance for people who own rental property in Massachusetts. Nothing here is legal advice, and nothing here confirms or changes any policy; coverage comes from the policy wording and the carrier’s underwriting, and Massachusetts statutes and regulations are amended from time to time. To go over your buildings, call (603) 431-4020.