Hiring an Eviction Lawyer in Massachusetts: What Landlords Should Expect

Massachusetts is one of the slowest and most procedure-heavy eviction states in the country, and it is also one where landlords most often lose on paperwork rather than on the facts. The court process, called summary process, now carries a required attestation form with every nonpayment notice, a mandatory stay while a rental-assistance application is pending, and a two-tier court schedule with a housing specialist before any trial. Tenant-side legal aid is active in every Housing Court. That is the environment a Massachusetts eviction lawyer works in, and it shapes what you should expect when you hire one.

What a Massachusetts landlord attorney actually does

• Picks the right notice for your tenancy. A tenant under a lease, a tenant at will (every month-to-month tenancy) and a tenant at sufferance each get different treatment. The attorney drafts the 14-day notice to quit for nonpayment, with the statutory cure language and the required attestation form, or a no-fault notice that runs at least 30 days or a full rental period and ends on a rent day.
• Arranges service by a constable or sheriff, so there is proof the tenant received the notice.
• Handles the entry-date math. The Summary Process Summons and Complaint must be served at least seven and no more than thirty days before a Monday entry date and filed by that date, or the case is void.
• Serves the first-tier notice on each defendant at least 14 days before the housing specialist event, which Housing Court Standing Order 1-23 makes the landlord's job.
• Negotiates at the first-tier event. An agreement for judgment with a firm move-out date and a payment schedule is entered as a court order and can be enforced by execution if the tenant breaks it. It is often a better result than a trial.
• Answers discovery and tries the case if it does not settle, then handles the execution, the 48-hour notice and the licensed mover and storage the move-out requires.

What it costs in Massachusetts

Most Massachusetts landlord attorneys handle an uncontested nonpayment case for a flat fee, and contested cases move to hourly billing. On top of the attorney's fee, budget for the court filing fee ($120 in Housing Court, $180 in District Court or the Boston Municipal Court, plus a $15 surcharge and the summons fee), constable or sheriff service for the notice, the summons, the first-tier notice and the execution, and the mover and six months of storage for anything the tenant leaves behind. Ask any firm exactly which of these the flat fee includes. A case where the tenant has a lawyer, serves discovery or raises a security deposit or habitability counterclaim should be budgeted as contested from the start.

The mistakes Massachusetts lawyers are hired to prevent

• Filing a nonpayment case without the attestation form required by M.G.L. c. 186, § 31, which gets the case dismissed.
• Serving a no-fault notice that ends mid-month or is one day short of a full rental period.
• Accepting a partial payment after the notice without documenting it as use and occupancy only, which can waive the notice.
• Missing the Monday entry date, which voids the case.
• Overlooking a pending rental-assistance application, which stays the case under M.G.L. c. 239, § 15.
• Changing the locks or shutting off utilities, a crime under M.G.L. c. 186, § 14 that also exposes you to three months' rent or more plus the tenant's attorney's fees.

When to bring in an attorney

In Massachusetts a lawyer pays for itself in most contested cases. Hire one when the tenant has a lawyer, when there is a security deposit or habitability issue that could become a counterclaim, when the tenant is elderly or disabled, when the property is in Boston, Cambridge or Somerville, or when the tenancy involves a subsidy.

Questions to ask before you hire

Ask which Housing Court the firm appears in most often and how long its cases are currently taking from entry date to execution. Ask whether the flat fee covers the constable, the first-tier notice and the execution, or only the filing. Ask how the firm approaches the first-tier event and agreements for judgment. And ask whether it has handled cases like yours: a subsidized tenancy, a tenant with legal aid counsel, or a property in a city with its own notice requirements.

Where to start

Read the Massachusetts eviction process guide for the full sequence and timeline, then look at the Massachusetts eviction attorneys listed here. Firms are organized by city, and you can contact them from any listing. Nothing on this page is legal advice; Massachusetts procedure changes through standing orders as well as statutes, and your lease and your tenant's circumstances matter.