# Massachusetts — Security deposit return deadlines by US state — the statutory clock a landlord has to return a tenant's deposit, quoted from the state statute

For Massachusetts, return deadline is thirty days; deadline in days is 30; what starts the clock is after the termination of occupancy under a tenancy-at-will or the end of the tenancy as specified in a valid written lease agreement; statute is Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, § 15B(4), recorded from its source on 2026-08-26.

- **State:** Massachusetts _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **Return deadline:** thirty days _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Deadline in days:** 30 _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_
- **What starts the clock:** after the termination of occupancy under a tenancy-at-will or the end of the tenancy as specified in a valid written lease agreement _(verified: appears in the quote below)_
- **Statute:** Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, § 15B(4) _(our reading, not quoted from the source)_

## What the source says

> The lessor shall, within thirty days after the termination of occupancy under a tenancy-at-will or the end of the tenancy as specified in a valid written lease agreement, return to the tenant the security deposit or any balance thereof

## Source

- https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartII/TitleI/Chapter186/Section15B

Last verified: 2026-08-26. Review by: 2027-08-26.
Part of [Security deposit return deadlines by US state — the statutory clock a landlord has to return a tenant's deposit, quoted from the state statute](https://referencesource.org/security-deposit-return-deadlines-by-state/).