Massachusetts is a complex jurisdiction for tenant screening. It is an anti-source-of-income discrimination state, has strict CORI (Criminal Offender Record Information) access rules, and the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD) has significantly increased enforcement activity in 2025–2026. Landlords operating without current legal knowledge are running meaningful liability risk.
Source of Income: You Cannot Discriminate
Massachusetts prohibits landlords from refusing to rent to applicants because they use a rental subsidy (Section 8, RAFT, MRVP, etc.). This applies to all landlords, including owner-occupants with up to three units (with limited exceptions). Advertising 'no Section 8' is itself a violation. Penalties can include back rent, emotional distress damages, and attorney's fees.
Criminal History: Strict Rules Apply
You must request CORI through the CHRI system (not a third-party background check company, which may provide inaccurate data). You may only consider convictions from the past 3 years for misdemeanors and 5 years for felonies, with specific exceptions for violent or sexually-based crimes. Before denying based on criminal history, you must conduct an individualized assessment and give the applicant an opportunity to explain.
What You Can Ask
- Income verification: pay stubs, offer letters, tax returns, benefit award letters (all income sources, not just employment)
- Rental history: prior addresses and landlord references for the past 2–3 years
- Credit report: with the applicant's written consent (using a permissible-purpose screening service)
- Number of occupants: but only to enforce habitability standards, not to impose limits below what the law allows
What You Cannot Ask
- Whether the applicant receives any form of housing assistance
- About prior eviction proceedings that were dismissed or found in the tenant's favor
- About sealed criminal records
- About arrests not resulting in conviction
- About the applicant's national origin, immigration status, or "English proficiency"
- Use a written, consistently-applied screening criteria document and apply it equally to every applicant. Selective enforcement is the most common path to fair housing liability.
- Build a scoring matrix: credit score floor, income ratio, rental history score. Documented, consistent criteria protect you if a rejected applicant files a complaint.
- Review your advertising language. "Quiet building," "perfect for professionals," or "stable tenants preferred" have all been cited in MCAD complaints as coded exclusionary language.
- Accept Section 8 and other subsidies. Develop a working relationship with the local housing authority — subsidized tenants often provide multi-year lease stability.
Source: Massachusetts General Law Ch. 151B. MCAD Housing Discrimination Enforcement Report 2025. Massachusetts CHRI Access Rules (updated January 2026).
