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Tenant Abandoned Property Laws in Massachusetts

In Massachusetts, the officer carrying out an eviction must give 48 hours' written notice and store any remaining property at a licensed public warehouse, and the warehouser may not sell unclaimed property until it has been stored for at least 6 months.

Last checked . General information, not legal advice.

Massachusetts at a glance

Written notice required
Yes, officer's 48 hour written notice
The officer's notice must name the warehouse and state that unclaimed property may be auctioned after 6 months.
Holding period
6 months (eviction, warehouse storage)
The warehouser's lien may not be enforced by sale until the property has been stored at least 6 months.
After the holding period
Warehouser may auction after 6 months
The warehouser keeps lawful storage fees from the proceeds and must hold the balance for the owner.

Sources

Last checked

The rules in Massachusetts

Does a landlord in Massachusetts have to notify the tenant before disposing of left-behind property?

Yes, officer's 48 hour written notice. Written notice required in Massachusetts: yes, officer's 48 hour written notice. The officer's notice must name the warehouse and state that unclaimed property may be auctioned after 6 months.

How long must a landlord in Massachusetts keep a tenant's abandoned property?

Holding period in Massachusetts: 6 months (eviction, warehouse storage). The warehouser's lien may not be enforced by sale until the property has been stored at least 6 months.

What can a landlord in Massachusetts do with abandoned property after the waiting period?

After the holding period in Massachusetts: Warehouser may auction after 6 months. The warehouser keeps lawful storage fees from the proceeds and must hold the balance for the owner.

Where do the Massachusetts tenant abandoned property laws come from?

The rules above come from Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 239, 3 and Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 239, 4. Each source is linked on this page. We last checked them in October 2026.

Good to know

These rules cover property removed by an officer when executing a summary process (eviction) judgment. The tenant may access the stored property once without charge to remove items of personal or sentimental value.

What this means in practice

Before treating anything as abandoned, confirm that the tenancy has actually ended. Some statutes define when a unit counts as abandoned, and removing property while a tenant still has a right to possession can expose a landlord to claims for wrongful eviction or conversion.

Keep a written record. Photos or a video of the items, a dated inventory, a copy of any notice sent and proof of how it was delivered make it much easier to show that the required steps were followed if the former tenant later asks for the property or its value.

Store items safely and in a reasonable way during any holding period. Where a statute allows the landlord to charge reasonable moving and storage costs, or to keep sale proceeds to cover those costs, the rules on what may be charged and what happens to any surplus vary, so check the exact text for your state.

General information, not legal advice. Laws change, and cities can add their own rules, so check the current statute before you rely on it.