What can a landlord do with a tenant’s belongings left behind in Massachusetts?

In Massachusetts, when an officer carries out an eviction, the officer must give at least 48 hours’ written notice and store any personal property removed with a licensed public warehouse, which may not sell or dispose of it until it has been stored for at least 6 months. The officer’s notice must name the warehouse and state that property unclaimed after 6 months may be sold at auction, and the property goes to a warehouse or storage facility of the tenant’s own choosing if the tenant names one in writing at or before the removal. The landlord pays the cost of moving the property to storage and is entitled to reimbursement from the tenant. The tenant may access the stored property once without charge to inspect it or remove items of primarily personal or sentimental value, may reclaim everything at any time by paying the storage fees lawfully owed, and may postpone a sale for 3 months by paying half the storage fees incurred plus costs reasonably incurred in preparing for the sale. The warehouse may satisfy its storage lien from the sale proceeds but must hold the balance for delivery on the demand of any person entitled to the goods. This is M.G.L. c. 239, §§ 3, 4.

WhatMassachusetts
Belongings left behindEvicted tenant’s goods go to a warehouse for 6 months
What the statute requires firstNotice, a waiting period or storage before disposal

What the statute says

“The lien shall not be enforced by sale or disposal of the property until it has been kept in storage for at least 6 months. Thereafter, the warehouser may enforce the lien …”

Quoted word for word from the section’s text.

Source

M.G.L. c. 239, §§ 3, 4

Read the statute in the General Laws of Massachusetts (Massachusetts Legislature): malegislature.gov.

Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.

This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.

How Seayora uses this rule

Seayora keeps a lease’s end date and every notice sent through it, with the date it went out, in the lease record — so the dates a rule like this one counts from are on file rather than remembered.

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