An Act relative to consumer rights of renters

194th Legislature (2025-2026) Introduced by Tackey Chan

Prohibits landlords or agents from requiring tenants to sign a new lease more than three months before the current lease ends, reducing early renewal pressure.

Overview

Bill: HD 158, titled “An Act relative to consumer rights of renters.”

Purpose: To regulate leasing practices by prohibiting landlords or their agents from requiring tenants to sign a new lease more than three months before the current lease ends.

Status: Introduced in the 2025-2026 General Court session (as per the provided information). The bill text references prior similar filings in earlier sessions. No final status or enacted date is provided in the excerpt.

Key Provision(s)

Core change: Adds a new provision to Chapter 186, Section 15B (as it appears in the 2022 Official Edition) to read:

"(10) A lessor, or agent thereof, of a residential property shall not require the signing of a lease more than three months in advance of the termination date of the current lease."

Citation: Section 15B of Chapter 186 of the General Laws is amended by inserting the new subdivision (10) at the end of the section.

Scope: Applies to residential property leases; targets lessors and their agents.

Who is Affected

Affected parties:

Lessors (landlords) of residential properties.
Agents acting on behalf of landlords.
Current tenants and prospective tenants who would be involved in lease renewal or signing.

Practical effect: Tenants cannot be forced to commit to a lease more than three months before the current lease ends, reducing early-renewal pressure.

Procedural and Timeline Aspects

Official Filing History:

House Docket No. 158, filed January 6, 2025.
Presented by Representative Tackey Chan (Quincy, 2nd Norfolk).
Noted as a petition with accompanying House Bill No. 336; similar matter previously filed as House No. 264 in 2023-2024.

Status details in excerpt: No enacted date, effective date, or enforcement mechanism is specified within the provided text.

Implementation: If enacted, the provision would be added to the existing General Laws, with an implementation contingent on passage and any regulatory guidance or statutory rules that follow.

Context and Potential Impacts

Rationale: The provision aims to strengthen consumer rights for renters by preventing predatory or overly aggressive lease-signing timelines.

Potential impact on leasing practices:

Tenants gain greater flexibility to evaluate renewal terms without pressure to sign far in advance.
Landlords may need to adjust renewal pipelines and marketing strategies to align with a shorter pre-signing window.

Ambiguities not addressed in the excerpt:

Penalties or remedies for violations (if any).
Specific applicability to renewal-of-lease situations vs. new leases.
Any exemptions or transitional provisions.

This summary focuses on the substantive change proposed: limiting how far in advance a lease can be signed relative to the current lease termination date, and who would be affected by that rule.

Bill