If you’re waiting on a lease until the rent control vote in November, there’s nothing to wait for. The question isn’t on the ballot, and the law that governs your rent is the same one voters approved in 1994.
What the court decided
On June 23, 2026 the Supreme Judicial Court decided Cella v. Attorney General. Registered voters had challenged the Attorney General’s certification of an initiative petition titled An Initiative Petition to Protect Tenants by Limiting Rent Increases. The court held that because one exemption covered dwelling units in facilities operated solely for educational, religious or non-profit purposes, the petition relates to religion, religious practices or religious institutions, which Article 48 of the state constitution excludes from the initiative process. The judgment enjoins the Secretary of the Commonwealth from taking steps to place the measure on the 2026 statewide election ballot.
What the petition would have done
It would have struck out c. 40P, the 1994 ban on local rent control, and set a limit on any annual rent increase at the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index or 5 percent, whichever is lower. The exemptions, as the court quoted them, were owner-occupied buildings with four or fewer units, units whose rents are regulated by a public authority, units rented to transient guests for under two weeks, units in facilities operated solely for educational, religious or non-profit purposes, and new buildings for 10 years from their first certificate of occupancy.
The law that stays
M.G.L. c. 40P, the Massachusetts Rent Control Prohibition Act, says no city or town may enact, maintain or enforce rent control of any kind. Voters adopted it as a 1994 ballot question: 1,034,599 yes, 980,736 no, and 216,870 blanks. The chapter allows one narrow exception, and it’s worth reading to see how narrow. A town that accepts the chapter may adopt rent control only if owner compliance becomes entirely voluntary after six months, the rules leave out occupancy, services, evictions, condominium conversion and the removal of properties from the regulation, it applies only to owners of ten or more rental units and to units with a fair market rent of $400 or less, and the town pays owners the difference between market and controlled rent out of its general funds.
What sets your rent instead
A lease fixes the rent for its term. A tenancy at will, meaning a tenancy with no fixed term, can be ended by either side with written notice. Under c. 186 § 12, when rent is paid at intervals shorter than three months, the notice has to equal the interval between rent days or thirty days, whichever is longer. The same section says the notice may include an offer to establish a new tenancy for the same premises on different terms, and the offer doesn’t affect the notice’s validity. So a rent increase on a tenancy at will is really a termination with a new offer attached.
What to do with a renewal notice
Before you sign, sort out whether you’re on a lease or a tenancy at will. Then note the date the notice actually reached you, and check the effective date against it. If the dates don’t line up, say so in writing before the effective date arrives. Got a renewal notice in Boston this fall? Send it over and I’ll read it with you before you sign. Diana Kim, REALTOR®, eXp Realty.
Questions
Common questions
Is rent control on the Massachusetts ballot in November 2026?
No. On June 23, 2026 the Supreme Judicial Court decided Cella v. Attorney General and held that the rent cap initiative petition relates to religion because of its exemption for religious facilities, which Article 48 excludes from the initiative process. The court enjoined the Secretary of the Commonwealth from placing it on the 2026 statewide ballot.
Does Massachusetts have rent control now?
No. M.G.L. c. 40P, adopted by a 1994 ballot question, says no city or town may enact, maintain or enforce rent control of any kind. The only exception is a version whose owner compliance turns voluntary after six months and that can't reach owners of fewer than ten units or units with a fair market rent over $400.
How much notice does a landlord need to raise the rent on a tenancy at will?
Under c. 186 § 12, a tenancy at will with rent paid at intervals under three months is ended by written notice equal to the interval between rent days or thirty days, whichever is longer, and that notice may include an offer of a new tenancy on different terms. That's how a rent increase on a tenancy at will is delivered.
Can my rent go up during a lease?
A lease sets the rent for its term. The rent changes when the lease ends and a new one is signed, or when the tenancy converts to a tenancy at will and a proper written notice offers new terms.
Sources
- Cella v. Attorney General, SJC-13893 (Mass. June 23, 2026), slip opinion: registered voters challenged the Attorney General's certification of Initiative Petition 25-21, 'An Initiative Petition to Protect Tenants by Limiting Rent Increases.' Holding: 'Because of this exemption, we conclude that the petition relates to religion, religious practices or religious institutions, an excluded matter under art. 48 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution. ... Accordingly, art. 48 bars placement of the petition on the November 2026 Statewide election ballot.' Disposition: judgment 'enjoining the Secretary from taking steps to place the measure on the 2026 Statewide election ballot. So ordered.'
- M.G.L. c. 40P, § 4: 'No city or town may enact, maintain or enforce rent control of any kind, except that any city or town that accepts this chapter may adopt rent control regulation that provides: (a) after six months from the date of the initial adoption of rent control regulation by a particular city or town, compliance on the part of property owners ... shall be entirely voluntary and uncoerced ...; (b) such regulation may not include the regulation of occupancy, services, evictions, condominium conversion or the removal of properties from such regulation, nor may such regulation apply to any rental unit that is owned by a person or entity owning less than ten rental units or that has a fair market rent exceeding $400; and (c) a municipality adopting such regulation shall compensate owners of rent controlled units ... from the municipality's general funds'.
- M.G.L. c. 186, § 12: 'Estates at will may be determined by either party by three months' notice in writing for that purpose given to the other party; and, if the rent reserved is payable at periods of less than three months, the time of such notice shall be sufficient if it is equal to the interval between the days of payment or thirty days, whichever is longer. Such written notice may include an offer to establish a new tenancy for the same premises on terms different from that of the tenancy being terminated and the validity of such written notice shall not be affected by the inclusion of such offer.'
- Massachusetts Secretary of the Commonwealth, PD43+ election statistics, 1994 Statewide Question 9 on the rent control prohibition: Yes 1,034,599, No 980,736, Blanks 216,870, Total 2,232,206. Summary: 'This proposed law would prohibit rent control for most privately owned housing units in Massachusetts, and would nullify certain existing rent control laws'; the summary says the law would take effect January 1, 1995.
Written by Diana Yeji Kim — REALTOR® at eXp Realty, serving Greater Boston in English, Korean, and Japanese.
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