Brockton, MA Rental Property Rules: Repairs & Habitability (2026)

City Code § 4-22(a) bars an owner, agent or lessor from allowing a vacated dwelling unit, apartment or tenement to be reoccupied until PHD inspects it and issues a certificate of fitness stating it meets the standards of Article II of the state sanitary code, the Commonwealth's Minimum Standards of Fitness for Human Habitation. Subsection (b) requires every apartment to receive a certificate of fitness at least once every three years regardless of vacancy. A certificate cannot issue unless the § 11-181 fee is paid, water, sewer and tax bills are current, and the owner or agent has no outstanding board of health or code enforcement fines on any city property they own; subsection (g) also bars issuance if the inspection finds Article II violations still present.

A unit already inspected and certified is not required to be recertified for twenty-four months from that certification. When a tenant vacates, subsection (h) obligates the owner to notify PHD in writing on the required form; PHD then must inspect within five full working days or the unit automatically gets a certificate of permission to rent so it isn't held vacant indefinitely. Every certificate of fitness or permission to rent must be posted in a common area or given to the occupant, showing the issuance date, inspector's name and a description of the unit.