Framingham, MA Rental Property Rules: Rental Registration (2026)

Framingham's rental unit inspection certificate program, adopted by the Board of Health on October 21, 2014 and codified February 13, 2024, requires every owner, lessor or person in control of a rental unit to obtain a certificate before commencing a new tenancy or occupancy, per § 496-2A. A unit may be occupied before inspection only if five business days have passed since a completed application was submitted, and that unit remains subject to a later inspection. The Board exempts several categories from the certificate rule under § 496-2B: property owned or managed by the Framingham Housing Authority; hotels, motels and mobile homes already permitted by the Board of Health or Board of License Commissioners; owner-occupied buildings with two or fewer units (though the owner may opt in); properties with 20 or more units serving elderly or low- and moderate-income tenants under a federal or state subsidy program; and lodging houses, which instead get annual inspections under 780 CMR, the State Building Code.

To register, § 496-3A requires the owner to file a completed application with the Board of Health office and pay a nonrefundable $75 fee for each unit. The Director of Public Health can deny an application outright, without inspection, if it is incomplete, contains false information, lacks the fee, or if the owner refuses reasonable access for inspection, per § 496-3B. Framingham built the program to enforce the State Sanitary Code's Minimum Standards of Fitness for Human Habitation, 105 CMR 410.000, citing its authority under MGL c. 111, § 31.