Rentals of 28 consecutive days or longer fall outside Boston's short-term rental ordinance and the MA Ch. 64G state excise. Extended-stay corporate housing and traditional leases are governed instead by standard tenancy law under MGL Ch. 186.
Boston Ord. 12-9.1 defines a short-term rental as occupancy under 28 consecutive days. Stays of 28 days or longer are treated as tenancies under MGL Ch. 186, triggering tenant rights including security deposit limits, notice-to-quit requirements, and access to housing court. The MA room occupancy excise under Ch. 64G similarly applies only to stays under 31 days. This carve-out enables long-term corporate housing, sabbatical rentals, and month-to-month furnished tenancies to operate without STR registration, though landlord-tenant statutes then govern the relationship.
Misclassifying a series of short stays as a single 28-day rental to evade STR registration is a recurring ISD enforcement target with daily fines.
Boston, MA
MGL Ch. 186 §15B caps Boston security deposits at one month's rent, requires interest-bearing escrow in a Massachusetts bank, mandates written receipts, and ...
Boston, MA
Boston STR operators pay state room occupancy excise of 5.7% plus a local tax of 6.5%, the highest local rate allowed in Massachusetts, totaling 12.2% in taxes.
See how Boston's extended home share rules stack up against other locations.
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