Property Maintenance in Massachusetts (2026)

Boston Code § 9-13.1 creates a Mayor's Office Problem Properties Task Force, Police, Fire, ISD, Public Health and other…

Brockton's Building Department can declare any unoccupied, neglected structure a "dangerous building" under Article IV…

Fall River makes it a violation to own, maintain, or create a blighted property, dilapidated, fire-hazardous, or a…

Lawrence treats a substandard or dangerous building as a nuisance to abutters: the commissioner of inspectional…

Owners of foreclosed property in Leominster must register with the health department director within seven days of…

New Bedford bars any owner from creating or maintaining a nuisance on their property, defining "nuisance" to include…

Revere requires owners of vacant commercial or residential buildings to register with the Department of Municipal…

Owners of vacant buildings or ground-floor commercial space in Somerville must register the vacancy with inspectional…

Springfield's Anti-Blight Program lets Code Enforcement order repair or demolition of a vacant, dangerous building in…

Taunton Code § 350-1 targets dilapidated buildings, overgrowth, debris, stagnant water and abandoned structures as…

Chelsea treats a building, structure or vacant lot as a nuisance if it sits abandoned or open to the weather for 90…

Newton bars owners and occupants in residential districts from keeping a substantial amount of junk and debris, or…

Blighted and dangerous buildings are handled under MGL c.139 §1, which lets a community, after written notice and a…

Quincy, Massachusetts (Norfolk County) defines blighted, deteriorated, or hazard-creating property as an unlawful…

Worcester's nuisance-on-property law, Chapter 8, § 42, targets dilapidated buildings, vacant or abandoned structures…

Owners of vacant lots in Lowell must keep them free of trash, overgrown vegetation, and dumping, and secure them…

Owners of vacant or foreclosing residential property in Taunton must register the property with the Building…

Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton require vacant lot owners to mow (grass under 8-12 inches), remove trash, and…

Brockton's Fire Prevention Code bars weeds, grass, hay, straw and other combustible growth from piling up on any vacant…

Cambridge Code § 8.24.040(B)(2) requires every owner or occupant of private property to cut and dispose of weeds in any…

Fall River requires owners of vacant lots to keep the premises free of litter and control wild-plant growth so it…

Lawrence bars dumping rubbish, ashes or sweepings in streets, alleys or vacant lots outside the public dump, and…

Vacant lots in Newton must be maintained free of debris, overgrowth, and nuisances. Owners are responsible for weed…

Norfolk County does not enforce vacant lot maintenance. Quincy and Brookline have vacant property registries…

Vacant parcels are reached directly by MGL c.139 §1, which names the owner of a vacant parcel of land alongside…

Revere Municipal Code Section 8.04.021 makes it a health code violation for any landowner to let the exterior of real…

City ordinance requires every private property owner or occupant in Somerville to cut and dispose of weeds in yard…

Springfield requires owners of vacant or open lots to keep them free of litter and overgrowth at all times, enforceable…

Following Papadopoulos v. Target (2010), Massachusetts property owners owe a duty of reasonable care to remove snow and…

Lowell property owners must clear snow and ice from sidewalks abutting their property within a set period after a storm…

Somerville requires abutters to clear sidewalks within 6 hours of daytime snowfall ending or by 10 am if the storm…

Boston property owners, managers, and tenants bound by a written lease must clear snow, slush, and ice from sidewalks…

Property owners in Fall River, New Bedford, Taunton, and most Bristol County cities must clear sidewalks within 24 to…

Owners, occupants, or tenants of property abutting a constructed sidewalk in Brockton's designated downtown-area…

Cambridge property owners must clear sidewalk snow within twelve hours of a daytime snowfall, or by 1 p.m. after an…

Chelsea property owners, agents or occupants must clear all snow from the sidewalk or footway fronting their premises…

Fall River property owners and tenants must clear sidewalk snow within five hours between sunrise and sunset, or sand…

Lawrence property owners must clear snow, slush and ice from sidewalks and curb ramps within 24 hours after snowfall…

Property owners, agents and occupants abutting sidewalks on ten named downtown streets, including Main, Central and…

New Bedford Code of Ordinances § 22-15 gives every abutting owner or occupant a strict clock to clear sidewalk snow…

Norfolk County does not enforce snow clearing. Each municipality requires property owners to clear adjacent sidewalks…

Snow and ice clearing is set by each community under MGL c.85 §5, which lets cities by ordinance and towns by bylaw…

Owners, tenants and occupants of buildings with a nonresidential portion bordering a Quincy sidewalk must clear snow…

Property owners in Revere must clear snow and slush from the sidewalk abutting their land within 24 hours after a…

Springfield, Massachusetts property owners and tenants must clear sidewalk snow and ice within 24 hours of a storm…

Owners of property bordering a sidewalk in a business, central business or highway business district must clear the…

Worcester property owners and occupants have ten hours after a winter storm ends to clear snow and ice from the…