Massachusetts: Tenant Abandoned Property Notice, Storage, and Disposal Requirements

Requirements one by one

Governing law, trigger, and routes

M.G.L. c. 239, § 3 begins with a court judgment and execution for possession.
If property remains when the officer levies the execution, M.G.L. c. 239,
§ 4(a)-(h) makes the officer—not the landlord—send it to storage for the owners'
benefit. These provisions do not authorize a landlord to use the warehouse and
auction process merely because a tenant voluntarily vacated and left goods.

Initial handling, inventory, and storage

The officer uses the licensed public warehouse named in the execution notice,
unless the defendant selects another qualifying facility in writing at or
before removal. The warehouse must be licensed, bonded, in Massachusetts, and
within 20 miles of the rental. The officer gives and files a signed receipt
describing the goods or packages, while the warehouse must keep each receipt's
goods separate for identification and delivery.

The warehouse must carry at least $10,000 in fire-and-theft insurance and is
liable when failure to use reasonably careful-person care causes loss or injury.

Notice recipients, method, and contents

At least 48 hours before execution, the officer's written notice gives the date
and time, officer contact, court and docket, warehouse contact, rates-agency
contact, six-month auction warning, and address-update instruction. It is served
like the summary-process summons and complaint and filed with the issuing court.

At removal, the officer hands the defendant the descriptive receipt or sends it
by receipted mail to the last and best known address. Within seven days, the
warehouse serves a more detailed receipt by hand or receipted mail. Monthly
first-class statements then report lien advances and liabilities.

Claim and retrieval deadlines

No lien sale or disposal may occur until the goods have been stored at least six
months. The defendant can postpone the sale another three months by paying half
of all storage fees plus reasonable sale-preparation costs. All goods remain
reclaimable at any time on payment of lawful storage fees, and a payment that
satisfies the lien and reasonable sale-compliance expenses stops the auction.

Retrieval conditions and storage charges

The plaintiff advances removal costs and may seek reimbursement. The warehouse
may charge only filed, nonrejected rates no higher than comparable fair-market
rates, and only for actual storage time. Extra docking, labor, administrative,
minimum, and similar add-on charges are barred. Amounts paid by the plaintiff or
another third party are credited to the defendant.

Once during storage, the defendant may inspect the goods or remove primarily
personal or sentimental items without paying storage fees. Full retrieval
requires all lawful storage fees, but a third party's failure to pay the
warehouse cannot defeat the property owner's retrieval right.

Low-value, perishable, and protected property

Sections 3 and 4 provide no low-value, perishable, trash, medicine, or unsafe-
item shortcut from the six-month warehouse process. If an animal is present,
the officer immediately notifies animal control, police, or another authorized
agent; specified animal-removal statutes remain separate.

The one-time free-access rule expressly reaches items with primarily personal
or sentimental value, including photographs, passports, documents, and funeral
urns. The list is illustrative rather than exhaustive.

Sale or disposal method

After six months, the warehouse enforces its lien by public auction under M.G.L.
c. 106, § 7-210(b)-(f), (i). Known interest holders receive an itemized claim,
goods description, at least 10 days after receipt to pay, and conspicuous
auction details. The sale occurs at the nearest suitable place and must match
the notice.

After the payment period, the warehouse publishes once weekly for two
consecutive weeks, and the auction occurs at least 15 days after the first
publication. If no qualifying newspaper exists, at least six neighborhood
postings run for 10 days. The warehouse may buy at the public sale, and the
former tenant may buy the goods in bulk or individual parcels.

Proceeds, accounting, and unclaimed funds

The warehouse satisfies only its lawful storage lien from the proceeds and
holds the balance for delivery on demand to the person entitled to the goods.
The cited statutes do not set a later deadline for sending an unclaimed balance
to a court, municipality, or state unclaimed-property administrator.

Remedies, liability, and special limits

The warehouse cannot require a liability release as a condition of returning
property. A defective warehouse receipt creates liability for omission-caused
damages, and failure to comply with § 4 forfeits the storage lien. The licensing
commissioner may impose a civil penalty up to $5,000, inspect facilities, and
reject unlawful or commercially unreasonable rates.

The defendant may petition the summary-process court for damages or an
injunction, and a § 4 violation is also a violation of chapter 93A. An improper
sale under § 7-210 supports damages and, for a willful violation, conversion
liability.

What trips people up

The six-month clock is not permission for a landlord to put voluntarily left
goods into any storage facility. The statutory route requires an officer
executing a possession judgment, a qualifying licensed warehouse, and the
section 3 and 4 notices and receipts.

The tenant's one free access is broader than inspection but narrower than a
full free move-out. It permits inspection and removal of primarily personal or
sentimental items. Reclaiming everything still requires lawful storage fees.

Common questions

Can the landlord put the property on the curb during an eviction?

Not under this execution route. The officer must cause it to be stored with the
identified qualifying warehouse or the defendant's timely chosen facility.

Can the warehouse charge administrative and labor add-ons?

No. Section 4 limits charges to actual storage at lawful filed and fair-market
rates and expressly bars those extra categories.

Can the former tenant delay the auction?

Yes. Paying half of accrued storage fees plus reasonable sale-preparation costs
postpones sale or disposal for three months.

Who receives money left after the storage lien is paid?

The warehouse holds the balance for delivery on demand to the person who would
have been entitled to receive the goods.

Statutes and sources

• M.G.L. c. 239, §§ 3-4. Execution notice, officer removal, warehouse
  eligibility, receipts, rates, insurance, care, six-month hold, retrieval,
  proceeds, penalties, and private relief. Official current General
  Laws
  (accessed July 22, 2026).
• M.G.L. c. 106, § 7-210. Warehouse-lien auction notice, publication,
  redemption, purchase, proceeds, and sale liability. Official current General
  Laws
  (accessed July 22, 2026).