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

At a glance

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).