A Massachusetts Tenant Notice to Vacate is the written 30 days notice a tenant gives a landlord to end a periodic tenancy under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 186 § 12. It identifies the rental unit, sets the last day of tenancy, provides a forwarding address for the security deposit, and creates the documentary record that protects you if the move-out is later disputed. The form on this page handles the statutory content automatically — you fill in the blanks, the PDF generates a clean, signature-ready notice, and you deliver it to your landlord.

In Massachusetts, a tenant at will (for example, month-to-month) ends the tenancy with written notice under M.G.L. c. 186 § 12. Where rent is payable at periods of less than three months, the notice must equal the interval between rent days or thirty days, whichever is longer; otherwise it must be three months. A tenant who is, or whose household member is, a victim of domestic violence, rape, sexual assault or stalking may terminate on written notice given within three months of the most recent act and must quit within three months of the notice (M.G.L. c. 186 § 24).

What this form does and when to use it

The Massachusetts Tenant Notice to Vacate is a written notice from the tenant to the landlord ending a periodic (typically month-to-month) tenancy under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 186 § 12. It serves three purposes at once: it gives the landlord the notice § 12 requires (the interval between rent days or thirty days, whichever is longer) that the tenancy will end, it specifies the last day of tenancy so rent obligations stop on a defined date, and it provides the forwarding address for the deposit the landlord must return within thirty days after the termination of occupancy under M.G.L. ch. 186 § 15B(4). Without a properly written and delivered notice, a tenant who simply moves out remains exposed to claims for additional rent and may have a harder time recovering the security deposit.

Use this notice when you have a periodic tenancy — month-to-month is the most common form, but the same rule applies to week-to-week or other periodic arrangements (for week-to-week rent the notice is still at least thirty days, because § 12 takes the longer of the rent interval or thirty days). The 30 days notice applies regardless of how long you have lived in the unit. Many states impose longer notice obligations on landlords than on tenants — those longer landlord rules do not flow back to tenants. As a tenant on a periodic tenancy in Massachusetts, you give the notice stated in M.G.L. ch. 186 § 12: the interval between rent days or thirty days, whichever is longer (three months if rent is payable at periods of three months or more).

This is not the right form for a fixed-term lease. If you have a lease with a defined end date and you intend to leave at the natural end of the term, the lease itself sets the end date — although it is good practice to send a written notice anyway to confirm your intent and trigger the security deposit clock. If you want to leave a fixed-term lease early, the 30 days notice does not apply: you need either a lease provision authorizing early termination, the landlord’s written agreement to release you, or a statutory ground (uninhabitable conditions, domestic violence early termination, or military deployment under federal SCRA at 50 U.S.C. § 3955). Sending a ch. 186 § 12 notice on a fixed-term lease without one of those grounds typically does not end your rent liability under Massachusetts law.