Utilities Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Massachusetts law says, what's specific to Boston - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- M.G.L. c. 186, § 14 reaches a landlord required by law or by the lease to furnish water, hot water, heat, light, power, gas, elevator, telephone, janitor or refrigeration service who willfully fails to furnish it.
- It also reaches a landlord who directly or indirectly interferes with another party furnishing that service, so calling the utility to have it cut counts.
- The criminal penalty is a fine of $25 to $300 or imprisonment for not more than six months, and that money is not paid to you.
- Your civil remedy is separate and larger: actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus the costs of the action including a reasonable attorney's fee.
- Under 105 CMR 410.354, the owner must supply the electricity and gas used in your unit unless it is separately metered and a written agreement makes you pay.
Understanding the Utilities Clause
The utilities clause decides who pays for heat, hot water, electricity and gas - and, more importantly, whether a line saying you pay them is even effective. In a Boston triple-decker with one boiler and a gas account in the owner's name, that paragraph is often unenforceable no matter how confidently it is written.
Massachusetts answers the shutoff question twice: once with a small criminal fine, and once with a much larger civil claim that belongs to you. The two get confused constantly, and the difference is worth several months of rent. Read the current text of M.G.L. c. 186, § 14 yourself before you put a figure in a demand letter.
What renters assume
Most renters read the $300 figure and conclude that is what a landlord pays for cutting the heat, and that it is barely worth chasing.
What is actually true
That $25 to $300 fine is a criminal penalty, and it is not paid to the renter. Your claim under M.G.L. c. 186, § 14 is actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus costs and attorney's fees.
Read Massachusetts's bar carefully. The $300 on this chart is the top of the criminal fine under M.G.L. c. 186, § 14 - a penalty paid to the state, not compensation paid to you - which is why it sits near Chicago's $300 per tenant rather than near Denver's $5,000 or New York City's $10,000.
The number that matters to a Boston renter is not on the bar at all, because it is a rent multiple rather than a fixed sum. It is actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus costs and a reasonable attorney's fee - the same shape as Miami's three months' rent and larger than the two months' figures in Phoenix, Philadelphia and Portland.
Plain English Version
Massachusetts treats a deliberate shutoff as two separate wrongs. The state can fine your landlord a few hundred dollars for it, and separately you can sue him for whatever the shutoff actually cost you or for three months of your rent, whichever is bigger, with your legal costs on top. And before any of that, the Sanitary Code says the owner supplies the electricity and gas unless your unit has its own meter and you signed something agreeing to pay.
Utilities Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Boston, MA
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
[t]enant shall be responsible for all utilities and services incurred in connection with the Premises.
Quoted from the published opinion in Dinh v. Raines, No. S-18262 (Alaska Feb. 23, 2024). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
“[t]enant shall be responsible”
Whether this sentence does any work in a Boston apartment turns on the meter, not on how firmly it is written. Under the State Sanitary Code, 105 CMR 410.354, the owner must provide the electricity and gas used in a dwelling unit unless that unit is metered through a meter serving only that unit and a written agreement requires the occupant to pay. This clause is the written-agreement half. The separate meter is the half no lease can supply for itself, and both have to be true before the bill becomes yours.
“all utilities and services”
“All” flattens services that Massachusetts keeps apart. The Sanitary Code provision above speaks to the electricity and gas used in the unit, while water may be billed to you separately only on the submetering terms set by M.G.L. c. 186, § 22, so a blanket line does not by itself move the water bill into your name. The Alaska court drew its own line on this same clause: heat, hot water and electricity were essential services, internet and cable were not, and the tenants still recovered $1,050 for those on ordinary contract grounds once they had given notice.
“incurred in connection with”
“In connection with” is loose enough to reach the whole building, which is exactly what to test it against. 105 CMR 410.354 conditions your liability on a meter serving only that unit, so a cost connected with the premises but registered on a supply that also feeds other units is a different thing from your own consumption. Dinh is the picture of the difference: the landlord housed restaurant employees in unpermitted garage units and let them draw electricity and heating fuel through the tenants' own meter and fuel tank, and the court treated that as a willful diminution of essential services.
“the Premises”
The unit is where the services have to arrive, and Massachusetts prices the failure to deliver them there. M.G.L. c. 186, § 14 makes that landlord liable for actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus the costs of the action including a reasonable attorney's fee - and any waiver of the section in a lease is void and unenforceable, so the paragraph you signed cannot trade it away. Florida measures a shutoff by the same yardstick under Fla. Stat. § 83.67.
The clause survived. The landlord did not. The Alaska Supreme Court held that a “tenant pays all utilities” clause does not let a landlord shift the cost of utilities he diverts. He had housed his restaurant employees in unpermitted garage units and let them draw electricity and heating fuel through the tenants' meter and fuel tank. That was a willful diminution of essential services under AS 34.03.210, which exposes a landlord to exemplary damages of up to one and one-half times actual damages. The court affirmed that finding as to heat, hot water and electricity, and reversed as to internet and cable, which are not “essential services” under the Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act. The same utilities clause still carried the day on ordinary contract grounds: the tenants recovered $1,050 under AS 34.03.160 for the internet and cable, once they had given notice. Two things a renter should take from it - a broad “all utilities” clause is normal and enforceable, and it still does not make you the landlord's utility company.
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Massachusetts Law on Utilities Clause
- M.G.L. c. 186, § 14 reaches a landlord required by law or by the lease to furnish water, hot water, heat, light, power, gas, elevator service, telephone service, janitor service or refrigeration service who willfully or intentionally fails to furnish it, or who directly or indirectly interferes with the furnishing of it by another.
- The criminal penalty is a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than three hundred dollars, or imprisonment for not more than six months.
- The civil remedy is separate and larger: the landlord is liable for actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus the costs of the action including a reasonable attorney's fee, and any waiver of the section in a lease or rental agreement is void and unenforceable.
- Under the State Sanitary Code, 105 CMR 410.354, the owner must provide the electricity and gas used in a dwelling unit unless that unit is metered through a meter serving only that unit and a written agreement requires the occupant to pay; separate billing for water is permitted only on the submetering terms set by M.G.L. c. 186, § 22.
M.G.L. c. 186, § 14 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Massachusetts puts the rule in M.G.L. c. 186, § 14. It applies to a landlord who is required by law or by the rental agreement to furnish water, hot water, heat, light, power, gas, elevator service, telephone service, janitor service or refrigeration service and who willfully or intentionally fails to furnish it. It reaches the same landlord who directly or indirectly interferes with the furnishing of that service by another party.
The section carries two consequences that people mix up. The criminal penalty is a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than three hundred dollars, or imprisonment for not more than six months. The civil liability is separate and larger: actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus the costs of the action including a reasonable attorney's fee.
One more line in that section decides most arguments before they start. Any waiver of M.G.L. c. 186, § 14 in a lease or rental agreement is void and unenforceable, so a paragraph in which you appear to give up the protection does not do what it says.
Then there is the question of who owes the bill in the first place. Under the State Sanitary Code, 105 CMR 410.354, the owner must provide the electricity and gas used in a dwelling unit unless that unit is metered through a meter serving only that unit and a written agreement requires the occupant to pay. Separate billing for water is permitted only on the submetering terms set by M.G.L. c. 186, § 22.
Massachusetts Tenant Protections
A landlord who willfully fails to furnish water, hot water, heat, light, power or gas he is required to furnish, or who interferes with another party furnishing it, is liable to you for actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater, plus the costs of the action including a reasonable attorney's fee, under M.G.L. c.
186, § 14. The same section carries a criminal fine of $25 to $300 or up to six months' imprisonment, but that penalty is not paid to you. Any waiver of the section in a lease is void and unenforceable.
Separately, 105 CMR 410.354 requires the owner to provide the electricity and gas used in your unit unless it is metered through a meter serving only that unit and a written agreement requires you to pay, and water may be billed separately only on the submetering terms in M.G.L. c. 186, § 22.
What's Specific to Boston
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Boston enforces the state rule rather than one of its own. Inspectional Services applies the Massachusetts Sanitary Code, and the City's housing-code guidance tells owners in plain words that they cannot remove or shut off a tenant's utilities, and may only shut them off temporarily when repairs or alterations require it.
The City's guidance to renters is the sentence to bring to a lease signing: a tenant only has to pay utility bills if the lease says so and the utility serves their unit alone. That is the same test 105 CMR 410.354 sets, and it is why a 'tenant pays all utilities' line can be worth nothing in a building where one meter feeds three floors.
That matters for how Boston actually rents. Much of the housing stock is triple-deckers and owner-occupied two-families with one boiler, one water line and accounts kept in the owner's name, which is exactly the arrangement where a written promise to pay for gas cannot be matched to a meter that serves only you.
Before you sign, ask which meter serves your unit and who holds each account, and get both answers written into the lease. Confirm the current text of the statute and the Sanitary Code section before you rely on these figures.
A fair rental agreement lists heat, hot water, electricity, gas, water and sewer and says who pays each. Vague wording like 'tenant pays utilities' is where surprise bills start.
This is the whole question in Massachusetts. Under 105 CMR 410.354 the owner supplies the electricity and gas unless your unit is separately metered and a written agreement makes you pay.
Red flag. Willfully failing to furnish heat, hot water, light, power or gas exposes the landlord to actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater.
It does not work. Any waiver of M.G.L. c. 186, § 14 in a lease or rental agreement is void and unenforceable, whatever the paragraph says.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- M.G.L. c. 186, § 14, read on law.onecle.com. Massachusetts publishes the official text at malegislature.gov.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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'Tenant pays all utilities'
No list, no meter named. Under 105 CMR 410.354 that line only bites where your unit is separately metered and a written agreement requires you to pay - in a triple-decker, 'all' can quietly mean a shared basement boiler.
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Lease waives the section 14 remedy
A clause saying you give up your claim for a utility interruption is fighting the statute itself. Any waiver of M.G.L. c. 186, § 14 in a lease or rental agreement is void and unenforceable.
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Shutoff threat over late rent
A lease reserving the right to cut heat or power for unpaid rent is describing conduct M.G.L. c. 186, § 14 puts a price on, both as a fine of $25 to $300 and as a civil claim worth three months' rent.
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Landlord bills you for water
Water is the one utility with its own gate. Separate billing for water is permitted only on the submetering terms set by M.G.L. c. 186, § 22, so ask which of those terms the building actually meets.
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No answer on who holds accounts
When the landlord keeps the gas or electric account in his name, his unpaid balance becomes your cold apartment. Ask before signing and get the answer written in, because the lease is the document that will be read later.
Your Rights as a Boston Tenant
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Three months' rent, or your damages
For a willful failure to furnish water, hot water, heat, light, power or gas, M.G.L. c. 186, § 14 makes the landlord liable for actual and consequential damages or three months' rent, whichever is greater.
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Costs and attorney's fees on top
The same section adds the costs of the action, including a reasonable attorney's fee. That is what makes a claim worth bringing even when the out-of-pocket loss is small.
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The waiver in your lease is void
Any waiver of M.G.L. c. 186, § 14 in a lease or rental agreement is void and unenforceable. A signature under that paragraph did not cost you the remedy.
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The owner supplies gas and electric
Under 105 CMR 410.354 the owner must provide the electricity and gas used in your unit unless it is metered through a meter serving only that unit and a written agreement requires you to pay.
What To Do - Step by Step
Write down the exact time
Photograph the dark meter, the cold radiator, the dry tap. Note the exact date and time service stopped and keep the photos timestamped.
Find the meter that serves you
Go to the basement and look. Whether your unit is metered through a meter serving only that unit decides who owed the bill under 105 CMR 410.354 in the first place.
Call the utility, not the landlord first
Ask who requested the disconnect and why. A landlord-requested shutoff, or one over the landlord's own unpaid balance, is the fact your whole claim rests on.
Check the rent figure and keep receipts
Your remedy is the greater of damages or three months' rent, so write down the monthly number and keep every hotel night, space heater, spoiled grocery run and laundromat trip.
Report it to Inspectional Services
Boston's Inspectional Services applies the Sanitary Code to rental housing, and a dated complaint from the City's own housing agency is evidence you cannot create yourself later.
Send a written demand, then file
Dated email or letter: demand restoration, cite M.G.L. c. 186, § 14, and state the remedy you claim. Confirm the current text before filing in the housing court that hears Boston landlord-tenant cases.