Massachusetts HOA laws and regulations - 2026 guide

Massachusetts has no HOA act.

If you own a condo unit in Worcester or a single-family rental in a covenanted subdivision west of Boston, the rules that bind you come from four separate chapters of the General Laws and two federal rules.

Above all, they come from the documents recorded at the registry of deeds when the community was created.

This guide explains those Massachusetts HOA laws: which statute reaches your property, what fees and liens the association can impose, which rules it cannot enforce, and how you push back when a board oversteps.

Massachusetts HOA laws at a glance

Massachusetts has no dedicated HOA statute. There is no Massachusetts Homeowners Association Act, and unlike the nine states that adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act, Massachusetts never enacted that either. So the answer to 'what law governs my association?' depends first on whether you own a condominium or a house in a covenanted subdivision. Chapter 183A applies only to condominiums created by a recorded master deed; single-family HOAs run on their recorded declarations, on c. 180 if incorporated, and on c. 184 for how long their covenants last. The four chapters divide up as follows:

• Chapter | What it controls | Who it binds
• M.G.L. c. 183A (Condominium Act) | Master deed recording, common expense assessments, the § 6 lien, reserve funds, financial reporting, EV charging rights | Condominiums created by a recorded master deed
• M.G.L. c. 180 | Nonprofit corporate governance: meetings, quorum, proxies, special-meeting thresholds | Incorporated HOAs and incorporated condo associations
• M.G.L. c. 184 | Restrictive covenants: the 30-year limit, extension mechanics, solar restrictions voided by § 23C | Single-family subdivisions and any recorded land restriction
• M.G.L. c. 151B | Housing discrimination, MCAD complaints, reasonable accommodation | Every association, board and managing agent

The statutes leave large holes that only the governing documents fill. Chapter 183A says nothing about annual meeting notice periods or rules for quorum and proxies. For the trust-form condominiums that make up most of the state's associations, the declaration of trust and bylaws are the only source of those rules. The CAI Massachusetts summary confirms that distinction. The documents also set reserve percentages and schedules for fines or late fees.

What laws actually govern HOAs in Massachusetts?

Four state chapters and two federal rules do the work, and each one reaches a different slice of your property. Chapter 151B and the federal Fair Housing Act cover discrimination and accommodation claims against any association.

The federal OTARD rule at 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000 protects antennas on balconies and patios regardless of property type. Both get their own treatment below. The chapters that decide day-to-day governance are c. 183A for condos and c. 180 plus c. 184 for everything else.

Chapter 183A and the Massachusetts Condominium Act

A condominium exists under c. 183A only when the owner records a master deed 'containing a statement to the effect that the owner or lessee proposes to create a condominium to be governed by the provisions of this chapter,' as § 2 requires. Under § 8, the owner records that deed in the registry of deeds or land registration office where the property sits.

The deed must contain the unit designations and each unit's percentage interest in common areas. It must also include floor plans certified by a registered architect, engineer or surveyor, the use restrictions, the amendment method, and the name and address of the managing trust or corporation. If any of the land is registered land, the Land Court must approve the master deed before the owner can register it.

Reserve funds are mandatory but unquantified. Section 10(i) requires every condominium to 'maintain an adequate replacement reserve fund, collected as part of the common expenses and deposited in an account or accounts separate and segregated from operating funds.' The statute names no percentage or dollar floor. It also sets no reserve-study schedule.

Moriarty Bielan & Malloy explains that the 10% figure boards often cite comes from secondary mortgage market lenders and describes § 10(i) as providing 'no statutory guidance or threshold for adequacy.' Once control passes from the developer, owners holding 67% of beneficial interest can vote annually to modify the reserve requirement, and a simple majority can rescind that modification at any time under § 10(m).

Financial reporting has firmer edges. Under § 10(d), the association must prepare a balance sheet and an income and expense statement within 120 days of fiscal year-end. It must also prepare a statement of available funds and make the report available to owners within 30 days after completion.

Condominiums with 50 or more units need an independent CPA review at least every two years; smaller ones need it only if a majority in beneficial interest votes for it. The association must keep records for seven years.

None of this applies to a single-family HOA. If your deed has no master deed behind it, c. 183A is not your statute.

How non-condo HOAs are governed under c. 180 and c. 184

An incorporated HOA answers to c. 180, and c. 180 delegates nearly everything to the bylaws. Section 6A states that 'a corporation may by its by-laws determine the manner of calling and conducting its meetings' and the number of members constituting a quorum. Section 17 requires the bylaws to 'contain clear and distinct provisions relative to … the number of members required for a quorum.' The statute sets no default for either.

The one hard number is the special-meeting trigger. Written application by members representing at least 10% of the smallest annual-meeting quorum compels the clerk to call one.

Chapter 184 controls how long the covenants themselves last, and this is where single-family HOAs carry a risk condo owners never face. Section 23 limits a restriction 'unlimited as to time' to 30 years from the deed that created it, subject to the section's listed exceptions. Those exceptions include certain gifts or devises and older or government-created restrictions.

For restrictions imposed after 1961, § 27 provides two renewal paths.

Under the common-scheme path, the original instrument must contain an extension provision, and the scheme must cover four or more contiguous parcels. Owners of 50% or more of the restricted area must sign. The extension can run no more than 20 years at a time, and the owners must record it before the 30 years expire.

For a restriction outside a common scheme, a person entitled of record to its benefit may record a notice before the 30-year deadline and record another notice during each following 20-year period. The notice must identify the benefited land and subject parcel. It must also name at least one record owner of the subject parcel and identify the original recorded instrument.

Pre-1962 restrictions get 50 years under § 28, subject to a recorded notice before expiration and further notices within each 20-year period.

The courts enforce those deadlines strictly. In Brear v. Fagan, 447 Mass. 68 (2006), the SJC held that once a restriction's term expires, a later notice 'accomplishes nothing, because there is nothing left to 'enforce[]'.'

In Berger v. Wyndcliff, 92 Mass. App. Ct. 538 (2017), the Appeals Court killed a single-family-dwelling restriction permanently because the common-scheme extension mechanism 'must explicitly be in the original document, and cannot be added by a later vote.'

A Massachusetts real estate blog argued in July 2024 that many HOA declarations across the state may have silently expired on these grounds. Before you buy into a subdivision HOA, pull the original declaration. Check whether it has an extension clause and whether anyone recorded an extension in time.

Condominium trust vs single-family HOA

Most Massachusetts condominiums are organized as trusts rather than nonprofit corporations, so c. 180's meeting and proxy rules usually do not reach them. A single-family HOA sits in the opposite position, with no c. 183A rights at all. Here is how the two forms compare on the questions that cost owners money:

• Question | Condominium trust | Single-family HOA
• Governing statute | c. 183A plus the declaration of trust; c. 180 only if incorporated | Recorded declaration and bylaws; c. 180 if incorporated; c. 184 for covenant duration
• Lien for unpaid fees | Automatic under § 6 from the day an assessment is due, perfected by the master deed, with six months of super-priority over the first mortgage | No statutory lien; collection rights are whatever the recorded declaration grants
• Record access | § 10(d) annual financial report within 120 days of year-end, CPA review for 50+ units, seven-year retention | Whatever the declaration and bylaws provide; c. 180 imposes no equivalent report mandate
• Enforcement powers | May assess an owner individually for costs caused by that owner's violation under § 6(a)(ii); rules judged under the Noble v. Murphy reasonableness standard | Covenant enforcement subject to the c. 184 30-year limit and the § 30 'actual and substantial benefit' test
• EV charging right (§ 10A) | Covered | Covered: the statute's definition of 'association' includes homeowners' associations
• Remote meetings and electronic voting | Authorized by § 24, which overrides contrary documents | Authorized by c. 180 § 6A for incorporated HOAs unless bylaws say otherwise

The lien row is the one that should shape how a portfolio investor prices Massachusetts inventory. A condo association can foreclose a delinquent unit under a statutory procedure. A subdivision HOA can only do what its declaration says, and if that declaration expired under c. 184, it may be able to do nothing.

Governing documents and their order of authority

The statute sits on top, the master deed below it, then the declaration of trust or bylaws, then the rules the board adopts. Each layer can only add what the layer above permits. Section 12 allows bylaws to contain provisions 'not inconsistent with this chapter and the master deed.' Section 11 requires them at minimum to state how the association will maintain and pay for common areas and how it will collect common expenses.

When the statute and the documents conflict, the statute wins in two places the legislature made explicit. Section 6(a)(ii) on individual assessments says outright: 'In the event of a conflict between this subsection and the master deed, trust, or bylaws, the provisions of this subsection shall control.' Section 24 on remote meetings and electronic voting likewise overrides contrary documents.

Between the documents themselves, courts give the most deference to restrictions in the originating instruments. Under Noble v. Murphy, 34 Mass. App. Ct. 452 (1993), master deed restrictions are 'clothed with a very strong presumption of validity' and fall only if 'wholly arbitrary in their application, in violation of public policy, or that they abrogate some fundamental constitutional right.'

Rules the board adopts later face ordinary equitable reasonableness review, a lower bar for you to clear when you challenge them. The Appeals Court reaffirmed that split in Williamson v. Barlam in February 2024.

Board rules cannot reach inside your unit. In Arslen v. Slatkin (August 2025), the Appeals Court affirmed that a condominium trust had 'no right or authority to order plaintiff to 'cease and desist from occupying'' his unit and declared the fines attached to that order 'null and void.' The rule's 'whatever means necessary' language never reasonably informed the owner he could lose the right to live there.

The recorded governing instruments that bind you are public. Under § 8, the owner records the master deed and amendments at the same registry of deeds. The association also records certificates naming new trustees there, so you can read that recorded stack before closing. A board may adopt later rules without recording them, so request the association's current rules separately. Boston owners can also work from the city-level guide to HOA laws and regulations in Boston.

Assessments, fines and late fees an association can charge

A condo association can charge three kinds of fees, and the statute treats them differently for lien priority even though you are personally liable for all of them.

The association allocates regular assessments by percentage interest. Section 6(a)(i) requires common expenses to be assessed 'in accordance with their respective percentages of undivided interest in the common areas' or, if the master deed says so, by unit area.

The association must assess common expenses at least annually from a budget it adopts at least annually. Any amendment shifting the allocation 'shall require the consent of all unit owners whose common expense assessment is materially affected.' Your share of the reserve fund is part of this regular charge.

Special and individual assessments come from § 6(a)(ii). If an expense results from your failure to follow the chapter or the governing documents, or from your misconduct, the association may assess that expense against you alone.

This cost-shifting provision has limits. In Old Colony Village v. Preu (2011), the Appeals Court held the First Amendment applies when an association tries to shift costs for a unit owner's sign postings, because an association 'does not have as free a hand in restricting the speech of unit owners in the common areas … as another property owner might.'

Fines, late charges, penalties and interest are the third category, and § 6(b) makes you 'personally liable for all sums assessed … including late charges, fines, penalties, and interest assessed by the organization of unit owners and all costs of collection including attorneys' fees, costs, and charges.'

The statute caps none of these. It requires no hearing before a fine, and it sets no maximum late fee. Those limits, if they exist for your building, live in the declaration of trust and bylaws.

Two outside limits may apply. The Attorney General's debt collection regulation at 940 CMR 7.00 covers qualifying personal, family, or household debt that is more than 30 days past due. Whether a particular association assessment qualifies depends on the facts because the regulation does not expressly address association assessments.

When the regulation applies, it bars collecting any interest, fee, or charge 'unless such amount is expressly authorized by the agreement creating the debt or permitted by law.' A fine with no basis in the recorded documents may therefore be uncollectible under the regulation.

Fines aimed at a protected class are discrimination. The U.S. Department of Justice reached the Stonecleave Village settlement in 2010 for $130,000 to victims plus $20,000 in civil penalties after alleging the association imposed excessive fines on residents with children.

For a single-family HOA, every one of these charges depends on the declaration. No Massachusetts statute grants a subdivision association assessment or fining authority on its own.

Liens, the six-month super lien and foreclosure

Under c. 183A § 6, the association holds a lien on your unit 'from the time the assessment becomes due,' and recording the master deed 'constitutes record notice and perfection of this lien; no further recordation of any claim of lien for assessment under this section is required.' The lien secures the assessments plus 'any fees, attorneys' fees, charges, late charges, fines, costs of collection and enforcement, court costs, and interest.'

That general lien ranks behind three things: liens recorded before the master deed, a first mortgage recorded before the delinquency, and municipal taxes and charges. The super lien is the exception that jumps ahead of the mortgage.

It covers budget-based common expense assessments 'which would have become due in the absence of acceleration during the six months immediately preceding institution of an action to enforce the lien,' plus 'costs and reasonable attorneys' fees incurred in the action.' It does not include 'special assessments, late charges, fines, penalties, and interest.' Only the regular monthly fee counts toward the priority amount.

Before the association can sue, it has to send two notices under § 6(c), each by certified and first-class mail:

1. Once any portion of your share has been delinquent for at least 60 days, the association sends you and the first mortgagee a notice stating the amount.

2. Thirty days before filing suit, the association sends the first mortgagee a notice of intent to file.

Skipping a notice does not kill the priority. It keeps the six months of assessments ahead of the mortgage but strips the attorneys' fees and costs out of the priority amount. Moriarty Bielan & Malloy advises boards to file no later than after the sixth missed payment so no month of priority is lost.

Enforcement runs through c. 254 § 5. The association files a civil action in the Superior Court for the county or the District Court for the judicial district where the unit sits. It must name the owner and every lienholder of record. The association then must record an attested copy of the complaint at the registry within 30 days or the lien dissolves.

Once the court fixes the amount, § 5A requires it to 'enter an order authorizing the sale of the real estate to satisfy such lien.' The SJC held in Drummer Boy v. Britton, 474 Mass. 17 (2016), that an association may file successive actions, each carrying its own six-month priority, as long as it repeats both notices each time.

Under Sharma v. Andover Gardens (2023), you must raise any defense as a compulsory counterclaim in that first action. The Appeals Court barred a later independent suit and awarded appellate fees against the owner who tried.

Two more mechanics matter to a buyer or lender. Under § 6(d), the association must furnish a statement of unpaid common expenses within ten business days of a written request, and that statement binds the association.

The legislature also amended Section 6 through St. 2024, c. 239, § 84, effective February 18, 2025. No appellate court has construed the amendment yet.

A super lien reaches the unit itself, so a delinquency on a tenant-occupied condo puts equity at risk in a way tenant damage never does. Insurance addresses the second problem only. Steadily writes DP3 landlord insurance policies on Massachusetts condo units. Condo landlord insurance covers what the master policy leaves to the unit owner, and Massachusetts rental property insurance explains what a landlord policy on a rented unit covers. Get a quote in minutes with the online quote tool, with no phone call required.

What are your rights in a Massachusetts HOA?

Your enforceable rights as a Massachusetts condo owner are narrower than most owners assume, because c. 183A grants a handful of specific protections and leaves everything else to the documents. Protected installations and fair housing law can also override association rules, especially when a board restricts property use or delays a disability accommodation. The rights the statute and case law do secure:

• You may see the annual financial report within 30 days of its completion, and the association must keep seven years of records under § 10(d).
• You vote by percentage interest, and no amendment can change your share of common expenses without your consent if the change materially affects you (§ 6(a)(i)).
• You may vote by mail or electronically when the board allows it under § 24, and you may attend meetings remotely once the board authorizes that format.
• You can demand a binding statement of what you owe within ten business days under § 6(d).
• A board rule cannot order you out of your own unit, under Arslen v. Slatkin.
• You may bring a derivative action on the association's behalf when the board 'has failed or refused to redress a wrong committed against that association,' provided you join the association as a party, under Hyman v. Conway (2025). Direct suits over common-area defects belong to the trust alone.
• A board that rejects your alteration request must act in good faith. In Feldman v. Sanctuary (Land Court, February 10, 2026), the court ordered the association to allow work after finding the board 'failed to act in good faith and in the exercise of its honest judgment.'

Due process before a fine is the gap. Chapter 183A does not require notice or a hearing before the board levies a fine or individual assessment.

What you have instead is the reasonableness review from Noble and Arslen. You may also have the protection of 940 CMR 7.00, which can require the documents to authorize the charge, and the written-dispute procedure covered in the challenge section below.

If you rent the unit, the association's use restrictions bind your tenant, and your tenant inherits federal OTARD antenna rights on any balcony or patio under the lease. A tenant who stays after the lease ends is a different problem, one covered by Massachusetts squatters' rights.

Which HOA rules are unenforceable in Massachusetts?

Five categories of installation and display carry statutory or federal protection that overrides an association rule. A sixth category, political signs, gets limited constitutional scrutiny in the circumstances decided by Massachusetts courts:

• Installation | Legal source | What the association cannot do | What it can still do
• Solar energy systems | c. 184 § 23C (1985) | Enforce any provision that 'purports to forbid or unreasonably restrict the installation or use of a solar energy system'; such provisions are void | Require trustee approval for common-area installations, under Hunter v. Killeen (Land Court), so long as it exercises that discretion reasonably
• EV charging equipment | c. 183A § 10A, effective February 18, 2025 | 'Prohibit or unreasonably restrict' installation in your unit or exclusive-use area; if the association does not deny an application in writing within 60 days, the statute deems it approved | Require a licensed contractor or electrician, installation at your expense, and compliance with safety, zoning and permit rules
• Satellite dishes and TV antennas | Federal OTARD rule, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000 (1996) | Impair installation, maintenance or use of a dish one meter or smaller in an area you exclusively control; prior-approval rules are generally barred; the association bears the burden of proof | Restrict antennas in common areas, dishes extending beyond your balcony, and drilling through exterior walls, as the FCC guidance explains
• American flag | Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 (4 U.S.C. § 5 note) | Ignore the federal act's limited protection for qualifying displays | Apply reasonable rules; no Massachusetts statute adds protection, and the legislature sent H.1555, which would add protection, to study in April 2026
• Race-, religion- or sex-based occupancy limits | c. 184 § 23B | Enforce any restriction limiting occupancy 'on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin or sex' | Nothing; the provision is void
• Political signs | Old Colony Village v. Preu; Nyer v. Munoz-Mendoza, 385 Mass. 184 | Shift costs for sign postings without First Amendment scrutiny; Nyer separately invalidated a blanket residential injunction against signs 'visible to public view' | Apply rules subject to governing documents and reasonableness review; practitioner sign guidance recommends content-neutral, even enforcement

Two caveats apply to solar. Section 23C never names condominiums or HOAs. The pending H.3496, which would name them explicitly, has not passed.

Massachusetts also has no satellite-dish statute of its own. OTARD does all the work, and no Massachusetts appellate court has yet ruled on how it interacts with a condo rule.

No reported Massachusetts appellate decision has adjudicated a private condominium or HOA rule governing a political sign, flag, or religious display standing alone. Old Colony Village addressed cost-shifting for sign postings, while Nyer addressed a tenant injunction rather than a standalone private association rule.

The EV rule deserves a second look from anyone on a board. Section 10A defines 'association' to include 'a condominium association, homeowners' association, community association, cooperative, trust or other nongovernmental entity,' so it reaches single-family HOAs that otherwise escape c. 183A.

The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities confirmed on February 26, 2025 that the rule is in force, and the statute contains no grace period. A board still running an open-ended approval process is already out of compliance.

Fair housing and anti-discrimination obligations

Every association, its board, and its managing agent must comply with c. 151B and the federal Fair Housing Act, and the deadlines for complaining are short.

You must file an MCAD complaint within 300 days of the discriminatory act. Under 804 CMR 1.04(3), the clock starts when you 'knew or should have known' of the claim. HUD gives one year under 42 U.S.C. § 3610(a)(1)(A)(i).

A court action under c. 151B § 9 can follow 90 days after the MCAD filing, within three years of the act. Without a prior MCAD filing, the court deadline is one year.

The enforcement record shows what boards get punished for:

• In Kacavich v. Halcyon Hill (MCAD, 2008), the hearing officer awarded $26,700 and ordered the board to rebuild and pay for a wheelchair ramp it had refused.
• The Attorney General's Pearl Street settlement (August 2015) required $15,000 in payments, fair housing training, and a written accommodation policy after the trust delayed ramp and access requests for a tenant's disabled child.
• In Giardiello v. MEEB (2017), a federal magistrate judge held that 'an undue delay in responding to a reasonable accommodation request may be deemed to be a failure to provide a reasonable accommodation,' letting a service-dog claim proceed against the board.

The Appeals Court drew one line in the association's favor. In Geezil v. White Cliffs (November 2024), it held the association was not an 'owner' under c. 151B § 4(7A)(1) because 'the common areas are managed, not owned, by the [a]ssociation.' The owner therefore could not force the association to pay for his patio modification.

An association must permit the accommodation. Whether it must fund it turns on this ownership question.

Board powers, officers and meeting rules

A president has no statutory authority over other trustees or directors in Massachusetts; the title carries only the duties the declaration of trust or bylaws assign to it. Neither c. 183A nor c. 180 creates officer ranks.

For a trust-form condominium, the trustees are the governing body and act under whatever decision rules the declaration sets. For an incorporated association, c. 180 § 6A leaves 'the manner of calling and conducting its meetings' to the bylaws.

The rules that do come from statute divide by entity type:

• Rule | Incorporated HOA or condo (c. 180) | Trust-form condo (c. 183A)
• Annual meeting notice days | No statutory default; bylaws must set it | No statutory default; declaration of trust must set it
• Quorum | No statutory number; § 17 requires bylaws to state one | No statutory number; documents govern
• Special meeting trigger | Members holding 10% of the smallest annual-meeting quorum, under § 6A | Documents govern
• Proxy voting | Allowed by default unless bylaws say otherwise; no proxy dated more than six months before the meeting is valid; proxies expire at final adjournment | Documents govern
• Remote or hybrid meetings | Board may authorize unless bylaws forbid; remote participants count as present | § 24 authorizes electronic meetings and mail-in or electronic voting with a quorum present, overriding contrary documents

Election challenges turn on the documents, and the Appeals Court will enforce them against a board. In Gutierrez v. Flagship Wharf (February 2022), electronic voting survived, but the board violated its bylaws 'by directing proxy designations to someone other than the clerk' and by 'limiting unit owners' ability to revoke their proxies before the commencement of the annual meeting.'

If you suspect a rigged election, the bylaw text on who receives proxies and when owners can pull them is where the claim lives.

Developers' powers are bounded by the master deed as recorded. In Kettle Brook v. Specht (October 2021), the court found a developer's attempt to extend phasing rights unilaterally 'invalid under both the statute and the master deed,' because owners 'had a right to rely' on the recorded terms when they bought.

How to challenge an HOA decision in Massachusetts

Start with the documents and escalate in the following order, because each step either resolves the dispute or builds the record you need for the next one.

1. Send a written demand to the board citing the exact master deed, trust, or bylaw provision the decision violates, and ask for the vote or minutes authorizing it. A later-adopted rule faces the ordinary reasonableness test from Noble v. Murphy, so name the rule's adoption date.

2. Request the § 10(d) financial report. If the dispute involves money you allegedly owe, also request a § 6(d) statement of unpaid common expenses. The association has ten business days for the statement, and it binds them.

3. If a collection letter concerns qualifying personal, family, or household debt that is more than 30 days past due, dispute the debt in writing within 30 days. Whether a particular association assessment qualifies under 940 CMR 7.00 depends on the facts.

   When the regulation applies, 940 CMR 7.08 requires the creditor, including the association's law firm, to cease collection. The creditor must mail you every document bearing your signature, a ledger of charges and payments, and any judgment.

   The same regulation caps collection calls at two per seven-day period to your home or cell and bans calls outside 8:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. It also bars threats of 'any action that cannot legally be taken.' Violations are unfair acts under c. 93 § 49.

4. Send a c. 93A demand letter only to a defendant who acts in trade or commerce. Massachusetts courts treat association-member disputes as private. In Albright v. Villa Grande, the relationship 'falls, therefore, outside the scope of G.L.c. 93A,' and Wodinsky v. Kettenbach, 86 Mass. App. Ct. 825 (2015), reached the same result. The managing agent standing in the trustees' shoes is outside too.

   A developer is a different story, as the Cambridge Point case, 478 Mass. 697, shows. So is the association's collection law firm. In McDermott v. MEEB, the First Circuit held the firm's FDCPA violations were per se c. 93A violations.

   Where 93A applies, § 9 requires a written demand at least 30 days before suit describing the practice and injury. Damages are the greater of actual loss or $25. A court can double or treble them for willful violations or bad-faith refusal to settle, and the statute provides mandatory attorney's fees. The limitations period is four years under c. 260 § 5A.

5. File with MCAD within 300 days if the decision involves disability, familial status, or another protected class. Waiting past 300 days leaves only the one-year HUD window or the one-year court option under § 9.

6. Pick the court by claim type and amount. Housing Court under c. 185C § 3 hears anything affecting 'the health, safety, or welfare, of any occupant' of a dwelling. It has full Superior Court injunctive powers, and any party can transfer a qualifying case there under § 20.

   Superior Court takes money claims where recovery is unlikely to be $50,000 or less, along with equity matters under c. 214 § 1. District Court takes claims at or below $50,000, and small claims handles amounts up to $7,000.

   Whether a covenant is enforceable at all belongs exclusively to the Land Court under c. 185 § 1 and c. 240 § 16. There, c. 184 § 30 presumes against 'actual and substantial benefit' in cities and towns over 100,000 people.

Arbitration binds you only if the bylaws require it. Section 12 allows bylaws to mandate arbitration of administration disputes, but the Appeals Court held in Lallo v. Szabo that an arbitrator cannot accomplish what the statute reserves to unanimous owner consent. Under Beacon Towers v. Alex, you get no attorney's fees in arbitration unless the agreement provides them.

Association tax and filing obligations

Form 355A no longer exists. DOR replaced it decades ago. Directive 86-33 moved security corporations to Form 355SC, and the 2025 corporate excise forms list contains no Form 355A. The current returns follow TIR 10-3:

• Entity | Federal return | Massachusetts return
• Incorporated HOA or condo association (C corp) | 1120-H with § 528 election | Form 355
• Incorporated association (S corp) | 1120-H | Form 355S
• Unincorporated trust qualifying under IRC § 528(c) | 1120-H | Form 3M (not a corporate excise return)
• Unincorporated entity not qualifying under § 528(c) | 1120 | Form 355

The federal election under Section 528 requires at least 60% of gross income to be exempt function income. It also requires 90% of expenses to go toward association property. The federal government taxes non-exempt income at 30% for condominium management associations under the IRS Form 1120-H instructions. The association makes the election annually by filing the form on time.

Massachusetts departs from the federal treatment in two ways. It excludes exempt function income from Massachusetts gross income for both incorporated and unincorporated associations. The state also disallows the federal $100 specific deduction for both, under Directive 86-6 and Directive 86-7.

The § 528 election does nothing to relieve an incorporated association of the corporate excise. The 2025 Form 355 instructions state that 'a corporation may never pay less than the $456 minimum excise on a return,' with a non-income measure of $2.60 per $1,000 of taxable tangible property or net worth.

A corporation invalidates its extension unless it pays at least 50% of its total liability or the $456 minimum, whichever is greater. Unincorporated trusts had to file the 2025 Form 3M by April 15, 2026.

FAQ

These answers cover the statute for single-family HOAs and foreclosure over unpaid fees. They also address common dispute types and whether you must try mediation before suing.

Does c. 183A apply to my single-family HOA?

No. Chapter 183A reaches only condominiums created by a recorded master deed, so a subdivision HOA gets none of its provisions, including the § 6 lien and the § 10(d) reporting rules. Your association runs on its recorded declaration, on c. 180 if it incorporated, and on c. 184 for how long the covenants stay alive. The exception is the EV charging statute, § 10A, whose definition of 'association' expressly includes homeowners' associations.

Can an HOA foreclose on my unit over unpaid fees?

A condominium association can. Section 6 gives it an automatic lien, six months of regular assessments jump ahead of your first mortgage, and c. 254 § 5A directs the court to order a sale once it fixes the lien amount. The association must first send the 60-day delinquency notice and the 30-day pre-suit notice by certified and first-class mail.

A single-family HOA has no statutory foreclosure right. It can pursue only what its declaration grants, and if the covenants expired under c. 184, that may be nothing.

What is the most complained-about HOA violation in Massachusetts?

I have not found a published statewide tally by complaint type. Disputes reaching the Appeals Court and collection agencies often concern collection practices and fines, including the Stonecleave settlement, McDermott, and Sharma.

MCAD and federal cases also involve delayed or denied disability accommodations, including Kacavich, Giardiello, and Pearl Street. Other cases concern board overreach into unit use, including Arslen and Feldman.

Covenant expiration under c. 184 is the sleeper issue for subdivision owners, because nobody complains about a restriction until someone tries to enforce it.

Do I have to try mediation before suing my association?

No statewide pre-suit mediation requirement exists for condominium or HOA disputes. Once a case is filed, SJC Rule 1:18 requires your attorney to inform you about court-connected dispute resolution. A court may order an ADR screening session but may not sanction you for refusing to settle.

If your bylaws contain a § 12 arbitration clause, you are bound by it, subject to the Lallo v. Szabo limit that an arbitrator cannot override a statutory unanimous-consent requirement.