Before you lease: checking state, city and condo requirements for a specific address

Three layers, checked separately

Before a Greater Boston home goes on the rental market, its requirements come from three places. The state sets minimum housing standards in the State Sanitary Code (105 CMR 410), which apply to rental housing throughout Massachusetts. The city or town may require registration, inspections or local permits. If the home is a condo, the association's master deed, bylaws and rules add their own conditions.

Each layer has its own authority and its own paperwork, so finishing one does not finish another. A practical habit is to keep one folder per address with the city registration confirmation, any inspection results, the condo documents and the dates that come around each year.

• State: State Sanitary Code, 105 CMR 410, minimum standards for housing
• City or town: rental registration, rental inspections and other local rules, where they exist
• Condo association: master deed, bylaws, rules and regulations

Boston: annual rental registration

In Boston, every rental property must be registered with the Inspectional Services Department (ISD) every year. Registration opens January 2 and the deadline is July 1. An owner who misses the deadline can be charged a monthly penalty until the property is registered, and an owner who has never registered must pay registration fees back to 2013.

Registration is still required if the unit is vacant or under renovation, if the tenant is a relative aged 18 or older who is not on the deed, or if no rent is collected. The only properties the city lists as not needing registration are those owned by a city, state or federal agency, and rooming houses, dormitories and lodging houses with a valid lodging license.

The online form asks for the owner's contact information, the property manager's if there is one, the number of units being registered and the total number of units in the property (an owner registering a single condo still reports the size of the complex), the purchase date if the owner bought after January 1, 2013, whether the property was built before 1978, whether there are external fire escapes, and whether the property has a smoke-free policy. An owner who lives outside Massachusetts must name a Boston-area person the city can reach in an emergency. If you registered online before, renew through the same account; ISD asks owners not to open a new one, which can create duplicate records and overcharges.

Boston: rental inspections are a separate step

Registration does not complete Boston's inspection requirement. Rental properties are selected for an inspection once every five years, and when a property is selected the city mails the owner a notice with instructions and dates. Inspections check the unit against state housing codes, and ISD publishes a rental inspection checklist that is worth walking through before a notice arrives.

The inspection exemptions differ from the registration exemptions. Buildings with six or fewer units where the owner lives in one of the units are exempt from these inspections, along with government-owned properties and licensed rooming houses, dormitories and lodging houses. Vacant units, properties under renovation, units rented to an adult relative who is not on the deed and units where no rent is collected are not exempt. An owner-occupied two-family, for example, may be exempt from the periodic inspection while still needing to register.

When a notice comes, the owner can have a city housing inspector inspect the units for a per-unit fee; file a passed report from an authorized inspector with a signed affidavit for each unit; or file reports from Boston Housing Authority or Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership inspectors, with a filing fee for each unit report. Owners with a history of meeting state and city codes can apply for a Five-Year Alternative Inspection Compliance Plan. Because the rules turn on the building and its history, confirm the status of a specific address with ISD.

Outside Boston: how to check a specific town

Boston's registration deadline, inspection cycle and exemptions are Boston's own. Neighboring cities and towns have their own approach. The way to find out is to ask the municipality where the property sits, usually its inspectional services or building department, and the board of health, which enforces the sanitary code locally.

The questions are much the same everywhere. Writing down the answers, with the name of the office and the date, gives you something to check against next year.

• Does the city or town require rental registration, and if so, how often and by what date?
• Are rental units inspected periodically or at turnover, and which properties are exempt?
• Does an owner who lives out of state need to name a local contact?
• Are any local permits or certificates needed before a new tenant moves in?
• Which office handles complaints about housing conditions?

Condo association documents

If the rental is a condo unit, city compliance alone does not clear it for leasing. The master deed, bylaws and rules can limit how many units may be rented, set a minimum lease length, or require the owner to register the tenant or submit a copy of the lease. Not every association requires approval before leasing, and some documents say nothing on the subject, so read the documents for that building rather than assuming either way.

Move-in logistics are often set by the association or its manager: elevator reservations, protective padding, moving hours and tenant contact details for building access. Ask the manager what the building requires, get any approval or acknowledgment in writing before the lease is signed, and give the building rules to the tenant with the lease.

The state baseline: 105 CMR 410

The State Sanitary Code sets minimum standards for housing statewide, covering matters such as heat, hot water, sanitary facilities, structural condition and pests. It also gives boards of health enforcement procedures and gives occupants legal remedies when housing falls short. A pending registration, a condo board's delay or a dispute with a tenant does not suspend the duty to make needed repairs.

Specific temperatures, dates and repair deadlines are set in the code itself, and the technical fix belongs to licensed trades. Before each turnover, a walk-through of the areas you can safely reach catches the common problems: heat and hot water working, no active leaks, windows and locks operating, smoke and carbon monoxide alarms in place and working, and no signs of pests. Record what you find; if you take a security deposit, the same notes help you write the statement of condition.

A pre-leasing checklist and yearly calendar

Run through these steps before advertising a vacancy, and keep the results in the address folder. They organize the work; they do not by themselves establish that every legal requirement is met.

• City: confirm registration status with the municipality (in Boston, ISD; registration opens January 2, deadline July 1), and update the emergency contact if you live out of state.
• Inspection: check whether the address is due for, or exempt from, local rental inspection, and keep the latest result.
• Condo: read the leasing provisions, check for any rental cap, and get written confirmation of required filings or approvals.
• Condition: walk through the unit, have licensed trades fix what needs fixing, and photograph the result.
• Older homes: for a home built before 1978, prepare the lead notification package before the lease is signed (see the guide on lead and habitability records for older rentals).
• Calendar: keep each year's registration renewal and each lease end date in one place.