Renting a House near Boston: Questions (Worcester: apartment, renter, insurance)

[BrooklineBiker]

When renting a non-furnished house in Greater Boston on a 1 year lease, which expenses are typically covered by the landlord vs. tenant?

Who covers the cost of heat, hot water, sewage, trash removal, landscaping, snow removal, refrigerator?

(I looked here (https://www.mass.gov/guides/landlord-responsibilities) but Mass. law apparently leaves these matters between the landlord and tenant).

[bostongymjunkie]

It depends on how the owner markets it and what they require in the lease, but most unfurnished houses for rent that I've seen in the Boston area require tenant to assume all utilities. If I wanted to rent out a house to someone I may take care of sewage and landscaping, but I don't think I would include utilities like heat, electric, hot water. If all that were included the rent would probably be astronomical because who wants to give a tenant free reign to use as much as they want? Especially these days. I will guess that most homes up for rent around here have a fridge and many probably have W/D.

[stanley-88888888]

i think the municipal water/sewer bill goes to the homeowner.
snow removal: if someone trips on ice in front of the home then the property insurance will be sued so homeowner.
i think the cost of heat (including hot water), trash removal, landscaping, refrigerator, ... are amenities responsible for by the lessee.

[robr2]

Originally Posted by stanley-88888888;64257125[B

]i think the municipal water/sewer bill goes to the homeowner.[/b]
snow removal: if someone trips on ice in front of the home then the property insurance will be sued so homeowner.
i think the cost of heat (including hot water), trash removal, landscaping, refrigerator, ... are amenities responsible for by the lessee.

Massachusetts now allows sub-metering of water and sewer and billing directly to the tenant. Each apartment in the unit must have it's own meter and it must be in the lease.

[scorpio516]

Originally Posted by robr2

Massachusetts now allows sub-metering of water and sewer and billing directly to the tenant. Each apartment in the unit must have it's own meter and it must be in the lease.

Yeah, but if your renting a SFH...

Major utilities are almost always by tenant. Sewer and water typically are by owner.
Trash? Depends on the town (ALWAYS by tenant in Worcester, you pay by the bag)
Snow and lawn? Goes either way


Refrigerator??? That doesn't sound like a question from an American... Most appliances are always included, and repairs are by the landlord. (Washers & dryers are usually by tenant)

[robr2]

Originally Posted by scorpio516

Yeah, but if your renting a SFH...

Major utilities are almost always by tenant. Sewer and water typically are by owner.
Trash? Depends on the town (ALWAYS by tenant in Worcester, you pay by the bag)
Snow and lawn? Goes either way


Refrigerator??? That doesn't sound like a question from an American... Most appliances are always included, and repairs are by the landlord. (Washers & dryers are usually by tenant)

The law in Massachusetts is that the landlord is responsible for water and sewer unless it written into the lease. Oral agreements are not enforceable. If it's in the lease, the renter pays it.

My first apartment in a duplex did not come with a refrigerator and in MA it's not required to be provided. If it is, the landlord has to maintain it.

[G-fused]

I would think that most of the time all utilities are covered by the tenant - heat, hot water, electric.

Trash, and stuff like that is either part of taxes and therefore removed by the town or are covered by the owner.

Landscaping and snow removal gets more variable but my thought is that the owner would cover that too.

So the theme is that if it is more of a fixed cost, that is typically the owner but the variable costs are the tenant.