Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 186, § 15E (2026)

Action against owner; injuries due to defects violating building code; defense; waiver

✓ current as of July 2026

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Section 15E. An owner of a building shall be precluded from raising as a defense in an action brought by a lessee, tenant or occupant of said building who has sustained an injury caused by a defect in a common area, that said defect existed at the time of the letting of the property, if said defect is at the time of the injury a violation of the building code of the city or town wherein the property is situated. Any waiver of this provision in any lease or other rental agreement shall be void and unenforceable.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 3 cases, 1979–2015 · leading case: Crowell v. McCaffrey, 386 N.E.2d 1256 (Mass. 1979).

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Crowell v. McCaffrey, 386 N.E.2d 1256 (Mass. 1979). · cites it 2× “Those cases arose before the effective dates of G. L. c. 186, §§ 15E 2 and 19, 3 but in the *448 King case we suggested that § 19 was an indication of legislative policy consistent with our ruling.”

Bishop v. TES Realty Trust, 942 N.E.2d 173 (Mass. 2011). · cites it 3× “First, in April, 1972, it enacted G. L. c. 186, § 15E, which, where a tenant or occupant of a building was injured because of a defect in a common area that was a violation of the building code in the city or town where the property was located, barred the “owner of a building”…”

Commonwealth v. Zhan Tang Huang, 87 Mass. App. Ct. 65 (Mass. App. Ct. 2015). “23 Specifically, Jason points to G. L. c. 186, § 15E (building owners) and § 15F (landlords), and Warshaw, Massachusetts Landlord-Tenant Law § 2:2 (2d ed.”

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