When the building is sold or foreclosed: does your Lynn lease survive, whom do you pay, and where does the deposit go

Three questions arrive together when a Lynn landlord sells, or a lender forecloses: does the lease still stand, whom do you pay next month, and who is holding the deposit. Massachusetts answers the first two differently for a voluntary sale and a foreclosure — a sale leaves a tenancy at will in place by statute, while a foreclosure converts a fixed-term lease into a tenancy at will and then wraps the new owner in a just-cause rule with a $5,000 floor on the penalty — and answers the third the same way for both: the deposit, with its interest, must go to the new owner, who must tell you in writing within 45 days that it holds it. Underneath sits a federal 90-day notice floor that older guides still describe as expired; it is not.

What this page is: the statutes and federal law that decide what happens to a Lynn tenancy when the owner sells the building or loses it to foreclosure — each quoted from and linked to its official text. It is not legal advice. Where a rule could not be read from a primary source, the page says so instead of guessing. A sale or a foreclosure is also exactly the moment a landlord's mistakes get expensive, so when it matters, read the linked source or use the free legal help on our tenant rights page.

At Lynn's current average rent of $2,342/month (September 2026 — how we compute this), the deposit that has to follow the building to its new owner is up to $2,342 (one month, the statutory ceiling); the per-ZIP figures and the return rules are on the security-deposit page. Nothing on this page changes the rent you owe: the rules below are about who you owe it to and whether the tenancy continues, not the amount.

A sale does not end a tenancy at will — c.186 §13; what it does to a fixed-term lease, the statute leaves to the lease

The clearest sentence in Massachusetts law on this subject is the last one of c.186 §13: “A tenancy at will of property occupied for dwelling purposes shall not be terminated by operation of law by the conveyance, transfer or leasing of the premises by the owner or landlord thereof or by foreclosure.” The building changing hands is not, by itself, a notice to anyone. A new owner who wants a tenant at will out has to end the tenancy the way any landlord does — the written notice of at least a full rental period or 30 days, whichever is longer, that the eviction page walks through, and then a court case if the tenant stays; that the buyer steps into the seller's shoes for that notice is how we read §13 together with §12, not a sentence either section contains. For a lease with a fixed term, §13 is silent: it speaks of tenancies at will, and §13A (below) speaks only of foreclosure. The rule renters are usually given — that a buyer takes the building subject to the leases on it and must honor them to their end date — is the common law of leases, and we did not read it in a Massachusetts case; what we can say is that nothing in chapter 186 we read lets a voluntary sale cut a lease short. The lease is also the document that may answer the question itself: some leases contain a sale clause, and a tenant whose lease has one should read it before anything on this page. Source: M.G.L. c.186 §13 · M.G.L. c.186 §12

Who you pay after a sale, and where the deposit must go — c.186 §15B(5)

The security-deposit statute is the one Massachusetts text that follows the money through a sale, and it is specific. “Whenever a lessor who receives a security deposit transfers his interest in the dwelling unit for which the security deposit is held, whether by sale, assignment, death, appointment of a receiver or trustee in bankruptcy, or otherwise, the lessor shall transfer such security deposit together with any interest which has accrued thereon for the benefit of the tenant who made such security deposit to his successor in interest, and said successor in interest shall be liable for the retention and return of said security deposit in accordance with the provisions of this section from the date upon which said transfer is made” — with one carve-out, “that the granting of a mortgage on such premises shall not be a transfer of interest.” Then the notice: “The successor in interest shall, within forty-five days from the date of said transfer, notify the tenant who made such security deposit that such security deposit was transferred to him and that he is holding said security deposit,” in writing, with the new lessor's “name, business address, and business telephone number” and its agent's. The seller is not off the hook by selling: it “shall continue to be liable” under the section until the deposit has been transferred and the tenant notified in writing, or the successor has complied, or the deposit has been returned — and if the seller never hands the deposit over, the buyer “shall, without regard to the nature of the transfer, assume liability for payment of the security deposit to the tenant.” In plain terms: after a sale there are two people who owe you the deposit until one of them tells you in writing which one holds it. The 45-day letter is also, in practice, the document that tells you whom to pay, because it carries the new owner's name and address; we found no Massachusetts statute that separately requires the buyer in an ordinary sale to tell you where to send rent (the foreclosure rules below do). What the deposit itself may be, how it must be held and what a late return costs is on the security-deposit page. Source: M.G.L. c.186 §15B

Foreclosure: a fixed-term lease becomes a tenancy at will — unless the rent is subsidized — c.186 §13A

Foreclosure is where the fixed-term question gets a statutory answer, and it is not the one most tenants expect. “Upon a foreclosure of residential real property pursuant to chapter 244, a tenant, occupying a dwelling unit under an unexpired term for years or a lease for a definite term in effect at the time of the foreclosure by sale, shall be deemed a tenant at will.” The lease's end date stops mattering; the notice rules for a tenancy at will take over — and so does the just-cause rule in the next section, which is the real protection, because a foreclosing owner cannot use the at-will notice to clear the building. The exception is a subsidized tenant: “Foreclosure shall not affect the tenancy agreement of a tenant whose rental payment is subsidized under state or federal law and the foreclosing entity shall assume the lease and rental subsidy contract with the rental subsidy administrator.” A tenant with a Housing Choice Voucher or a project-based subsidy keeps the lease and the contract that pays part of it; the lender simply becomes the landlord on both. Chapter 244, the foreclosure chapter itself, adds the one notice the lender owes everyone in the building: §15A says a mortgagee taking possession before foreclosure, or conveying title after it, “shall, within thirty days of taking possession or conveying title, notify all residential tenants of said premises” — and the city assessor and the water and sewer provider — “of said taking possession or conveying title.” Source: M.G.L. c.186 §13A · M.G.L. c.244 §15A

A foreclosing owner may evict only for just cause, or on a signed sale to an outside buyer — c.186A §§1–2

Chapter 186A is the Massachusetts statute written for this situation, and its rule is one sentence: “Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, a foreclosing owner shall not evict a tenant except for just cause or unless a binding purchase and sale agreement has been executed for a bona fide third party to purchase the housing accommodation from a foreclosing owner.” Three defined terms carry the weight. A “foreclosing owner” is an entity holding title to a foreclosed building that either “held or owned a mortgage or other security interest in the housing accommodation at any point prior to the foreclosure” (or is its parent, subsidiary, trustee or agent), or “is an institutional mortgagee that acquires or holds title to the housing accommodation within 3 years of the filing of a foreclosure deed,” or is Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac — an “institutional mortgagee” being one that holds or services mortgages on three or more housing accommodations. Read that definition honestly: a private buyer at the auction who never held the mortgage and is not in the mortgage business may fall outside it, and §1's own last words on just cause are that “Nothing in the section shall limit the rights of a third-party owner to evict a tenant at the expiration of an existing lease.” “Tenant” includes a tenant at will and anyone entitled to occupy under a bona fide lease at the time of the foreclosure; a person who moves in after the foreclosure sale without the foreclosing owner's written permission is not one. And “just cause” is a closed list of six: unpaid rent or use-and-occupancy after written notice of the amount and whom to pay; a material violation of the tenancy, other than refusing to surrender possession, uncured 30 days after written notice; a nuisance, substantial damage or substantial interference with other occupants' quiet enjoyment; illegal use of the unit; refusing, after written request, to sign a like-term renewal of a written lease that ended on or after August 10, 2010; and refusing reasonable access for required repairs, inspection, or showing the unit to a prospective purchaser or mortgagee. Not on the list: wanting the unit empty for resale, a renovation, or a higher rent. “Eviction” is defined to include anything “intended to actually or constructively evict a tenant or otherwise compel a tenant to vacate,” so pressure short of a court case is covered. Source: M.G.L. c.186A §1 · M.G.L. c.186A §2

The notice a foreclosing owner owes within 30 days, and the 30-day wait before the money grounds can be used — c.186A §§3–4

Section 3 fixes the “whom do I pay” problem for foreclosures. “Within 30 days of the foreclosure, the foreclosing owner shall post in a prominent location in the building … a written notice stating the names, addresses, telephone numbers and telephone contact information of the foreclosing owner, the building manager or other representative … and stating the address to which rent and use and occupancy charges shall be sent,” and the requirement is met only if the owner has all three of “(i) posted in a prominent location in the building; (ii) mailed by first class mail to each unit; (iii) and slid under the door of each unit” a document with that information. The same section adds a second paper: a foreclosing owner “shall not evict a tenant for actions that constitute just cause unless the foreclosing owner has delivered to each tenant at the time of delivery of written notice pursuant to this section, a written disclosure of the tenant's right to a court hearing prior to eviction.” Section 4 then sequences the grounds. For nonpayment, an uncured violation, and refusing a like-term renewal, a foreclosing owner “shall not evict a tenant … until 30 days after the notice required by section 3 is posted and delivered”; for a nuisance, illegal use, or refusing access, it may not evict “until the notice required by section 3 is posted and delivered.” Until that notice exists, in other words, there is no one lawfully to pay and no eviction for not paying. A tenant who has been paying the old landlord in the meantime should keep every receipt: §1's first just-cause ground requires that the foreclosing owner “notified the tenant in writing of the amount of rent or the amount of use and occupancy that was to be paid and to whom it was to be paid” before nonpayment counts at all. Source: M.G.L. c.186A §3 · M.G.L. c.186A §4 · M.G.L. c.186A §1

Rent after a foreclosure is presumed to be what the old lease said, the fine is $5,000 per eviction, and the chapter is a defense in court — c.186A §§5–6

A foreclosing owner that thinks the rent is too low does not get to name a new figure. Under §5, if it “disagrees with the amount of rent or use and occupancy rates that a tenant-at-will or lessee pays,” it “may bring a claim in district or superior court or the housing court to claim that the rent is unreasonable and set a new use and occupancy rate” — and “A bona fide lease between the foreclosed-upon owner and the lessee or proof of rental payment to the foreclosed-upon owner shall be presumed reasonable.” The old lease, or a record of what you paid the old owner, is the starting point, and the burden of moving it is on the new one. Section 6 is the enforcement. “A foreclosing owner that evicts a tenant in violation of this chapter or any ordinance or by-law adopted pursuant to this chapter, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $5,000. Each such illegal eviction shall constitute a separate offense.” The district, superior and housing courts “shall have jurisdiction in equity to restrain any such violation,” and then the sentence a tenant facing a summary process case most needs: “It shall be a defense to an eviction proceeding that the foreclosing owner attempted to evict a tenant in violation of this chapter.” What we could not read: no Massachusetts case applying chapter 186A, and no Lynn ordinance adopted under it (the chapter contemplates local by-laws; the city's code sits behind a bot wall, as the tenant rights page notes). Source: M.G.L. c.186A §5 · M.G.L. c.186A §6

The federal floor under state law: 90 days' notice for any bona fide tenant — Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act §702

Whatever state law adds, a federal statute sets the floor after a foreclosure. Under section 702 of the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009, “any immediate successor in interest in such property pursuant to the foreclosure shall assume such interest subject to” two things: “the provision, by such successor in interest of a notice to vacate to any bona fide tenant at least 90 days before the effective date of such notice,” and the tenant's right “under any bona fide lease entered into before the notice of foreclosure to occupy the premises until the end of the remaining term of the lease, except that a successor in interest may terminate a lease effective on the date of sale of the unit to a purchaser who will occupy the unit as a primary residence, subject to the receipt by the tenant of the 90 day notice.” A tenant “without a lease or with a lease terminable at will under State law” gets the same 90 days. The Act then yields to anything stronger: “nothing under this section shall affect the requirements for termination of any Federal- or State-subsidized tenancy or of any State or local law that provides longer time periods or other additional protections for tenants.” Its definition of a bona fide tenancy is the one Massachusetts borrows — not the borrower or the borrower's child, spouse or parent; an arm's-length deal; rent “not substantially less than fair market rent for the property” unless subsidized. One piece of history matters because older web pages still get it wrong: the Act was written to expire at the end of 2014 and did, and section 304 of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018 repealed the sunset and provided that sections 701 through 703 “are restored and revived.” It is in force. It is also not codified as a section of its own: it sits as a note under 12 U.S.C. §5220, which is where the link below lands. Source: Pub. L. 111-22, Title VII §702 (govinfo enrolled text) · Pub. L. 115-174 §304 (govinfo enrolled text) · 12 U.S.C. §5220 and notes (LII)

What this page does not know

Honest caveat: no public dataset counts Lynn rental buildings sold or foreclosed in a given year, so there are no local figures on this page — only the rules and their sources. For an ordinary sale, no Massachusetts statute we read says in words what becomes of a fixed-term lease, or requires the buyer to tell a tenant where to send the rent; the 45-day deposit letter of c.186 §15B(5) is the one written notice the statute guarantees, and the common-law rule that a buyer takes subject to existing leases was not read in a reported case. Chapter 186A reaches “foreclosing owners” as §1 defines them — a lender, its affiliate, an institutional mortgagee within three years, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac — and this page cannot say how a court treats a private auction buyer outside that definition beyond §1's own sentence about third-party owners and the lease's expiration. We read no Massachusetts case on any section cited here, and no Lynn ordinance adopted under chapter 186A. Whether a foreclosure that ends in a receivership rather than a sale changes any of this is outside the texts read. Where the page says a rule is silent, that is a statement about the text we read, not a promise that no other rule exists.

Where this usually goes next

If the new owner wants you out, every route runs through the eviction page — the notices, the court steps, and what a tenant can raise in defense. The money that has to follow the building is on the security-deposit page; if you decide to leave instead, moving out has the notice you owe and the deposit clock; and a building being shown to buyers raises the entry rules, which do not change because the person at the door is a purchaser. A tenant whose rent is subsidized is the one tenant both states and the federal Act treat as untouched by a foreclosure — the programs are on the rental-assistance page. If the building's economics are the real problem, each Lynn ZIP's current average (01905, 01902, 01901) says what moving costs instead.

Page last updated October 25, 2026 · rent index data through September 2026.