Massachusetts document review
Massachusetts runs one of the older condominium statutes in the country — M.G.L. Chapter 183A (the Massachusetts Condominium Act), enacted 1969.
Why Massachusetts is different
The Act requires associations to maintain an adequate replacement reserve fund, mandates annual CPA reviews for associations with 50+ units, and creates a 6-month super-priority lien for unpaid regular assessments. There is no separate Massachusetts HOA statute — planned communities operate as nonprofit corporations or trusts under general corporate law. Resale disclosure is unusually minimal: the only statutorily required document is the 6(d) certificate of unpaid assessments. Boston adds a facade-inspection ordinance for buildings above 70 feet. The dominant risks are condo-conversion diligence in older converted stock, reserve underfunding under the 'adequate' standard, and aging building exposure across Greater Boston's pre-1980 inventory.
M.G.L. c.183A requires every condo to maintain an 'adequate replacement reserve fund' — but the Act does not define adequate, does not require a reserve study, and sets no funding target. Owners may waive reserves by 67-percent vote. A pending bill (S.980) would require reserve studies every 10 years for 50+-unit condos. Many older Massachusetts condos operate with reserves that are statutorily compliant but inadequate against realistic capital trajectory.
Under M.G.L. c.183A §6, the association's lien primes a first mortgage for up to 6 months of regular common-expense assessments. Special assessments, fines, interest, and late fees are excluded from the super-priority calculation. Foreclosure is judicial only — Massachusetts does not permit non-judicial trustee sales of condo liens.
Massachusetts has one of the country's larger inventories of condo-converted brownstones, triple-deckers, and mill buildings. Conversion-era documentation quality varies widely. For pre-1985 conversions in particular, the underlying construction was not designed for condo ownership, and post-conversion deferred maintenance has accumulated. Voluntary engineering and envelope reports are particularly informative for converted stock.
Buildings over 70 feet tall (or large multi-unit buildings) in Boston must undergo periodic facade and exterior inspections, generally every 5 years, by a registered engineer or architect. Non-compliance can result in fines or vacate orders. For Boston high-rise diligence, the most recent facade inspection report is a key document — and the absence of one for a covered building is a material finding.
The 6(d) certificate (M.G.L. c.183A §6(d)) — a statement of unpaid common expenses delivered within 10 business days of request — is the only statutorily required resale disclosure. Massachusetts has no rescission period and no statutory resale package. Buyers must proactively request budget, financials, reserve information, insurance, minutes, and litigation summaries through the contract.
Massachusetts cities
Greater Boston
Boston concentrates a substantial share of Massachusetts condo activity — Back Bay, Beacon Hill, South End brownstones, Seaport and downtown towers, and the converted triple-deckers and warehouses across Allston, Brighton, Dorchester, and South Boston.
Middlesex County
Cambridge's condo market spans Harvard Square, Central Square, Inman, and East Cambridge tower developments alongside extensive conversion-era stock — older brownstones, triple-deckers, and multifamily buildings converted to condominium ownership over the last several decades.
Massachusetts topic guides
A condo document review is the structured analysis of every disclosure document your seller or association has provided — declaration, bylaws, rules, reserve study, budgets, financials, meeting minutes, insurance summary, estoppel or resale certificate, and any pending special assessment notices. Done well, it tells you exactly what you are buying. Done in a hurry — or as a chat session against a single PDF — it misses the cross-references where real risk lives.
Massachusetts guide →
An HOA document review reads the full association document set — declaration or deed restrictions, CC&Rs, bylaws, resale or disclosure certificate, current budget, audited financials, meeting minutes, and any enforcement history — and surfaces the items that actually affect your ownership cost, your usage rights, and your exposure to surprise assessments. HOA reviews have a different shape than condominium reviews, and treating them as the same process produces incomplete findings.
Massachusetts guide →
A reserve study tells you what the association expects to spend on long-term capital repairs and replacements, and whether it is funding those obligations adequately. Reading the study without also reading the actual reserve balance, the current budget's contribution line, and recent meeting minutes is the single most common mistake in condo due diligence — and the one most likely to produce an expensive surprise after closing.
Massachusetts guide →
Special assessments are the single largest source of financial surprise in condo and HOA ownership. They can arrive formally, as a voted board action with a disclosed amount. They can arrive indirectly, as a dues increase that follows a reserve shortfall or insurance spike. Or they can arrive silently, implied by the gap between what an association has saved and what it needs — visible in documents years before any official announcement. A thorough document review identifies all three types.
Massachusetts guide →
The association's master insurance policy determines what your personal HO-6 policy needs to cover — and what it does not. Deductibles, named-storm provisions, water and flood exclusions, policy form (bare-walls versus all-in), carrier quality, and loss assessment exposure all change the real cost of ownership in ways that never appear in the listing price. Reading the insurance summary alone is not enough; reading the master policy declarations page against the declaration's loss assessment provisions is where the real exposure lives.
Massachusetts guide →
An association's governance health is a leading indicator of every other risk. Boards make decisions about reserve funding, repair scope, insurance coverage, and vendor relationships. Functional boards make those decisions transparently and on time. Dysfunctional boards defer them, obscure them, or make them for the wrong reasons — and the deferred decisions show up later as assessments, deteriorated infrastructure, and insurance problems. A governance review reads meeting minutes, election and recall records, financial controls, and dispute history across multiple years to surface the patterns that precede financial problems.
Massachusetts guide →
Massachusetts reading
Massachusetts has one of the country's largest inventories of condo-converted brownstones, triple-deckers, and mill buildings. Here is how to read the documents for them.
Read →
Massachusetts has one of the country's older condo inventories. Here is a practical diligence checklist for pre-1990 buildings, focused on capital trajectory and reserve adequacy.
Read →
Built for trust
Every risk indicator links back to the exact document, page number, and quoted line. You can verify our work in seconds.
Our free option is supported by limited, opt-in referrals you control. Or pay once for a fully private review with no data sharing.
Consistent scoring — same documents always produce the same results. No guesswork, no chat-style answers.
We surface what your documents actually say so you can ask better questions of your attorney, lender, and inspector.
FAQ
Risk Intelligence
Upload condo or HOA documents for a free risk review. We read reserve studies, budgets, meeting minutes, insurance summaries, and assessment exposure — every finding linked to the exact page.
Expert Matching
We can connect you with vetted real estate lawyers, mortgage brokers, and insurance brokers familiar with the specifics of condo and HOA transactions.
