10-2.9A Rights of Elderly and Handicapped Tenants to Have Pets.
(A) Notwithstanding the provisions of any lease or rental agreement to the contrary, no owner of a controlled or decontrolled housing accommodation subject to the jurisdiction of the Board may, as a condition of tenancy or otherwise, prohibit or prevent any elderly or handicapped tenant from owning common household pets or having such pets living in the tenant’s unit. Furthermore, no owner of a controlled or decontrolled housing accommodation shall have the right to restrict or discriminate against any elderly or handicapped tenant in connection with admission to, or continued occupancy of, such housing by reason of the tenant’s ownership of common household pets or the presence of such pets in that tenant’s unit. The owner of such housing accommodations shall have the right to promulgate reasonable requirements regarding the number of common household pets allowed in each unit, standards of pet care, licensing, inoculation and leash laws, similar to those developed by the commonwealth’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, and consistent with commonwealth and local laws on animal control, such as M.G.L. Chapter 140, Sections 136A—174F. Nothing in this provision shall bar the owner from requiring the removal of any pet if the pet’s conduct or condition is determined to constitute a nuisance or a threat to the health or safety of other occupants of the building, structure or development of other persons in the community where the housing accommodation is located.