Is the Landlord Liable for a Tenant's Dog Bite in Massachusetts?

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

Massachusetts' strict liability statute is aimed at the dog's owner or keeper. A landlord is neither by virtue of owning the building.

Not a keeper by default

The Superior Court's model jury instructions on dog liability describe a keeper as someone who harbors the dog and assumes custody, management and control of it, and cite a 2009 decision holding that landlords were not keepers or owners of a tenant's pit bull. Common-law negligence principles applied instead. Even a dog walker was held not to be a keeper, because the term means more than mere possession and control.

Negligence is the path

A claim against a landlord generally rests on negligence: that the landlord knew or should have known the dog was dangerous and failed to act reasonably to protect tenants from foreseeable harm. The Appeals Court has allowed such a claim to proceed where the evidence supported that inference, which usually means prior complaints or incidents and the practical ability to require the dog's removal.

Outsiders have a harder time

A passerby faces a steeper climb. A 2021 ruling reported by a Massachusetts injury law blog declined to extend a landlord's duty to a cyclist chased and knocked off his bike by a tenant's dog, observing that no Massachusetts court had recognized such a duty to someone outside the landlord-tenant relationship.

When a landlord is a keeper

Keeper status turns on conduct. A landlord who actually takes custody and control of a tenant's dog, for instance by looking after it while the tenant is at work, can be held strictly liable under the statute like any other keeper. The tenant who owns the dog stays liable either way.

This is general information, not legal advice. Landlord liability for a tenant's dog turns heavily on the specific facts and what the landlord actually knew or controlled. Confirm how this applies to your situation with a licensed Massachusetts attorney.