Originally posted by @Frank Chin:So no matter how strict laws in MA is, I don't think I would run afoul of it.There is a little more to Security Deposit management in MA than just not overcharging the tenant; you have to provide them with the account number and the address of the bank the deposit is kept at, you have to pay them interest at the actual rate paid by the bank or some minimum rate if the rate is not disclosed to them, as well as some other processes.  

Bad tenants will often have judgement against them, so when you run a credit report and see "XYZ Property Management", that is your best clue.The other side of the argument is that some tenants are falsely accused or over charged. 

Slumlords overcharge for property in poor neighborhoods that is kept in poor repair and allowed to deteriorate.A slumlord causes negative viewpoints of a landlord to be painted with a broad brush.  

The tradespeople bill you directly and you can make your own decision whether or not you are overcharged. 

This kind of behavior can happen when a tenant is trying to get out of a lease.If you have a property manager, is it possible they're over-charging you for maintenance issues, to collect more fees than necessary?

I also worked with Empire Property Management, their sister company, which ripped us off on the PM aspect of the business by frequently and overcharging us on many maintenance requests (they have their in-house contractors).

When you're long distance and you need a toilet replaced, you're either constrained to working via your PM who will overcharge you, or you need to coordinate with an outside contract which is extremely difficult (imagine telling your tenant when to be home as some random guy is showing up to replace the toilet).

A more likely scenario is that your plumber over-charged you and did a bad job or that the deadbolt has always been problematic but your last tenant failed to report it.

Jeremy, you keep plucking that chicken but this dude's house burned and then he got overcharged to board it up by some pork-barrel-lovin' local contractor who's mighty tight with the local government.

Our property manager called him out on the actual installation time of 1 hour and overcharging us.