Having said that, I wrote the following, candid, hopefully not offensive, summary based on the likely perspective of a young family (kids on the way up to teenagers), 25-40 yr old professional, or DINKS (dual income no kids).

Courts can award you all the money in the world but it is solely up to you to collect it and if your tenant is truly broke you will never see a penny of that judgment.The best defense is a good offense so do your due diligence up front and only accept in qualified and "stable" tenants as best as you can.

No offense but if you are asking such a broad question then you have a lot of studying to do.

I stopped renting to them (no offense to the students reading this).Be clear what the students are responsible for in the lease, they probably will not even do that which is clearly their responsibility.  

He had them tested and charged the offending party the cost of testing plus $25 for first offense, + $40 second offense, etc.  

You might want to have some confirmation regarding criminal records, drug offenses and sexual offenses of the occupants - you might accept the employer's checking of this but reserve the right to perform your own for verification purposes. 

It seems I can only find what I need from Guru's who want $100's for their lame program. ( no offense :-) Thanks,ReFractals

No offense to the commentors@JP Krueger but MA laws are not the same as California or Ohio or any other state.

Should I be concerned about misdemeanors and petty offenses?  

No offense but you should know the answer to that question before purchasing - which is why I'm confused!