Criminal Charges Between Roommates in Massachusetts: Dorms, Apartments and Clerk-Magistrate Hearings

An argument between roommates over noise, rent or a borrowed laptop can turn into a shove, a threat or a call to the police. A college student can then face a criminal charge, a hearing before a clerk-magistrate, and the possible loss of their housing and their place at school.

The police may arrest the student on the spot. The police or the roommate may also go to the courthouse and apply for a criminal complaint against the student. The sections below explain how a criminal case between roommates begins, what a student should do in the first hours, which charges the police and roommates bring, and how a student can defend against those charges.

How a Criminal Case Between Roommates Begins

A criminal case between roommates begins in one of two ways. The police arrest the student, or the police or the roommate applies to the clerk-magistrate for a criminal complaint against the student.

A student whom the police arrest is booked at the police station. A bail commissioner or clerk can release the student on bail before arraignment. The student then goes to court for arraignment, usually on the next court day.

At the arraignment, the judge decides whether to release the student on personal recognizance or on bail. The judge can also order the student to stay away from and have no contact with the roommate as a condition of release. A student who violates that condition can be arrested and held.

The police or the roommate can instead file an application for a criminal complaint at the courthouse. Any person, including a roommate, can file the application. For a misdemeanor, the clerk-magistrate must ordinarily give the student notice and a hearing before issuing a complaint, under G.L. c. 218, § 35A.

Domestic violence arrest and bail rules also apply when the roommate qualifies as a household member. The page on roommate restraining orders explains when a roommate qualifies as a household member and which of those rules apply.

What to Do After a Roommate Calls the Police

The first hours after a roommate calls the police often shape the whole case. A student who stays calm and says little gives their lawyer the most room to work.

Stay calm with the officers. Arguing with the officers, or with the roommate in front of them, gives the police more to write in the report.

Use the right to remain silent. A student can politely tell the officers that they will not answer questions without a lawyer. The Commonwealth can use anything the student says to the officers as evidence in the criminal case.

Leave the roommate alone. A student should not call, text or message the roommate about the case. Moreover, the Commonwealth can charge a message asking the roommate to drop the charges or change their story as witness intimidation under G.L. c. 268, § 13B, which is a felony.

Save the evidence. The student should save every text and message between the two roommates, photograph any injuries or damaged property, and keep the lease, the housing assignment and any receipts for disputed property.

Write down what happened, for the lawyer only. A private timeline written the same day helps the lawyer prepare. The student should not post about the case on social media.

Call a lawyer before the hearing or the arraignment. A lawyer can often speak with the clerk-magistrate, the police or the district attorney before the student says anything on the record.

Campus Police, Residence Life and a Search of the Room

Campus police officers at many Massachusetts colleges are sworn police officers who can arrest a student and apply for a criminal complaint. Resident assistants, residence life staff and deans are not police officers. However, the university can share what a student tells them with the police.

A university housing agreement usually allows staff to enter a dorm room for health and safety inspections. In Commonwealth v. Neilson, 423 Mass. 75 (1996), the Supreme Judicial Court held that the college’s authority to inspect a dorm room for health and safety did not allow college officials to consent to a police search for evidence of a crime. The police ordinarily need a warrant or the student’s own consent to search the student’s room.

The Clerk-Magistrate Hearing

A clerk-magistrate hearing is a private hearing at the courthouse, held before any criminal complaint issues. The roommate or the police officer tells the clerk-magistrate what happened. The student can attend with a lawyer, present evidence and call witnesses, and the student does not have to testify.

The clerk-magistrate first decides whether there is probable cause to believe that the student committed the crime. The clerk-magistrate can also decline to issue the complaint even when there is probable cause, under Victory Distributors, Inc. v. Ayer Division of the District Court Department, 435 Mass. 136, 142 (2001).

A student should bring a lawyer and the evidence that supports their account: the texts between the roommates, photographs, the lease or housing records, and the names of students on the floor who saw or heard what happened. In some cases, the clerk-magistrate continues the hearing to a later date and denies the application if the student has no further trouble with the roommate.

A clerk-magistrate who denies the application issues no criminal complaint, and the student is never arraigned. The court schedules the student’s arraignment only after the clerk-magistrate issues a complaint. The Massachusetts clerk-magistrate hearing FAQs answer common questions about these hearings.

Charges Between Roommates and What a Conviction Means

The police and roommates commonly bring the following charges in roommate cases.

Assault and Battery

A student commits assault and battery by intentionally touching the roommate in a harmful or offensive way without consent, such as a push or a slap. A student convicted of assault and battery under G.L. c. 265, § 13A faces up to two and one-half years in the house of correction or a fine of up to $1,000.

Threats to Commit a Crime

A student commits this crime by communicating an intent to hurt the roommate or damage the roommate’s property, with the ability to carry out the threat, in circumstances that would make a reasonable person fear it. The Commonwealth must also prove that the student at least consciously disregarded the risk that the roommate would take the words as a threat, under Commonwealth v. Cruz, 495 Mass. 110 (2024). A student convicted of threatening to commit a crime faces up to six months in jail or a fine of up to $100, under G.L. c. 275, § 4.

Malicious Destruction of Property

A student commits malicious destruction of property by willfully damaging the roommate’s belongings out of cruelty, hostility or revenge. The statute, G.L. c. 266, § 127, also covers damage to electronic data, such as the files on a laptop or a phone. A student convicted of damage valued at $1,200 or less faces up to two and one-half years in jail or a fine of three times the value of the damage. A student convicted of damage valued at more than $1,200 faces up to ten years in state prison, or up to two and one-half years in jail and a fine of $3,000 or three times the value of the damage, whichever is greater.

Larceny

A student commits larceny by taking the roommate’s property with the intent to keep it permanently. A student convicted of stealing property worth $1,200 or less faces up to one year in jail or a fine of up to $1,500, under G.L. c. 266, § 30. A student convicted of stealing property worth more than $1,200 faces up to five years in state prison, or up to two years in jail and a fine of up to $25,000.

Criminal Harassment

A student commits criminal harassment by willfully and maliciously committing at least three acts aimed at the roommate that seriously alarm them and would cause a reasonable person substantial emotional distress. Texts, emails and social media messages can count as acts. A student convicted of criminal harassment under G.L. c. 265, § 43A(a) faces up to two and one-half years in the house of correction, a fine of up to $5,000, or both.

Criminal harassment also covers distributing a nude or sexual photo or video of the roommate without consent, under § 43A(b). A student convicted of that offense faces up to two and one-half years in the house of correction, a fine of up to $10,000, or both. The roommate’s consent to taking the photo or video is not consent to sharing it.

Violating a Restraining Order

A student commits this crime by contacting the roommate or returning to the room after a judge has ordered them to stay away. A student convicted of violating a 209A order faces up to two and one-half years in the house of correction, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, under G.L. c. 209A, § 7. Violating a 258E order is also a crime under G.L. c. 258E, § 9.

Complaints Filed During a Housing or Relationship Dispute

Many roommate complaints arise in the middle of a dispute over rent, a security deposit, a lease, a breakup or who keeps the room. The student’s lawyer can show the clerk-magistrate, the judge or the jury the dispute that was pending, what the roommate stood to gain, and when the roommate made the accusation, as evidence of the roommate’s bias and motive.

Two roommates sometimes file applications against each other after the same fight. The clerk-magistrate can then hear the two applications together. Each student should have their own lawyer, because anything a student says at the hearing can be used against them on the other application or in a later criminal case.

Knowingly making a false report of a crime to the police is itself a crime under G.L. c. 269, § 13A. A person convicted of making a false report faces a fine of $100 to $500, up to one year in jail, or both.

What Parents Should Know

Many parents learn about a roommate case from a late-night phone call. A parent can hire a lawyer for the student, but the student is the client, and the attorney-client privilege belongs to the student.

Parents should not call, text or visit the roommate or the roommate’s family about the case. The Commonwealth can treat a parent’s request that the roommate drop the charges as witness intimidation, the same as a request from the student. A parent can instead help the student find a place to stay, keep the student away from the roommate, and gather the documents the lawyer requests.

Defenses in Roommate Cases

Self-defense. A student who used reasonable force to protect themselves from the roommate’s attack can claim self-defense. The Commonwealth must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the student did not act in self-defense once the evidence at trial raises self-defense.

Accident. Assault and battery requires an intentional touching. A student who bumped the roommate in a narrow hallway, or closed a door that struck the roommate by accident, did not commit assault and battery.

Ownership of the property. A student who took property honestly believing it was their own did not commit larceny. Receipts, bank statements and texts about who paid for a television or a couch can support that defense.

No malice and no pattern. Malicious destruction requires cruelty, hostility or revenge. Criminal harassment requires at least three malicious acts. Angry messages during a dispute about rent, or damage the student caused by accident, often do not meet those elements.

Credibility and motive. Texts, photographs, the absence of any injury, and testimony from students who live on the same floor can contradict the roommate’s account.

How Roommate Cases End

A clerk-magistrate who denies the application ends the case before it starts. No criminal complaint issues, and the student is never arraigned.

The district attorney can end the prosecution by filing a nolle prosequi, which dismisses the charge. Before trial, the judge can also place the student on pretrial probation under G.L. c. 276, § 87, and dismiss the charge once the student completes the probation.

For a misdemeanor such as assault and battery or damage to property, the judge can dismiss the charge when the roommate appears in court and acknowledges in writing that the student has made satisfaction for the injury, under G.L. c. 276, § 55. The statute excludes conduct that counts as abuse of a household member under G.L. c. 209A, § 1, so the judge can use § 55 only when the roommates are not household members.

Alternatively, the judge can continue the case without a finding and dismiss the charge if the student meets the conditions the judge sets. A student can instead go to trial before a judge or a jury.

The Commissioner of Probation seals the record automatically when a judge or jury finds the student not guilty, under G.L. c. 276, § 100C. After a dismissal or a nolle prosequi, the student can petition the court to seal the record under the same statute.

Effects on School, Immigration and Future Applications

The university runs its own disciplinary case, separately from the court, and can move a student or bring a student conduct charge based on the same events. Statements a student gives the university are not privileged, and the Commonwealth can use them in the criminal case. The page on college and university student criminal defense explains the university’s case in more detail.

A conviction or a continuance without a finding on a charge brought by a roommate is the obvious immigration risk for an international student. However, the arrest and the police report can also lead to questions at a visa renewal, a consular interview or a green card interview. A student on an F-1 visa should therefore have an immigration lawyer review the exact question, their status and the court record before answering the question.

Graduate schools, law schools, medical schools and licensing boards often ask about arrests and criminal charges, including charges that were dismissed. A student should read each question closely and get a copy of the court record before answering it.

Frequently Asked Questions About Criminal Charges Between Roommates

Related Serpa Law Office Resources

• Roommate restraining orders in Massachusetts: college dorms and student apartments
• What happens at a Massachusetts clerk-magistrate hearing
• Massachusetts clerk-magistrate hearing FAQs
• Assault and battery in Massachusetts
• Massachusetts criminal harassment defense
• Intimidation of a witness
• Sealing and expunging a Massachusetts criminal record
• College and university student criminal defense