Massachusetts broker-fee ban hasn’t reached apartment tours

Massachusetts broker-fee – A year after Massachusetts lawmakers and Gov. Maura Healey signed a law aimed at ending tenant-paid broker fees, renters across the Boston area are still seeing broker charges in listings, sometimes only after tours—often framed as “open listing” fees or justi

On Wendell Street near Harvard Square, the apartment looked like a win: a two-bedroom bathed in natural light, a galley kitchen with plenty of counter space, and a rent of $3,200 a month with utilities included.

Then renters noticed what was tucked near the bottom of the listing: a $1,600 broker fee.

The detail hit hard in a housing market where move-in costs can already spiral. It also cut against a promise Massachusetts lawmakers made last year, when they passed— and Gov. Maura Healey signed— a provision intended to end the long-standing practice of charging tenants substantial broker fees. Last July. Healey signed a law requiring the fee be paid by whoever first works with the broker. whether it is the landlord or the tenant. She described it as an outright “ban” on the detested system.

But nearly a year later, apartment hunting season has arrived again, and broker fees have not disappeared.

The Boston-area listings remain dotted with charges that renters say they are being asked to pay—frequently amounts that can equal a full month of rent. The Globe identified dozens of listings on major rental sites. including Zillow. Apartments.com. and Craigslist. that include a tenant-paid broker fee.

Some tenants describe learning about the fee only after they tour the apartment.

“Two years ago, it was frustrating to have to shell out $5,000 to a broker who didn’t do anything for me except post a listing,” said Jack Perry, a Boston apartment-hunter. “It is even more frustrating to be asked to pay that same fee when it is supposed to be illegal.”

And even when brokers are confronted with the law, the responses vary. Some delete postings promptly when asked about fees included on their rental listings. Others admit they still charge tenant fees in certain situations.

Romeo Zeqo, of Best Boston Realty in Somerville, said he still charges broker fees on some “open listings,” which he described as rentals that landlords circulate to a network of brokers without signing an exclusive agreement with any one agent. In those situations, Zeqo said, he charges the tenant.

“We don’t work for free,” Zeqo said.

“It has been a nightmare trying to explain how [the law] works,” Zeqo said. “At the end of the day, these people either don’t have an apartment or they pay the fee.”

Lawmakers are now considering a further step. The state budget that Beacon Hill lawmakers sent to Gov. Maura Healey this week includes language that could essentially end the practice of charging rental broker fees to tenants in Massachusetts.

For years. charging broker fees to tenants has been a routine part of moving in and around Boston. adding to upfront costs that regularly exceed five figures. That system predates the widespread rise of online listing services. With sites like Apartments.com and Zillow making it easier for tenants to search and compare. some brokers now mainly advertise and screen prospective tenants on behalf of landlords.

But the pressure remains. In a market driven by intense demand, landlords can still push the cost of a broker’s work onto renters, who often have to interact with a broker the moment they inquire about a listing.

That is why the reform passed by the Legislature—framed as a shift in who pays—mattered. Under the new rules, the only time a tenant would be on the hook for a broker fee is if they enlist a broker to find them an apartment, lawmakers and Healey said at the time.

It hasn’t played out that way, according to renters, attorneys, and some industry participants.

In the Wendell Street listing near Harvard Square, the apartment’s broker, Brandon Keane of Brookline-based Red Tree Real Estate, advertised a $1,600 “half fee” while continuing to include broker fees on many of his listings. Keane did not return repeated requests for comment.

For Mark Martinez, a housing attorney at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute, part of the problem is that the law doesn’t change the bargaining reality renters face.

“Tenants don’t have leverage,” Martinez said. “Everyone is nervous about not being able to find an apartment because there is so much competition. Landlords are taking advantage of that dynamic. because they know that if one tenant isn’t willing to pay an illegal fee. there’s going to be another who will.”.

Some brokers argue that the law contains gray areas.

Some agents handle open listings—rentals pulled from the Multiple Listing Service or circulated by landlords to brokers—without exclusive contracts. Zeqo, and others, say that lack of exclusivity leaves room for charging the tenant if the tenant inquires.

Zeqo said that since the new law took effect, he charges the tenant only on open listings. For instance, he said, a listing he posted on Warren Avenue in Somerville included a $2,500 broker fee. But Zeqo also said there is a line: if he knows the landlord and receives a listing from them. he won’t charge the tenant because the relationship could be interpreted as working on the landlord’s behalf.

For renters, the line is hard to spot when they’re trying to secure housing quickly.

Rob and his wife say they felt trapped when they found a “perfect” refurbished Kendall Square apartment. They discovered it online without help from a broker. But when they tried to negotiate over the broker fee. the broker who advertised the place told them it was an open listing. that the brokerage didn’t work for the landlord. and that she wouldn’t budge.

Rob—who did not want to use his last name for fear of retribution from their soon-to-be landlord—ended up paying a $4,000-plus fee. The couple now plan to file a complaint with the attorney general’s office.

“It’s a bully system,” Rob said. “They were like, ‘You guys have the money, so if you don’t pay for it, someone else will.’ ”

Another concern raised by advocates is enforcement capacity.

Doug Quattrochi, executive director of MassLandlords, said passing a law is one step, but cracking down on violations is another.

“It’s one thing to pass a law and say, ‘This is illegal now,’ ” Quattrochi said. “But if you don’t put any resources behind actually cracking down on the people who are doing this, the whole thing is [expletive].”

A public records request to Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s office turned up a litany of consumer complaints related to broker fees. Campbell’s office is often able to secure refunds or have landlords waive fees without pursuing formal enforcement action.

Campbell’s office has previously said that tenants can only be charged a broker fee if they hire the broker directly.

Even some technology executives in the rental market say the transition has been messy. Demetrios Salpoglou. CEO of the real estate technology and listing site BostonPads. called implementation of the law “a huge headache.” He said many landlords are unhappy when agents call and explain they must pay the broker fee now instead of the tenant. He also said some raise their rents as a result or choose to list their properties themselves to avoid the fee.

As the dispute plays out, some listing agents are changing course more quickly than others.

Craig Scanzio. a property manager at Benoit Real Estate Group in Somerville. told the Globe that he took down an East Somerville listing under his name that included a broker fee after a reporter contacted him. The information in the listing, he said, had been copied from a previous year and accidentally included the fee.

“We’re being very careful,” Scanzio said. “It’s the owners who are paying our fees now.”

That shift—when it happens—doesn’t close the larger gap, Martinez said. The purpose of the law, he argued, was to end charging tenants for the opportunity to pay rent, rather than charging landlords for the act of collecting rent.

“Charging tenants a fee for the privilege of being able to pay rent instead of charging landlords a fee for the privilege of being able to collect rent is really lopsided,” Martinez said. “And I think brokers know that and should do the right thing.”

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