On August 1, 2025, Massachusetts will implement a significant change to rental law: landlords—not tenants—will be required to pay the broker fee when hiring a real estate agent to rent their property. There are some points in the change that have not yet been clarified. The biggest one is that the way things are stated conflicts with our MA license law, and the new change is very vague. With this change on the horizon, expect changes or clarification.
For decades, Boston’s rental market operated on a tenant-pays model, where renters typically covered one whole month’s rent in broker fees. That fee often ranged from $2,000 to $5,000, depending on the apartment and the neighborhood. Under the new law, landlords will absorb that cost—and that’s where the ripple effects begin.
🔍 What Brokers Do That Helps Renters
Even though brokers work for the landlord, renters directly benefit from their expertise. Brokers help tenants:
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Access exclusive, vetted listings not available to the public
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Avoid scams and misleading online ads
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Navigate lease terms, applications, and move-in logistics
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Understand neighborhood pricing, amenities, and hidden costs
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Find housing faster and with less stress
In a market as fast-paced as Boston, having a broker often makes the difference between getting a great apartment or missing out entirely.
📉 What Happens When Landlords Stop Using Brokers
With landlords now responsible for the broker fee, some may stop using agents to cut costs. This could lead to:
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Longer vacancy periods
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Lower-quality tenants due to lack of screening
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DIY listings with limited marketing, vague descriptions, or outdated photos
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Greater exposure to fair housing violations or lease errors
While some large landlords may absorb the shift smoothly, mom-and-pop owners who dominate Boston’s rental housing stock may pull back, potentially making the rental process less safe, less transparent, and more frustrating—especially for renters.
📈 How Rent Prices Will Rise – Real Example
Let’s break it down with a real-world example:
🔹 Today:
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South End studio rents for $2,500/month
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Tenant pays first, last, security, and broker fee
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Move-in cost = ~$10,000
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The monthly rent remains $2,500
🔹 Starting August 1, 2025:
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The landlord must now pay the broker fee (1 month’s rent = $2,500)
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The landlord bakes that into the monthly rent
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New rent may rise to $2,625–$2,700/month to recoup broker cost over a 12-month lease
That’s an additional $1,500–$2,400 per year renters will pay over time—even though they’re saving upfront.
For many renters, this means:
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Hitting their budget cap faster
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Needing a guarantor
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Reducing their options to stay within monthly rent limits
The result? Renters may now be disqualified from apartments they could previously afford.
⚖️ Will This Help or Hurt Boston’s Rental Market?
📉 Long-Term Challenges:
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Higher monthly rents
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Reduced rental supply (as small landlords avoid added costs)
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More unregulated listings with fewer protections
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Less access for middle-income renters
📈 Potential Benefits:
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Lower upfront costs for tenants
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Clearer agency relationships
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May open the door to alternative leasing models and innovation
🕰 Has Boston Tried This Before?
Yes—and it didn’t go well.
In past decades, some housing initiatives and rent-controlled units tried shifting broker fees to landlords. The result?
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Landlords raised rents
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Many stopped hiring brokers
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Listings became more complicated to access and less regulated
Eventually, Boston returned to the tenant-pays model because it allowed for:
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Fairer distribution of cost
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Better rental inventory
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Faster turnover and smoother leasing experiences
🚨 Don’t Like What You’re Hearing? Speak Up Now
If you’re reading this and suddenly thinking,
“Maybe the old model wasn’t so bad after all,”
you’re not alone.
While this new law may sound good in theory, the reality could be:
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Higher rent prices
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Less choice
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Fewer protections for tenants and landlords alike
👉 If you believe this change may hurt more than help, now is the time to speak up.
✅ Contact Governor Maura Healey’s office
✅ Reach out to your local representatives
✅ Share your story or concerns with Massachusetts housing officials
Let them know that change isn’t always progress—especially when it creates more problems than it solves.
🔚 Final Takeaway
The broker fee shift is a well-intended policy aimed at affordability and access—but in a city with limited housing and high demand, it may ultimately:
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Increase monthly rents
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Max out renter budgets
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Shrink rental supply
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Lower the overall quality of listings
Brokers offer real value to both renters and landlords. Removing them from the process—or disincentivizing their use—could weaken the quality, accessibility, and safety of Boston’s rental housing.
Change is coming. Yes, renters will have less upfront cost to move into that rental, but it will not make renting any cheaper. Tenants might find that they are calling the moving company sooner, as they are maxed out on their rental faster. The savings that might be seen as a victory, eliminating broker fees as a tenant burden cost, might pack a bigger punch for tenants. The real winners, however, might be the landlords, who can charge higher rents.
Landlords who opt not to use a broker might cut corners or put things in leases and addendums that Real Estate agents would normally speak up about, and with no agent in the transaction, you could have two people agreeing to a contract that might not be legal, and in the past, it’s the real estate agent who would catch something and protect the tenant and protect the landlord and saying you can’t do X.
Time will tell if this new change has a lasting impact or if what sounds excellent on paper proves to be less effective in practice. Boston is an expensive city, and it has just become even more costly. Until we tackle the supply issue, affordability may have just worsened. Also, keep in mind that, like I stated at the beginning, parts of the new change contradict our license law on the books so when change does happen don’t expect it all to go smoothly
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