Gov. Maura Healey answers questions from reporters outside the Health Policy Commission's cost trends hearing in a Suffolk University building on Wednesday, Nov. 8, 2023. Photo by Same Drysdale | State House News Service
In a radio appearance on GBH News’ Boston Public Radio program Tuesday, Gov. Maura Healey came out in favor of abolishing tenant-paid apartment broker fees.
“I think they should be abolished. I think they should go away,” the governor said responding to a message from a listener of the radio station. “I totally support that, and support taking action to make that happen.”
Healey was later asked by one of the hosts about passing the buck on to landlords in terms of paying the fees but she did not commit to this possible idea.
“The landlord pay? You know, the landlord can make their own arrangements,” Healey said.
The Greater Boston Association of Realtors backs the idea, as first reported by Banker & Tradesman last month. The group argues, though, that while a shift to having landlord fees might decrease upfront costs for renters, the cost could end up being passed on to renters in the form of rent hikes.
“In order to fix the high cost of renting in Massachusetts, we must focus on long-term solutions,” Jared Wilk, 2024 president of the Greater Boston Association of Realtors said in a statement in December. “A broker/agent should be compensated by the party who they have established a contractual relationship with and brought them into the transaction. Mandating that brokers must be paid by the property owner may decrease upfront costs to renters, however, it is extremely likely that cost will still be passed along to tenants through increased rent. This approach will not make Massachusetts a more affordable place to live. The focus needs to be on tackling the region’s housing crisis by boosting housing production.”
City councilors in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville all recently sought out possible avenues to make it illegal for a tenant to pay apartment broker fees if they did not contract with the broker, following New York City’s move to do the same last fall.
Additionally, the Massachusetts Senate included in its version of Gov. Maura Healey’s massive housing bill last year a policy requiring broker’s fees to be paid by landlords rather than tenants, but members of the House of Representatives did not agree.
State Rep. Tackey Chan said Monday that he had filed legislation that would provide clarity on who is responsible for paying the fees.
“This bill clarifies that it is the responsibility of the party, whether that is the landlord or the renter, who initially entered into the contract to pay the fee,” he wrote on Facebook. “This guarantees realtors are paid for their services, but clarifies that cost cannot be passed off to the non-contracting party.”
