The State House's golden dome is pictured against Boston Common in this undated photo. State House News Service photo / File
A Massachusetts Senate bill is looking to increase enforcement of the state’s housing discrimination legislation, with support from the state’s two biggest Realtor trade groups.
The bill also seeks to add new education requirements for real estate licensees.
Bill S.2947 would require applicants for a real estate license to attend at least four hours of classroom instruction on the state’s Fair Housing Law as part of their application process. Additionally, in order to renew a real estate license, agents would need at least two hours of instruction.
State law bans discrimination against potential homebuyers or renters based on legally-protected demographics like race, national origin, religion, disability and age. Another protection that comes up often in researchers’ reports on housing discrimination: whether a renter is paying their rent with help from a government program like federal Section 8 subsidy or the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program.
In cases of repeated offenses, penalties would be harsher. The bill increases the penalty from a 90-day license suspension up to a 180-day suspension for licensed real estate brokers or salespeople who commit a second violation of the Fair Housing Law within a two-year period.
The bill also adds requirements for the real estate brokers’ registration board. The board, which is typically made up of real estate industry members, would need to annually publish a list of licensed brokers or salespeople whose real estate licenses were revoked due to Fair Housing Law violations, along with a summary of complaints filed, the number of disciplinary actions taken by the board and the type of actions.
“Housing discrimination is illegal in Massachusetts, but the Massachusetts General Law doesn’t go far enough to hold those individuals accountable,” state Sen. Adam Gómez said in an interview. “Once they violate, and then they violate again, and they continue violating – those individuals that continue violating have to be held to a standard.”
Gómez cited anecdotal reports of discrimination against renters, plus 2020 and 2023 research by the Suffolk University Law School that found rental real estate agents in Cambridge and on the South Shore were discriminating against apartment applicants: for intending to use Section 8 vouchers to help pay their rent in the former and for trying to keep disabled people with service animals from renting a unit.
The 2020 case was referred to then-Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, which levied thousands of dollars in fines against the brokerages involved and a training program from the Massachusetts Association of Realtors. The 2023 case resulted in an investigation by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination early last year, which the commission’s director described as a “warning shot” to industry.
The legislation has received endorsements from The Boston Foundation, Cambridge Human Rights Commission, CHAPA, Homestart, Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, Massachusetts Fair Housing Center, Mass Law Reform Institute, One Family, and the Suffolk University Law School’s housing discrimination testing program.
The bill is also supported by the Massachusetts Association of Realtors and the Greater Boston Real Estate Board.
“Our organizations are committed to preventing housing discrimination,” a combined statement from MAR and GBREB said. “Our members are bound by a code of ethics to provide equitable and non-discriminatory treatment to all clients. Alongside all REALTORS® across the nation, they also complete newly required fair housing education. As an organization, MAR supports this duty to its members by providing comprehensive fair housing education and resources. However, MAR represents only about one-third of real estate licensees, and, despite these efforts, housing discrimination remains a significant concern.”
The bill and senators’ proposed amendments are scheduled for a debate and vote in the Senate on Thursday.
