AUGUST 1, 2025
Dear Cambridge and Somerville Constituents —
Effective today, a new law enacted as part of the FY26 state budget prohibits landlords and brokers in Massachusetts from requiring tenants to pay broker fees. In other words, from now on, broker fees must be paid by the party who hired the broker.
As a life-long renter, I understand what it’s like to face the daunting prospect of having to shell out many thousands of dollars just to find an apartment and sign a lease. Today’s change will make a small yet impactful dent in the affordability emergency facing hundreds of thousands of renters statewide, especially across Cambridge and Somerville, the two renter-majority cities I represent on Beacon Hill.
I’m proud to have led the way on this concept by introducing legislation in 2019 that regulated broker’s fees in my bill, the Tenant Protection Act, and more recently by filing Home Rule Petitions on behalf of both Cambridge and Somerville to limit broker fees.
What's changed?
Only the party who hires the broker or salesperson pays the fee, not tenants who didn’t engage or contract with that broker. If the landlord contracts the broker, the landlord must pay, not the tenant. And tenants cannot be required to pay any broker‑type fee in that scenario.
Tenants can still hire their own broker. In that case, the tenant is responsible for the fee, but only if a written agreement exists and the broker works exclusively on their behalf.
What's the scope?
The new law applies only to residential leases (it does not affect commercial leases or property purchases).
This is not retroactive: tenants who signed leases before August 1 may still owe broker fees under prior arrangements even if the landlord or their broker was involved.
What if landlords or brokers are not following the new law?
If you are experiencing a violation of this new law the Attorney General’s Consumer Advocacy and Response Division should be notified. They can be reached at (617) 727-8400 or online here. Also don’t hesitate to reach out to me or my office directly at [email protected] or (617) 722-2230.
The Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities has also posted an FAQ on the new law, available here.
What else must we do?
While today’s change in the law is a significant step forward for renters in Massachusetts, ultimately, we also need to lift the statewide ban on rent control and continue advancing policies to boost smart housing production and big public investments in housing affordability.
To that end, this week, in my capacity as a member of the legislature’s Joint Committee on Municipalities and Regional Government, I participated in a hearing on Sen. Jehlen’s rent stabilization bill.
When a Republican lawmaker presented a panel of rent control opponents, I took the opportunity to push back and offer some historical perspective on this common sense measure. Check out my Insta, TikTok, Facebook, X, Bluesky, or Threads for video of this exchange at the hearing.
In closing, here's hoping your August is off to a nice start! Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions or thoughts on this or any other matter of interest to you.
Yours in service,
Mike
