‘A great joke’: Tenants hope Boston area follows New York City in changing how brokers are paid

BOSTON — Just getting the key to a new apartment can cost five figures.

That’s considering the costs of the first and last month’s rent, a security deposit, and potentially a broker’s fee.

This year a new ordinance goes into effect in New York City which will change how brokers are paid.

Now there’s a growing push to make the same change in Massachusetts.

A locally produced video has gone viral and has been viewed tens of thousands of times. The first line is “If you’ve ever rented in Boston, Somerville, or Cambridge, you probably paid for a broker, even though you didn’t hire them.”

The system of tenants paying for a broker they didn’t even hire is frustrating to renters we spoke with in Jamaica Plain.

“The broker fees are a great joke,” said one renter on Centre Street.

The producer of the video is Bonnie Jin, a union organizer based in Cambridge.

It one clip she says, “Forcing the tenants to pay for the broker’s fee hired by landlords is not the norm for most of the country.”

While Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville have changes proposed on the local level, there’s a push to reform the broker system statewide.

“You should have full disclosure at the very outset that the landlord is trying to transfer the broker fee cost to the tenant,” said State Representative Tackey Chan.

The Quincy Democrat has filed a bill in three previous sessions to strengthen consumer protections. He plans to refile it again this coming year.

He says the high cost of rentals makes this issue more important than ever.

“Having a hidden cost or undisclosed costs or an additional month’s rent that you could not have accounted for in your budget really impacts your life.”

Doug Quattrochi, executive director of Mass Landlords, said “The traditional role of a broker is super important. It’s to connect a landlord and a broker.”

He thinks the New York ordinance is fine if it limits a landlord from hiring a broker and then making a tenant pay for it.

“I’m worried in Massachusetts that people are going to go completely to the wrong end of the spectrum and say the landlord has to pay for the renter’s broker.”

He believes renters are already protected by an existing state law.

“General law 186-15B is the law restricting landlords on what we can require a renter to pay. That’s a good law and it says you can’t require a renter to pay a broker’s fee. You can’t require an application fee or a credit check fee.”

Still, as the cost of renting gets more costly, renters are looking for any relief, and protection, they can get.

“It would go a long way for some people and just make housing more accessible. I would be in favor of that being introduced in Boston,” said a man in Jamaica Plain.

Another added, “It would definitely be a good idea. Any small amount is helpful to someone who is looking to rent.”

Quattrochi also says that brokers play an important role in making sure fair housing laws are followed.

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