A renter found an apartment on a major rental site and reached out to ask about it. They were then given a choice. They could pay half the broker's fee, or the landlord would raise the rent by $100 a month. The account comes from a complaint to the Massachusetts Attorney General's office that WBUR reviewed in May 2026. The renter turned the apartment down. "I did not hire this broker, they listed this apartment, so I shouldn't be responsible, the landlord should," they wrote.
The state's broker fee law has been in effect for fourteen months now. Disputes like this one are where it stands. The rule is simple. The fee belongs to whoever hired the broker. Nearly every disagreement since August 2025 has been about one word in that sentence, "hired," and it usually gets decided before a renter has seen a single room.
The rule fits in three sentences
As of August 1, 2025, rental broker fees in Massachusetts must be paid by the person who hired the broker. A landlord who brings in a broker to list and lease a unit pays that broker. A landlord also cannot make paying the fee a condition of signing a lease.
There is one exception. According to the state's FAQ on rental broker fees, a broker can charge a tenant only when the tenant chooses to hire them and the broker works only for that tenant in negotiations with a landlord. A landlord can still require you to go through their broker, as long as the landlord pays that broker.
Attorney General Andrea Campbell put the test this way in a May 21, 2026 joint statement with Governor Maura Healey:
"This law establishes a clear standard: a broker may only charge a tenant a fee if the broker is working for the tenant and not for the landlord."
Where "hired" gets argued
The biggest dispute so far has been over open listings. These are units a broker advertises without a formal written agreement with the landlord. According to WBUR's reporting, some brokers argue that without a written contract the landlord never "explicitly hired" them. On that view, the online ad is an offer to be hired by whichever tenant responds.
Todd Kaplan, a senior attorney at Greater Boston Legal Services, told WBUR that this argument "completely misconstrues the law." In his view, the arrangement itself is the contract. "The landlord is giving the broker information, which is valuable to the broker, in exchange for the landlord agreeing to consider applications that that broker brings to them," he said. He added that the arrangement doesn't have to be in writing.
The Attorney General's office agreed. It told WBUR that "the fact that no formal contract exists with a landlord is not enough for a broker to charge a fee to a tenant." The May 2026 state release went further. It says a landlord or broker who requires tenants to pay fees for services at least partly provided to landlords violates the state Consumer Protection Act, Chapter 93A.
So the hiring question has little to do with lease paperwork. It turns on who the broker was working for when you first made contact. For a renter, that moment comes much earlier than most people expect.
The four moments the question gets decided
Based on the state guidance and the complaints reported so far, the fee question tends to come up at four points in a rental search.
- Your first reply to a listing. Some of the complaints WBUR described came from renters who were told they owed a fee simply because they had asked about an online listing. Kaplan told WBUR that in his view, any online listing posted by a broker that requires the tenant to pay a fee is highly likely to be illegal.
- Your request to see the unit. Cambridge City Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler told NBC10 Boston that during his own search this year, some agents wouldn't show him an apartment unless he agreed to pay a broker's fee.
- The fee disclosure form. The state FAQ says a broker must give you a fee disclosure form before working with you in any way.
- The rent quote. This is where the fee can reappear in another form, so it gets its own section below.
A higher rent is allowed. A fee surcharge is not.
State guidance draws a line on whether landlords can recover the fee through rent. A landlord may set any rent for a new tenancy, as long as they give proper written notice and follow applicable law, including fair housing law. What a landlord cannot do is add a broker's fee surcharge to a tenant's rent.
The $100-a-month offer in the WBUR complaint was explicitly tied to the fee. That link between rent and fee is exactly what the FAQ addresses. A higher asking rent with no fee attached is a different situation. The renter can accept it or keep looking.
Market data doesn't yet show whether landlords have quietly built the fee into asking rents. Yardi Matrix figures published by RentCafe put the average Boston rent at $3,743 as of September 30, 2026. That is down 1.52% from $3,800 a year earlier. In the same data, South Boston averaged $4,319 and Dorchester averaged $2,794. Those numbers only cover buildings with 50 or more units, which leaves out the smaller rental buildings. Other rent measures for Boston point the opposite way, and none of them separates out the effect of the fee change.
So the rent question is still open. The friction renters can actually document is in the hiring question, and that is where the complaints have piled up.
What a year of complaints looks like
The reported volume has grown. In May 2026, WBUR reported that the Attorney General's office had received more than a dozen complaints. In September 2026, NBC10 Boston reported that hundreds of complaints had been made, and the station said it reviewed dozens of them.
The money involved explains why. Broker fees often equal a month's rent. As NBC10 put it, with first month's rent, last month's rent and a security deposit added in, upfront move-in costs in Greater Boston "can easily exceed $10,000."
Many of these cases end without a formal enforcement action. In the May release, the Attorney General's office described helping one resident get a full refund of nearly $1,000 after a landlord charged a broker fee unlawfully. In another case, a tenant moving between units in the same building was charged a broker's fee for preparing lease documents. The landlord waived that $400 fee after the office stepped in. Complaints against brokers go to the state licensing board and can lead to fines, suspension or license revocation.
Kaplan offered NBC10 a practical starting point. Ask whether the unit is listed on the MLS, find out who the MLS broker is, and get a clear answer about who hired the broker. All three questions can go in your very first message, before a showing is booked.
Where questions and complaints go
| Office | What it handles | How to reach it |
|---|---|---|
| Attorney General's Consumer Advocacy and Response Division | Information about the law and help with fees you believe were charged improperly | 617-727-8400, or the online complaint form |
| Division of Occupational Licensure, Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons | Complaints about a licensed broker or salesperson | Office of Investigations, 617-701-8756 |
| City of Boston Office of Housing Stability | Help for Boston renters with questions about the new law | Boston's broker fee guidance page |
The Attorney General's office has also published an advisory on the law. It says a broker representing a tenant has to actually do the tenant's work, which means finding a property, presenting an offer and negotiating on the tenant's behalf. That broker can't serve the landlord's interests or split the fee with the landlord. Boston's Mayor's Office of Housing also encourages renters to keep their written agreements and records.
FAQ
Can I still hire my own broker for a South Boston apartment search? Yes. The law doesn't stop tenants from hiring a broker. If you hire one who works only for you, the state FAQ says you are expected to pay for those services.
Can a landlord insist that I go through their broker? According to the state FAQ, yes, as long as the landlord pays that broker. The landlord can't require you to pay their broker before renting the unit.
Does the rule cover fees with other names? The state defines a broker's fee to include listing fees, leasing fees and finder's fees. In one case from the Attorney General's May release, a tenant moving between units in the same building was charged a broker's fee for preparing lease documents, and the landlord waived the $400 after the office stepped in.
If you're looking for a South Boston rental this fall and want to know from the first message whose side your agent is on, that's how we work at Joyce Lebedew Real Estate. Find your place in South Boston. Book a consultation, and we'll walk you through how the fee rules apply to the apartments you're considering.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
