Real estate group, angry over brokers fee law, lobbies for delay and repeal

Real estate groups had a good run on Beacon Hill over the last two years.

Rent control remained dead. The proposal to allow local-option transfer taxes – sought by communities who want to tax big-money property sales as a way to boost affordable housing – was left on the cutting room floor of Gov. Maura Healey’s housing bond bill. And Boston Mayor Michelle Wu’s proposal to temporarily shift the property tax burden onto commercial owners died in the Senate.

But some are now incensed over a state budget rider that includes an attempt to end charging tenants a brokers fee to rent an apartment. Landlords won’t be able to require tenants to pay people – the brokers – who set up the rental agreements. Instead, the fee is to be charged to whoever hires the broker.

The move, cheered by longtime tenant advocates, upends a practice that can lead to a renter writing a check for $11,000 or more up front (including first and last month rents, as well as a security deposit).

The Small Property Owners Association (SPOA) on Wednesday pulled together a mix of landlords, brokers and real estate agents outside the State House to protest the measure, which goes into effect Aug. 1, one month away from the busiest move-in date of the year. They are lobbying to delay the measure – if not repeal it outright – and they argue the renter will still end up paying through higher rents. Confusion over wording in the law, and how it’s enforced, will likely lead to lawsuits, they add.

Adam Kotkin, owner and broker of Brookline-based Red Tree Real Estate, one of the state’s top rental firms, says the measure throws the industry into “turmoil” as it struggles to interpret the new law. “Nobody here knows how to abide by the law. Unless the landlord just pays the fee, and then we don't have to deal with that part, then that's easy,” he said. “But some landlords still are not wanting to pay the fee up until today. So what do we do with those people?”

Before she signed the state budget, Healey touted her decision to okay the brokers fees provision, which she has described as a “ban,” in a press release and on social media.

But the proposal was actually prioritized by the Senate, which has been friendly to real estate interests in recent years. (Senate President Karen Spilka essentially handed veto power to business groups when Mayor Wu was negotiating her property tax shift proposal with them, and the proposal died after the groups pulled out of a deal.)

Asked about the SPOA protest outside on Wednesday, Spilka stood by the brokers fee measure. “Shifting brokers fees away from renters removes an enormous up-front cost barrier for renters who are already paying thousands of dollars to move,” she said in a statement. “This law was a win for Massachusetts and a no-brainer in the fight to make housing more affordable.”

Will the brokers fee law help curb the state’s affordability crisis? Let me know what you think: [email protected].

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Happening Today

10:00 | The MBTA Board of Directors meets. Planning for the 2026 World Cup is on the agenda. | State Transportation Building, 10 Park Plaza, Boston | Agenda and Livestream

10:00 | The Mass. Clean Energy Center and its partner Vermont Energy Investment Corporation host an electric school bus "Ride and Drive" event to allow school districts and municipal stakeholders explore zero-emission school bus options by providing hands-on experience with a variety of models from multiple manufacturers. | Worcester Public Schools Transportation Department, 115 Northeast Cutoff, Worcester

12:00 | The Senate meets in a formal session with plans to consider legislation that would remove hundreds of instances of outdated and offensive language describing people with disabilities (S 137), striking so-called archaic laws from statute (S 1034), and codifying a "blue envelope" program designed to smooth interactions between police and drivers on the autism spectrum (S 2348) | Senate Chamber, State House

FROM BEACON HILL

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: The $1.2 billion roads and bridges bill passed by House lawmakers includes funding that will “address congestion hotspots,” according to House Speaker Ron Mariano, such as intersections and railroad crossings. – MassLive

PAY BUMP: Gov. Maura Healey handed her administration’s managers and Cabinet members another salary bump – the second in six months – at a total cost of $10 million. The raises come as the state grapples with a work stoppage by bar advocates looking for higher pay. – Boston Globe

AT THE GATES: Police are searching for whoever vandalized the gates at the front steps of the State House by splattering paint and scrawling “divest.” FBI and other law enforcement officers on Wednesday flooded the area and spilled into Boston Common. – State House News Service

NEWS NEXT DOOR

TAX DISPUTE: The Pioneer New England Legal Foundation is at war with Boston City Hall, accusing the city of increasing assessed property values on commercial property owners who are pressing for abatements. – Boston Business Journal

SUIT STRUCK: A Superior Court judge has tossed a suit filed by Newton parents against the teachers union, over last year’s strike. – Universal Hub

GLOBE STAFFERS ATTACKED: A pair of Boston Globe staffers, touring the troubled intersection known as Mass. and Cass with South End residents, were attacked by alleged drug dealers. – Boston Guardian

IMMIGRATION JUDGES: One of the two judges fired from jobs at a Massachusetts immigration court said he was alarmed to face pressure from his boss to grant motions to dismiss filed by immigration enforcement officials. – WBUR

BALLS AND STRIKES: Workers at Fenway Park and MGM Music Hall who are unionized with UNITE HERE Local 26 are readying to strike during the Red Sox face-off with the Los Angeles Dodgers that starts this Friday. – GBH News

POWERING UP: The Vineyard Wind project is now up to 17 turbines, from four in May, and is producing enough energy to power more than 100,000 Massachusetts homes. – New Bedford Light

LONE MAN: Great Barrington’s select board has just one candidate for town manager, a position that’s been vacant for seven months. The candidate, who works in Newport, has also worked as a traffic engineer in Providence. – Berkshire Eagle

FOR THE BIRDS: The town of Duxbury has staffed up due to the high volume of people coming to see snowy owls at its beach. Beach sticker sales rose to $35,000 this past off-season, from $6,800 in 2024. – Duxbury Clipper

TROLLEY TIME: The Orleans Chamber of Commerce has turned to free trolley service to help boost the downtown shopping district. – Cape Cod Chronicle

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