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Mass. to ban forced broker fees ‘in coming days,’ Healey says

The new law, which is in Healey's budget proposal, will allow tenants to move without paying sometimes thousands of dollars for a broker they did not hire.

Over 100 people march for affordable housing and rent control at Boston City Hall on May 20, 2025. (Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff)

By Molly Farrar

July 2, 2025

2 minutes to read

Renters in Massachusetts will no longer be required to pay broker’s fees, Governor Maura Healey said Wednesday, allowing tenants to move without paying sometimes thousands of dollars for a broker they did not hire.

Healey said earlier this year that the fees, which often equal a full month of rent, will be abolished through an outside section of her budget proposal.

The governor will sign the Fiscal Year 2026 budget “in the coming days,” Healey’s office said Wednesday, which will include the outside section. After the proposal is signed, whoever hires the broker, which is normally the landlord, will be responsible for any fees.

“I proposed banning renter-paid broker’s fees because the cost of housing is already way too high in Massachusetts without adding thousands of dollars in fees for a service you didn’t hire,” Healey said in a statement. “I’m grateful that the Legislature agreed that the person who hires the broker should be responsible for paying them.”

Elected officials in Boston, Somerville, and Cambridge have all called for the fees to be abolished, which can sometimes put up-front costs of renting an apartment to $10,000, Healey’s office said. Boston City Councilor Enrique Pepén, Cambridge City Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler and Somerville City Councilor Willie Burnley Jr. joined forces on Instagram last year to advocate against “forced brokers’ fees,” meaning the renters pay the fees.

Boston and New York were the only major cities in the country that still had broker fees for tenants, Pepén noted. But, the New York City Council voted in November to shift broker fees to landlords, a move that went into effect in June.

Healey also touted her other initiatives to improve home affordability in the state. Boston is one of the least affordable cities in the country for housing, and the state recently earned a failing grade on homebuilding and affordability.

Healey signed the the $5 billion Affordable Homes Act last year to create new housing units and authorized additional accessory dwelling units, also known as in-law apartments.

“The days of renters being forced to shell out upwards of $10,000 before they can even move into an apartment are over,” Healey said. “This is one of just many ways that our administration is working every day to lower the high cost of living in Massachusetts.”