Who pays the broker fee on a Massachusetts apartment?

The rule since August 1, 2025

Governor Healey signed the change into law with the state budget on July 4, 2025 (St. 2025, c. 9, §43), and it took effect on August 1, 2025. The statute, M.G.L. c.112 §87DDD½, now says any fee “shall only be paid by the party, lessor or tenant who originally engaged and entered into a contract with” the broker. The state housing office (EOHLC) puts it simply: if you didn’t hire the broker or salesperson, you shouldn’t be paying their fee.

• A landlord can’t make paying their broker a condition of the lease. Landlords may require you to work with their broker, as long as the landlord pays that broker.
• A broker can charge you only if you chose to hire them and they work only for you in dealing with landlords. A broker can’t represent both the landlord and the tenant.
• The fee can’t come back under another name. Admin fees, selection fees, finder’s fees and leasing fees are not allowed, and neither is raising first or last month’s rent to cover a broker’s fee.
• Landlords may still set the rent for a new tenancy, but they can’t add a broker’s-fee surcharge to it.
• The law covers residential leases everywhere in Massachusetts. It doesn’t apply to home purchases or commercial leases.
• The state’s answer to “Are there any exceptions?” is one word: “No.” The only carve-out is a lease signed before August 1, 2025.

Official sources

• M.G.L. c.112 §87DDD½, as amended by St. 2025, c. 9, §43 (effective August 1, 2025)
• EOHLC (Mass.gov) — Frequently asked questions about residential rental broker’s fees
• Mass.gov — Apartment finder’s fees, broker’s fees and signing a lease
• City of Boston — Broker fees: 3 things to know about the new law

How to spot a landlord-paid listing

You don’t need a listing to say “no fee” any more. What matters is who hired the agent. An agent who is advertising an apartment, on any website, is almost always the landlord’s agent, and then the landlord pays.

From our listings On November 3, 2026, only 75 of the 6,774 MLS rental listings on our site with a description still said “no fee” (1%). The words have stopped being the signal; the relationship is.

• Ask: “Who hired you for this apartment, and who will pay your fee?” If the answer is the landlord, you owe the agent nothing.
• Contacting an agent through an online listing doesn’t make you their client. The state says that if the agent was hired by the landlord, the landlord pays, even if you reached out first.
• Before a lease is signed, the broker must give you a written disclosure saying who hired them, who will pay their fee and how much it is.
• If you want your own broker, sign a written agreement first that says what you’ll pay and when. A finder’s fee has no set amount; it’s whatever you agree with a licensed broker.
• Never pay a fee just to see an apartment or to apply. The state says you should never be forced to pay a broker to apply if the broker was hired by the landlord.

Official sources

• EOHLC (Mass.gov) — Frequently asked questions about residential rental broker’s fees
• Mass.gov — Apartment finder’s fees, broker’s fees and signing a lease

What you can be asked to pay before move-in

The broker-fee law sits on top of an older limit. At or before the start of a tenancy, a Massachusetts landlord or the landlord’s agent may require only these four payments:

1. First month’s rent. For the first full month you live there.
2. Last month’s rent. At the same rate as the first month.
3. A security deposit. No more than the first month’s rent, held in a separate interest-bearing account in a Massachusetts bank, with receipts.
4. A new lock and key. The purchase and installation cost.

So on a $3,000 apartment where the landlord’s agent shows you the unit, the most you can be asked for before you move in is $9,000 plus the cost of the lock change, and nothing for the agent.

Official sources

• M.G.L. c.186 §15B — security deposits and what a landlord may collect
• Attorney General’s Office — advisory on the new law banning forced renter-paid broker fees (August 1, 2025)

If you’re charged a fee you don’t owe

• Ask for the written fee disclosure: who hired the broker, who pays and how much. If the landlord hired the broker, the landlord is the one who pays.
• Contact the Attorney General’s Office: file a complaint online or call 617-727-8400.
• File a complaint against the broker or salesperson with the Division of Occupational Licensure, which licenses them.
• Under the Consumer Protection Act (Chapter 93A), tenants may be entitled to three times an illegal fee, plus attorney’s fees and costs. Landlords may owe a penalty of up to three times the amount charged, and brokers can be fined or lose their license.

Official sources

• Attorney General’s Office — advisory on the new law banning forced renter-paid broker fees (August 1, 2025)
• Mass.gov — File a complaint against an occupational board licensee
• EOHLC (Mass.gov) — Frequently asked questions about residential rental broker’s fees

Renting through Benjamin Realty

When a landlord hires us to lease an apartment, renters pay us nothing. That includes the Chestnut Hill Realty communities on our no-fee pages, where the landlord pays our fee: 217 units were open there on November 3, 2026. Whatever the listing, we tell you in writing, before you sign a lease, who hired us, who pays us and how much.

• No-fee apartments in Greater Boston
• Every rental across Massachusetts
• Rental agency help by town
• Talk to us

Questions people ask

Do renters still pay broker fees in Massachusetts?

Only to a broker they hired themselves. Since August 1, 2025, M.G.L. c.112 §87DDD½ says the fee is paid only by the party who engaged the broker, so when the landlord hired the agent, the landlord pays.

Is the Massachusetts broker fee law in effect in Boston?

Yes. It applies to residential leases across Massachusetts, including Boston, Cambridge and Somerville, and the state says there are no exceptions.

I contacted the agent through Zillow or another listing site. Do I have to pay them?

No, not if the landlord hired them. Contacting an agent through a listing doesn’t make you their client; you pay only a broker you independently hire under a written agreement.

Can a landlord raise the rent to cover the broker fee?

A landlord may set the rent for a new tenancy, but may not add a broker’s-fee surcharge to it or raise first or last month’s rent to reimburse a broker’s fee.

Can the fee be charged as an “admin” or “application” fee instead?

No. The state lists admin fees, selection fees, finder’s fees and leasing fees as not allowed, and before move-in a landlord may collect only first month, last month, a security deposit and the lock cost.

How much can a broker I hire charge?

There is no set amount. A finder’s fee is a contract between you and a licensed broker, and the amount, due date and purpose must be told to you before any transaction.

What if I paid a fee after August 1, 2025?

If the broker was hired by the landlord and your lease was signed on or after August 1, 2025, you shouldn’t have paid it. Contact the Attorney General’s Office (617-727-8400); under Chapter 93A tenants may be entitled to three times an illegal fee.