Will Boston Follow New York's Lead and Ban Broker Fees?

There was big news coming out of the New York real estate market this week - the New York Department of State clarified a previous regulation stating that brokers can no longer charge rental tenants a “broker fee” if they are hired by a landlord to market the rental unit. Instead, the landlord must cover the broker fee. The only case in which a broker fee applies to the tenant is if they personally hire an agent to help them find a rental apartment. The repercussions of such a shift in who will the broker could be manifold. Some suspect that landlords will just raise rent to cover this added expense for them. Others say this will have a positive effect on tenant’s ability to move because their expenses in doing so will be less.

Whatever the effects may be, New York’s rental market now operates like a lot of other major rental markets in the US, Boston being a major exception. Following New York’s lead, Mayor Walsh announced he is putting together a working group to study the effects of broker fees in the Boston rental market. Find out more about Mayor Walsh’s plan by clicking here.