On July 10th, Gov. Healey signed a bill into Law that mandates Landlords pay their Realtors & Tenants must pay their Realtors. It is, now, LAW. It’ll be illegal to foist that bill on the other side of the transaction. This is pretty similar to the NAR settlement everyone’s talking about(where the seller often had to pay the buyer’s agent), except it only affects residential rentals. For the longest time, the landlord paid both tenant’s & their own Realtor’s commissions, usually at a half rate for each.
In recent years, some landlords(not many, but some) were sticking the commissions for the Realtor who represented them onto the expenses due from their prospective tenants. So, in addition to First Month’s Rent, Last Month’s Rent, Security Deposit, The Tenant’s Realtor commissions, (All worth 1 Month’s Rent), you add on the Landlord’s Realtor commission payment. That’s equivalent to 5 Months of rent paid by the tenant, before they ever move in. Let’s say a typical 1 bedroom is $2K to keep the numbers easy. That tenant is expected to cough up $10K at lease signing. Not many people have $10K+ just sitting around, liquid, for them to spend that way & it drove many to either go unrepresented or be forced into less well maintained housing that’s far less expensive or both.
For or against heavy gov’t regulation, this Law actually makes sense to me & does what it’s supposed to do: Make rentals more fair & transparent. Many tenants don’t even know they’ll be hit with that extra financial burden until preparing for lease signing. “SURPRISE! That’ll be an additional $2K+.” If someone wants representation, they pay their Realtor. No surprises on that score & no more worries if your Realtor is really representing you, when someone else pays them for you.
If a tenant or a Landlord doesn’t want a Realtor, they don’t have to hire one & they won’t be forced to pay for someone else’s representation. It makes the playing field more level. It allows more transparency for people planning a transaction too.
Here’s an article from Boston Agent Magazine, that goes into a bit more detail:
https://bostonagentmagazine.com/2025/07/02/massachusetts-broker-fees/?
I’m a proponent of this particular part of the bill/Law for the sole reason that, if you want a service, you should pay for that service. You also have the right to have the unquestioned loyalty of the person you’re paying. Realtors, like me, take an oath & are held accountable with serious penalties if we violate the trust of our clients. That said, a lot of people are very confused when the other guy paid for their Realtor & think: “Oh… He’s on my side, right?” The Law is now signed & a few wrongs will be righted.
Have Fun!
Lew McConkey, Realtor/Notary
Brook Realty, Serving Whitman Hanson & Surrounding Towns
(781)252-9789
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