Op-Ed: Northampton Broker Fee Ban Could Become State Law

By Hannah Shaffer

Years ago, I waited in a line that wrapped around the block outside a Rent Noho-listed apartment. Two rental agents stood outside while potential tenants streamed through the unit. No tours or property descriptions were offered, and would-be tenants filed through 10 or more at a time. At the end, we received application forms and were told the $35 fee was non-refundable, even if we didn’t get the apartment.

Landlords who have contracted with Rent Noho receive applications that have been vetted, credit-checked, with references called, detailing prospective tenants they’ve done no work to find or introduce to the property, all without paying a cent. Tenants — who actually pay for the service through application fees and an additional fee of 60% of one month’s rent due upon signing — get nothing.

This experience is likely familiar to anyone who has rented in Northampton in recent years, and highlights a fundamental issue in Northampton’s rental market: with demand far outstripping supply, brokers like Rent Noho have little incentive to provide a quality service to tenants.

A proposed Northampton law that would require landlords, rather than tenants, to pay rental broker fees, is now being considered statewide. If enacted, the legislation would shift the financial responsibility for broker’s fees, mandating payment by the party who initially contracted the broker — typically the landlord or property owner, rather than the prospective tenant. The law’s passage would alleviate a financial burden on renters, coming at a critical juncture when the pandemic and escalating housing costs have exacerbated the nationwide housing shortage.

The proposed law was first introduced to the Northampton City Council in 2021 as a “home rule petition.” Home rule empowers municipalities to petition the state to create local laws, provided they’re constitutional and align with state regulations. The broker fee petition received unanimous support from the City Council and Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra before being submitted to the state Legislature, where state Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa and state Sen. Jo Comerford, both Northampton Democrats, endorsed the bill and co-signed as petitioners.

The broker fee proposal garnered overwhelming support in a 2022 city Community Resources Committee meeting, where members of the public came out in force to share personal stories about barriers they’d faced renting in Northampton. Landlords and real estate agents were also present to voice their disapproval. Some argued that landlords, if required to pay a broker fee instead of tenants, would simply raise rents commensurately. But renters and housing advocates have countered this claim, saying that higher rent distributed across a year-long lease is an easier cost to bear than first-month rent, last-month rent, a security deposit, and an additional broker’s fee paid up front.

Since the home rule petition’s filing in the state House in 2022, other Massachusetts cities have followed suit. Similar petitions were filed in Brockton, Somerville, and Cambridge in 2023.

Now, the proposed legislation is being considered at the state level. Earlier this month, Sabadosa informed me that a version had been added to the Massachusetts Senate housing bill (S.2834), a $5.4 billion bill to support housing production and improve affordable housing across the state. If it remains in the final bill, the legislation would eliminate the burden of broker fees for tenants. Other highlights from the bill include funding to rehabilitate more than 40,000 public housing units, expansion of inclusionary zoning laws, and investment in permanent supportive housing for veterans, survivors of domestic violence, those experiencing chronic homelessness, and other populations facing housing instability.

It couldn’t come at a better time. In a survey of Northampton Craigslist rental listings conducted as part of a 2019 study the city commissioned to assess barriers to fair housing, two-thirds of listings mentioned broker fees. A Northampton resident quoted in the study expressed frustration with the practice. 

“I find it completely ridiculous that it isn’t illegal for Rent Noho to charge the renter a ‘rental fee’ that’s 60% of one month’s rent to provide absolutely no service to the renter,” the resident said. “The service they provide is to the landlord only. But they manage so many units in town and almost all the quality units. It is undoubtedly pricing people out of town — it’s unreasonable to expect people to be able to put down first, last, deposit, and 60% all at once.” 

I contacted Sabadosa’s office to ask what supporters can do to ensure the broker fee legislation stays in the bill. Her team said that it’s time to rally the community to contact the Legislature’s housing bond bill conference committee, which works out the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill before a final vote, and voice support for the broker fee ban.

Members of the Housing Bond Bill conference committee are:

• Rep. James Arciero, James.Arciero@mahouse.gov
• Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, Aaron.M.Michlewitz@mahouse.gov
• Rep. David DeCoste, David.DeCoste@mahouse.gov
• Sen. Will Brownsberger, William.Brownsberger@masenate.gov
• Sen. Lydia Edwards, Lydia.Edwards@masenate.gov
• Sen. Peter Durant, peter.durant@masenate.gov

Additional information about the Joint Committee on Housing, with contact phone numbers, can be found here.Finally, there is a need for advocacy and participation at the local level. The Northampton Housing Partnership — a separate and distinct group from the Northampton Housing Authority — is a volunteer board dedicated to the preservation and creation of affordable housing in the city. The partnership currently has three vacant seats. The group has been actively involved in drafting and advocacy for the broker fee bill, and public attendance at the monthly meetings is both welcome and necessary. Partnership meetings are generally held the first Monday of the month from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Zoom, and will be reconvening Monday, Sept. 9 after an August break. More information can be found here.

Hannah Shaffer is a renter and game designer living in Northampton. She is also a member of the Northampton Housing Partnership, serving since 2020.

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