A lot of the housing disaster debate in Massachusetts has been centered on what to construct and the place.
Many cities are opting in to the MBTA legal guidelines generally referred to 3A whereas others are rejecting the legislation and persevering with the talk. What’s lacking from the dialog is who we’re constructing for. Tenants make up a good portion of the state’s inhabitants – roughly 37% of households throughout Massachusetts — and in Boston, that quantity rises to 65%, with almost two-thirds of residents renting their properties.
Homeownership stays out of attain for a lot of, particularly communities of coloration. For instance, solely 38% of Black households are owners and 33% of Hispanic households are owners, whereas 70% of White households are owners. These disparities replicate lasting impacts of systemic obstacles, from exclusionary zoning to the racial wealth hole, that proceed to form housing entry throughout the state.
As we proceed to speak about the place and construct, we should additionally heart renters in ongoing housing debates. I’m proud to introduce two provisions: banning dealer’s charges and an alternate cost plan to safety deposits that would doubtlessly reduce upfront prices for tenants in half.
Banning compelled dealer charges helps – not hurts – our housing market.
Massachusetts is on the cusp of delivering a long-overdue win for renters. After years of sky-high upfront housing prices – together with first month’s lease, final month’s lease, a safety deposit and a dealer’s charge – the FY26 finances consists of language that lastly bans the follow of forcing renters to pay dealer charges – except they’re those who rent the dealer. It’s a easy precept: you pay for the service you request. And beginning this August, will probably be legislation.
As one of many legislators who filed this language in January and a shepherd of this provision within the Inexpensive Houses Act (AHA), I’m proud to see it turn into a actuality so shortly. It’s a reminder that once we prioritize our folks, we are able to act with urgency and impression.
Let’s be clear about what this modification does and doesn’t do.
It does cease the unjust follow of shifting dealer prices onto tenants who had no say in hiring a dealer. It does put a refund in renters’ pockets, typically over $3,000 price. And it doesn’t enhance lease costs.
You could have heard that if tenants don’t pay dealer charges, landlords will simply elevate the lease. However let’s take into consideration how the housing market really works.
Rents are already priced at what the market will bear. If landlords may cost extra, they already would. The concept that dealer charges are one way or the other holding lease costs down is simply not true. In actuality, these charges add to the general price burden on tenants, forcing folks to tackle debt, delay strikes, or settle for worse housing simply to keep away from additional bills.
Let’s take a look at the info.
After New York Metropolis’s dealer’s charges ban went into impact this yr, Boston took the lead of the #1 costliest metropolis within the nation to lease. The presence of dealer charges didn’t maintain Boston’s rents down—it helped push them up.
Boston is the final main metropolis within the U.S. to do away with this outdated and unjust follow. With this new legislation, we’re catching as much as what needs to be the usual in all places: equity and transparency in housing prices.
Safety deposits may very well be changed by insurance coverage funds.
Brokers’ charges reform isn’t occurring in a vacuum. The Massachusetts Legislature can be exploring options to safety deposits, one other heaping upfront price. Pending laws, we’re proposing techniques the place tenants and landlords may enter an settlement the place the tenant pays a small month-to-month premium on a rental insurance coverage plan as an alternative of placing down hundreds of {dollars} upfront.
It is a sensible, renter-first resolution that acknowledges the fact most working households face: the problem isn’t simply lease, it’s the upfront prices which can be maintaining folks out of housing alternatives. Safeguards for this provision are being labored out to make sure that the tenant has a selection, that the tenant doesn’t overpay, and that the owner has to provide a duplicate of the insurance coverage coverage. On this case, the owner can be the beneficiary and would use the premium for misplaced lease, lawyer’s charges and precise harm – which might add as much as a lot multiple month’s lease.
Housing is a basic proper, and our legal guidelines ought to uphold that precept. Mixed, these two provisions would enable tenants to start a lease by paying solely first and final month’s lease — an essential step towards affordability and stability for renters throughout the state.
Sen. Lydia Edwards is the state Senator for the Third Suffolk District and Former Chair of the Joint Committee on Housing.
