Walsh shows interest in cutting broker fees
By 
So you like that one-bedroom in Cambridge with the half-sized oven, tilted floor, and dimly lit rooms? There aren’t a lot of other options, and it’s $100 below market rent at $2,200 a month. You’ll take it. But before you can move the IKEA couch in, you’re going to have to fork over four month’s rent. First, last, security, and the broker fee to the guy who only showed you one other apartment. Why? Because that’s the way it is.
But that may change.
A move in New York to ban broker fees has turned the heads of Massachusetts elected officials who are seeking to temper the rapidly rising costs of rent in the state. Greater Boston area renters are sharing the story across social media with budding hope.
An addendum to a sweeping 2018 rental and tenant protection law went into effect in New York state Tuesday, ending broker fees for tenants. Brokers can still collect a fee, but it must be paid by the landlord “unless a prospective tenant hired them to help find an apartment,” reports the New York Times.
Landlords hire brokers to list properties and market them to potential tenants. Tenants who want the property have to pay the broker to sign the lease, and the price is often an entire month’s rent. The median rent for a Boston one-bedroom was $2,450 a month in July, according to real estate research and listings site Zumper. Taking that into account, your up-front cost would be $9,800 (first, last, security, and broker fee), not including any background check fees.
There has been pushback in New York, where brokers and landlords through the Real Estate Board of New York are promising to challenge the new rule in court. In Boston, Jason Gell of the Greater Boston Association of Realtors told the Boston Herald it’s a “bad idea” that he said won’t work.
“There’s a reason there’s a professional in the transaction,” Gell said, adding that the use of real estate agents will continue so the fee they currently receive from the tenant will just end up being absorbed in the rental cost of the unit. “I’m expecting that this will end up increasing their cost of rents,” he said.
In New York, the government caps the rent increases that can be set by landlords. That isn’t out of the question in the Bay State, but Skip Schloming, executive director of the Small Property Owners Association told the Boston Globe that landlords would cut corners elsewhere — on repairs, for example.
Cambridge Rep. Mike Connolly, cosponsor of rent control legislation, says his bill would give municipalities the right to eliminate broker fees.”This is important because many of us who rent don’t have several thousand dollars in cash laying around,” he said.
Walsh plans on naming members of the broker fee assessment committee at the end of February.
SARAH BETANCOURT
Senate President Karen Spilka unveils a standalone mental health bill, in contrast with the governor who is pitching a combo bill emphasizing primary care and behavioral health. (MassLive)
MUNICIPAL MATTERS
The Worcester Public Market celebrates its opening in the city’s Canal District. (The Telegram)
The state’s relocation of a social services office from downtown Worcester to a shopping plaza near the Millbury line is drawing criticism from local officials and advocates who say it will present a hardship for clients without cars to get there. (Boston Globe)
Monica Lewinsky will be in New Bedford in May to talk about the culture of humiliation that is widespread in US society and what can be done about it. (Herald News)
WASHINGTON/NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
President Trump lashed out at his opponents and declared the Russian election interference investigation and impeachment “all bullshit” in a rambling hourlong monologue to supporters at the White House. (New York Times)
The Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism gets presidential candidate Tom Steyer to weigh in on the controversy around the Weymouth compressor station.
ELECTIONS
Turmoil appears to be the watchword in the Democratic presidential nominating race following the chaos of the Iowa caucuses and no clear sign of a single front-runner at this point. (New York Times)
Joe Biden hits the pause button and retreats to Delaware to regroup with his campaign on the ropes. (Washington Post)
BUSINESS/ECONOMY
Eastham’s business community is peeved about two proposed bylaws seeking to curb plastic waste in town, including one that would ban the sale of single-use plastic bottles. (Cape Cod Times)
EDUCATION
Voc-tech schools are facing scrutiny from state officials over their admissions policies, which allow them to screen for higher-performing students. A group of mayors is calling for a lottery. (CommonWealth)
The flap over the test used to help determine admission to Boston’s three selective exam schools continued with the test vendor producing emails from 2012 and 2013 showing it urged the district to carry out a study to assess whether the test’s scores predict high school success. (Boston Globe)
HEALTH/HEALTH CARE
MassHealth agrees to pay $2.1 million for a new drug treatment called Zolgensma, but only if it works. (WBUR)
The board of trustees at Lawrence General Hospital announced it has promoted its interim CEO, Deborah Wilson, to the position of president and CEO. (Eagle-Tribune)
TRANSPORTATION
Gov. Charlie Baker and MBTA officials announce repair plans for 2020, which include shutdowns of large portions of two Green Line branches for a month. (State House News)
The MBTA is also planning to close the Red Line between Quincy Center and Braintree on nights and weekends from mid-March through August. (Patriot Ledger)
A new study indicates providing reasonably fast rail service between Boston, Springfield, and Pittsfield would be very expensive. (CommonWealth) Rep. Richael Neal pushes back against the high cost estimates, saying look at what the state is paying for the MBTA. (MassLive)
Everett officials are touting the idea of a gondola that ferry passengers from the Wynn casino to the Assembly Square stop of the MBTA’s Orange Line. (Boston Globe)
ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT
In a back and forth over Vineyard Wind, a spokeswoman for the Department of the Interior calls allegations made by Sen. Elizabeth Warren and eight other members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation “unfounded and uninformed.” (CommonWealth)
Gov. Charlie Baker announced climate change grants in New Bedford, including one meant to study ways to prevent sea level rise in New Bedford-Fairhaven Harbor. (Standard-Times)
CASINOS
Wynn Resorts is getting slammed by the shutdown of its Macau casinos due to coronavirus, but company officials see some progress at their Encore Boston Harbor property. (CommonWealth)
CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS
The State Police overtime scandal dates back more than 20 years, according to a former lieutenant who has been charged in the scheme. (Boston Globe)
A Globe editorial slams the Baker administration over its handling of the lockdown at Souza-Baranowksi Correctional Center.
A former Middleboro woman and flight attendant who accused a co-pilot of raping her is suing Delta Air Lines in federal court for alleged employment discrimination and retaliation. (The Enterprise)
Middleton House of Correction unveils a new addiction treatment center. (Salem News)
MEDIA
DigBoston editor Jason Pramas calls out the Boston Globe for a January 30 article about the unseasonably warm weather as inappropriately optimistic in the face of climate change.