With New York City ending tenants paying broker fees, could Boston be next?

BOSTON - As New York City ends the practice of landlords charging tenants for the broker fee, Boston remains one of the few cities left in the country where that's part of the deal.

Renters pay up before moving in

It is estimated that 65% of Boston residents rent their apartment and it gets expensive to move around here. As it stands, Boston is one of the few cities in the country that still allows landlords to charge tenants for their broker fee. It's become common practice for a renter to be asked to pay first and last months rent, along with a security deposit and broker fee at the same rate. That means many people are paying four months of rent up front before they ever get the key.

"It's a huge deal for me," said one Boston renter.

Another said, "It definitely incentivized me to stay in the same building, so I didn't have to pay again."

New York City was one of the only other places in the country with this similar system, until Wednesday. Their city council voted overwhelmingly to ban landlords forcing tenants to cover their broker fee.

Would Boston end the practice?

Massachusetts lawmakers toyed with taking up this issue this summer but it fell flat. Not everyone agrees that getting rid of a broker fee requirement would solve the problem.

Demetrios Salpoglou is the CEO of BostonPads.com, the largest real estate portal in the Boston area. He said building more housing would better ease the strain on supply and demand, which is driving up prices.

"If a landlord is forced to pay the commission, they'll probably just raise the rent to cover that difference," Salpoglou said. "It's misguided in a sense. I think more effort should be put on supply side, like focusing on zoning reform and other measures that bring ample supply to cities that need housing with low vacancy rates."