Luna Realty · For Massachusetts Landlords
Short answer: whoever hires the broker. As of August 1, 2025, a landlord who hires the listing broker pays that fee — and cannot pass it to the tenant. Here is what the law actually says, why it changes the math for owners, and how to list with Luna Realty from $499.
A plain-English explainer for owners — not legal advice. When you are ready to list, Luna Realty is the listing broker you hire: $499 on Essential, or $499 + half a month’s rent at lease on Full Service.
For decades, Massachusetts had an unwritten default: a landlord would list a unit through a broker, and the incoming tenant would pay that broker a fee equal to a full month’s rent. Renters routinely faced first month, last month, a security deposit, and a broker fee before they could get the keys — thousands of dollars stacked on top of the move. The state moved to end that.
As of August 1, 2025, Massachusetts law ties the broker fee to the party who actually hired the broker. If a tenant retains an agent to hunt for apartments on their behalf, the tenant can be charged for that service. But if you, the owner, hire a broker to list and lease your unit, the fee is yours — and you cannot make the tenant pay it as a condition of the lease.
For owners this is a genuine shift in economics, not just paperwork. The listing fee did not disappear; it moved onto your ledger. A broker who charges a full month’s rent is now charging you a full month’s rent. That single fact is why so many Waltham and Greater Boston owners are rethinking how — and how much — they pay to fill a vacancy.
What every Massachusetts landlord should understand before signing the next lease.
The heart of the law is simple: the party that hires the broker is the party responsible for the broker’s fee. If a tenant engages an agent to find them a place, the tenant can be charged. If you, the owner, hire a listing broker to market and lease your unit, that is your cost — it belongs to your side of the deal.
This is the change that catches owners off guard. When you hire the listing broker, you cannot turn around and require the tenant to pay that fee as a condition of renting. The old default — landlord lists, tenant pays the month’s broker fee — no longer works when the landlord is the one who hired the broker.
This is not a guideline. Improperly charging a tenant a fee you were responsible for can expose you to penalties of up to three times the fee, plus attorney’s fees, under Massachusetts Chapter 93A (the consumer-protection statute). A single mishandled lease can cost far more than the fee itself.
The law changes who pays, not whether a broker gets paid. If you hire a broker at a full month’s rent, that is now unambiguously your expense. Which is exactly why the size of that fee suddenly matters so much more to owners than it used to.
The owner-friendly answer
When you hire the listing broker, the fee is yours to pay, so the question that matters is how big it is. A traditional listing broker usually charges about one month’s rent. Hire Luna Realty as your exclusive listing broker and you choose a plan: Essential, $499 each time the unit is listed, or Full Service, $499 + half a month’s rent, due only when a lease is signed. Example only, on a unit renting for $2,500 a month: about $2,500 with a traditional listing broker, $499 on Essential, or $1,749 on Full Service ($499 when you list + $1,250 when a lease is signed).
Both plans include professional photos, posting to the broker listing network and rentluna.com (usually within one business day), and an Owner Portal for showing requests, applications with tenant screening, your lease (prepared in our lease builder, with MA Board addendums and online signing), analytics and Luna AI. On Essential, the whole open market can show it: agents bring their renters, and you pick the times. On Full Service, Luna Realty agents show your unit.
The same rule covers renters: a renter who brings their own agent pays that agent, not you. On either plan you can offer one month’s rent, paid to the renter’s agent or as a rent concession. Offering one month’s rent makes it $0 for those renters, and Luna Realty charges the renter no broker fee on your listing.
Under the law effective August 1, 2025, the party who hires the broker pays the fee. If a renter hires an agent to represent them, the renter can be charged. If a landlord hires a listing broker to market and lease the unit, the landlord pays — and cannot pass that fee to the tenant.
Not for a broker the landlord hired. When you engage the listing broker, that fee is your responsibility and cannot be required of the tenant. A tenant can only be charged for a broker the tenant themselves chose to hire.
Improperly charging a tenant a fee you were responsible for can trigger penalties of up to three times the fee plus attorney’s fees under Massachusetts Chapter 93A. It is a real financial and legal risk, not a technicality — one lease handled wrong can dwarf the fee.
August 1, 2025. Leases and listings from that date forward are governed by the “whoever hires the broker pays” rule.
The same rule applies: a renter who brings their own agent pays that agent, not you. If you want it to be $0 for those renters, offer one month’s rent: you pay their agent, or give a one-month rent concession that covers it. With Luna Realty you can make that offer on either plan.
Choose what you pay. A traditional listing broker usually charges about one month’s rent, and you pay it because you hired that broker. With Luna Realty, Essential is $499 each time a unit is listed, and the whole open market can show it; Full Service is $499 plus half of one month’s rent, due only when a lease is signed, and Luna Realty agents show it. Example only, on a unit renting for $2,500 a month: about $2,500 with a traditional listing broker, $499 on Essential, or $1,749 on Full Service ($499 when you list + $1,250 when a lease is signed). Luna Realty charges the renter no broker fee on your listing.
No. This is a plain-English overview to help owners understand the change, not legal advice for your specific situation. For questions about a particular lease or dispute, consult a Massachusetts attorney. What we can do is list your unit with Luna Realty, from $499.
Luna Realty is a licensed Massachusetts brokerage based in Waltham. We are the listing broker you hire: Essential at $499 each time a unit is listed, or Full Service at $499 + half a month’s rent, only when a lease is signed, with Luna Realty agents showing it.
481 Main St, Waltham, MA 02451 · This page is general information, not legal advice.