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Master_Dogs t1_jadz4x2 wrote

Reply to comment by purplepineapple21 in Is this normal? Agent asking for $3,455 brokers fee before signing lease by psyrag

> A non-refundable application fee (the $50/person here) is also illegal in MA.

This is true only for landlords renting directly to tenants. The OP however mentioned a brokers fee and an agent/broker. Under 254 CMR 7.00: Apartment Rentals the broker is allowed to charge pretty much any fee they want to, so long as proper notice is given. Since the OP mentioned this was provided via email, we can assume they were notified. They don't have to agree to this, but that doesn't make it illegal.

As for this bit:

> It's normal to pay that much AFTER your application is approved, even after approval but before signing the lease. But it's not normal to be asked to pay that much before your application has even been approved.

Pre-pandemic, sure. It was certainly not the norm to be asked to pay a lot of upfront fees like this.

Nowadays it's not uncommon. This is not the first thread I've seen on this, nor will it be the last. A quick Reddit search of this sub plus /r/bostonhousing will turn up results. Hard to say just how common it is, but it's not unheard of.

The only real red flag I see is a "fee for cosigners", which I haven't heard of before. But since I'm not a college student, nor do I have low credit, it's possible I've just never seen a broker ask that since I would never need a cosigner. It may be more common for new grads or college students. The OP could clarify with the broker what exactly the two fees cover, and if it would be possible to make them totally refundable since the application isn't yet approved. Whether that's worth it or not depends on how much the OP values $80 for themselves, and whether their roommates are willing to risk $80 each.

The other thing the OP should do is:

  • confirm the broker is legit.
  • confirm the apartment is actually for rent.
  • confirm who the landlord is via GIS
  • verify that all the amententies they want are actually available (parking, laundry, etc)

It's not clear how the OP found this place, so it's totally possible they're being scammed. But if they did their homework, then nothing too crazy about this. Just (now) typical housing crisis stuff.

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