Rental application fees in Massachusetts are illegal. Under M.G.L. c. 186, § 15B, a landlord or the landlord’s agent can require a prospective tenant to pay only four specific things at or before the start of a tenancy, and an application fee is not one of them. The rule holds whether the charge is called a credit check fee, a background screening fee, a processing deposit, a holding fee, or an administrative cost. If money moves from you to the landlord for any purpose outside those four categories, the payment is unlawful.
The Only Four Payments a Landlord Can Require
Section 15B is an exhaustive list. Anything not on it is prohibited:
- First month’s rent.
- Last month’s rent, at the same rate as the first month, held in a separate interest-bearing account with the interest paid to the tenant each year.
- A security deposit of no more than one month’s rent, also held in a separate interest-bearing escrow account, accompanied by a written statement of the unit’s condition at move-in.
- The actual cost of a new lock and keys for the incoming tenant.
That’s it. Pet fees, cleaning deposits, move-in fees, “administrative” charges, and any other upfront cost are forbidden, and a lease clause purporting to authorize them is unenforceable. The statute overrides any private agreement to the contrary.
Screening Still Happens — the Landlord Pays for It
Nothing in Section 15B stops a landlord from asking for your Social Security number, verifying employment, calling references, or running a credit check. The restriction is on who pays. The landlord absorbs the full cost of screening as part of doing business.
Watch for indirect versions of the same fee. If a landlord routes you to a third-party screening portal that bills your card $25 or $40 to generate a report, the landlord has effectively collected a prohibited fee through a middleman. The form of the transaction doesn’t change its substance. The one situation that stays clean is when you obtain your own credit report and voluntarily offer it to speed things along, because the payment wasn’t a condition the landlord imposed.
Broker Fees After August 1, 2025
Broker fees used to be the one large upfront cost that could legally fall on the tenant. That changed in 2025. A provision in the Fiscal Year 2026 state budget prohibits landlords from requiring tenants to pay broker fees when the tenant didn’t hire the broker. The reform took effect on August 1, 2025. Governor Healey and Attorney General Campbell had previously said that making tenants pay broker fees for services provided to landlords violates the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act.
The rule is simple: whoever hired the broker pays the broker. If you independently engaged a broker to help you find an apartment, you can still agree to pay that broker. What’s now banned is the older practice where a landlord hires a broker to fill a vacancy and passes the commission to the tenant as a condition of the lease.
Your Rights If a Landlord Denies You
A landlord can still screen you at the landlord’s expense and deny your application. When that denial rests even partly on a consumer report, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires an adverse action notice. The notice must give you:
- The name, address, and phone number of the screening company that supplied the report.
- A statement that the screening company did not make the decision — the landlord did.
- Notice of your right to request a free copy of the report within 60 days.
- Notice of your right to dispute inaccuracies directly with the screening company.
Adverse action covers more than a flat denial. Requiring a co-signer, demanding a larger deposit, or charging you higher rent than other applicants based on screening results all trigger the same notice obligation. The notice can be written, oral, or electronic, though a written one leaves the cleanest record.
How to Get an Illegal Fee Back
If you already paid an application fee, screening charge, or other prohibited upfront cost, you have real recovery options.
Send a 30-Day Demand Letter First
Before suing under the Massachusetts Consumer Protection Act (M.G.L. c. 93A), you must send the landlord or broker a written demand letter at least 30 days ahead. Describe the unfair practice, state the amount you paid, and request specific relief. Cite Chapter 93A so the recipient knows you’re pursuing consumer protection remedies. If the landlord makes a reasonable settlement offer during that 30-day window and you turn it down, a court can limit your recovery to single damages.
File in Small Claims Court
Massachusetts Small Claims Court handles disputes up to $7,000 and is built for people without lawyers. Most illegal fee cases sit well under that ceiling. Even better, when a statute authorizes double or triple damages plus attorney’s fees, the court can enter an award that exceeds $7,000 as long as your actual damages were within the limit.
Damages Under Chapter 93A
Chapter 93A has teeth. If the court finds the landlord knowingly or willfully violated the law, it must award between two and three times your actual damages, plus reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. A $50 screening fee can turn into a $100 to $150 judgment before fees are added. And “willful” isn’t a high bar when the statute plainly forbids the charge.
Section 15B’s Own Treble Damages
Section 15B carries its own treble damages provision, separate from Chapter 93A. If a landlord fails to properly handle funds the statute covers, the tenant may recover three times the amount plus interest, costs, and attorney’s fees. Courts have said not every technical slip triggers trebling, but collecting a payment the statute expressly forbids is exactly the kind of clear violation where the penalty applies.
Report It to the Attorney General
You can also report the landlord to the Attorney General’s Consumer Advocacy and Response Division, online or by calling the Consumer Hotline at (617) 727-8400. The AG’s office won’t recover your money for you, but complaints build a record. Enough reports against the same landlord or management company can prompt an investigation with reach beyond any single small claims case.