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Attorney groups and legal services urge limits on tenant junk fees and clearer fee disclosures

Joint Committee on Housing · November 19, 2025
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

Legal services, consumer advocates and tenant representatives asked the committee to limit upfront and recurring rental fees (application, background, payment‑portal, renewal, attorney fee practices), cap late fees, and prohibit treating many fees as rent to avoid eviction consequences.

A panel of legal advocates urged the Joint Committee on Housing to pass bills that limit or ban common rental housing ‘‘junk fees’’ and close loopholes that let brokers or third parties impose upfront costs.

Speakers from the National Consumer Law Center, Greater Boston Legal Services and Massachusetts Law Reform Institute gave concrete examples: application and background check…

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