Massachusetts Residential Rentals
Have Become a Dumpster Fire
July 21st, 2026

I have worked in residential rentals for nearly two decades, and I have never seen the business become as chaotic as it has since Massachusetts’ new rental law took effect on August 1, 2025. Most people know the law for one reason: renters generally no longer have to pay a broker fee unless they hired the broker themselves. But one of the law’s lesser-known changes has had an equally dramatic effect on the rental industry: agents can no longer collect a deposit with an application.