$500 administrative brokerage fee
Hi Boston - the company that rent and manages my apartment (but not the landlord) is charging a $500 administrative brokerage fee for incoming tenants. This is purportedly for "the application, background and credit check required to qualify new tenants." They say that brokerages typically charge a full month's rent for this when the apartment is on the open market (which makes the $500 seem like a generous discount). When I first rented this apartment before the new law went into effect, the application fee was like $60.
On the one hand, this feels like a broker's fee in another form (which would be illegal). On the other hand, fees like this appear to be legal even if the amount being charged is ridiculous. I talked to the AGO and they said it sounds like its outside the bounds but because it's not the landlord charging, I'm not sure. I figured someone else might have some experience with this.