Amendment ID: S2834-152-R1

Redraft Amendment 152

Reducing Barriers to Housing

Messrs. Crighton and Montigny move that the proposed new text be amended by inserting after section 47 the following new section:-

"SECTION 47A. Clause (iii) of paragraph (b) of subsection (1) of section 15B of chapter 186 of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the figure “(2)”, in line 25, the following words:- ; provided however, that the executive office of housing and livable communities may promulgate regulations to authorize a lessor and a tenant or prospective tenant to agree to payment of a fee in lieu of payment of a security deposit; provided further, that any such regulations shall: (A) require the lessor to utilize a fee collected to waive a security deposit to cover for unpaid rent or unit damage that applies to the tenant’s lease; (B) require that a fee so collected be: (I) entirely or partially non-refundable; provided, however, that the lessor shall disclose that the fee is non-refundable in the lease; and provided further, that the tenant shall agree to the fee and acknowledge that the tenant understand that it is entirely or partially non-refundable, as the case may be, in writing; and (II) a recurring monthly fee, or payable upon any schedule and in an amount that the lessor and tenant agree upon, as authorized by the executive office; (C) limit the total sum of the fee or recurring payments, regardless of the duration of the lease and any extensions thereto, to an amount not to exceed 1 month’s rent; (D) require that the fee be made optional for both the tenant and the lessor and that the tenant be permitted to choose to pay a full security deposit rather than the fee; (E) require a lessor who offers such a fee in lieu of security deposit: (I) to offer the option of a fee in lieu of a security deposit to every prospective tenant whose application for occupancy has been approved, regardless of income, race, gender, gender identity, disability, sexual orientation, immigration status, size of household or credit score; and (II) not to consider such factors and categories when setting the amount of the fee; and (F) allow a tenant who agrees to pay a fee to waive a security deposit to opt-out of the obligation to pay such fee if such tenant pays the security deposit that would otherwise be in effect for the tenant’s apartment on the day the tenant chooses to opt-out of such fee; provided further, that the sum of fees paid to waive a security deposit and the payment of the security deposit shall not exceed, in total, the amount of 1 month’s rent; and provided further, that the executive office shall consult with the office of the attorney general prior to promulgating regulations authorizing a fee in lieu of a security deposit under this section.”.