Latest news with #housinglaw
Bloomberg
02-07-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Massachusetts to Follow NYC in Making Landlords Pay Broker Fees
Massachusetts renters are poised to get some relief from onerous broker fees under a provision tucked into the 2026 spending package that Governor Maura Healey has pledged to sign. Broker fees are typically equal to one month's rent, which can swell upfront costs for a new apartment to as much as $10,000 after also accounting for security deposits and requirements to prepay the first and last month of the lease, according to the governor's office. The Massachusetts law formally shifts responsibility for paying for brokers to the person who hired them — in most cases the landlord.
South China Morning Post
11-06-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong lawmakers back criminalising of subletting public rental flats
Hong Kong lawmakers have approved the government's proposal to criminalise the subletting of public rental flats or the use of such properties for business purposes, with the offence to carry a maximum penalty of one year in prison and a HK$500,000 (US$63,700) fine. Advertisement Lawmakers on Wednesday voted on the Housing (Amendment) Bill, which introduces new offences under the Housing Ordinance to combat serious abuse of public flats. Secretary for Housing Winnie Ho Wing-yin stressed that the amended law would not cover normal interactions with neighbours, such as tutoring, and tenants working from home. 'As long as you are not using the flat for delivering and storing goods, and strangers are not coming in and out frequently for payment and collection, new working models, such as working from home and dealing with matters online, are not considered serious abuse,' she said at the Legislative Council meeting. 'The amendment is to combat those who are no longer living in the public rental flat but are using the property for profit-making.' Advertisement Ho added that the government would step up the promotion of the policy and strengthen training for officers enforcing it before the law took effect on March 31 next year.
