A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 24-14, regarding a home rule petition allowing Cambridge to end the practice of property owners passing on broker’s fees to tenants

Megan B. Bayer Assistant City Solicitors City Solicitor Paul S. Kawai INSTITVZIS Sean M. McKendry Elliott J. Veloso Diane O. Pires DECORA Deputy City Solicitor Sydney M. Wright Evan C. Bjorklund Kate M. Kleimola Franziskus Lepionka Andrea Carrillo-Rhoads First Assistant City Solicitor DONTA AND CITY OF CAMBRIDGE Public Records Access Officer Seah Levy Office of the City Solicitor 795 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139 May 5, 2025 Yi-An Huang City Manager Cambridge City Hall 795 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02139 Re: Response to AR 25-24 March 3, 2025, requesting that the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with the Law Department to draft a home rule petition allowing Cambridge to end the practice of property owners passing on broker's fees to tenants. Dear Mr. Huang: I am writing in response to the above-mentioned Council Order. We have prepared the proposed Home Rule Petition and are submitting it to the Council for approval. This proposed Petition closely follows similar petitions filed recently by the City of Boston and City of Somerville. We believe it strengthens the Council's request to be closely aligned with neighboring communities. One difference with the petition filed by the City of Somerville is it only applies to residential real estate, and both the City of Boston's petition and this Petition apply to both residential and commercial real estate. We recommend that the Council's vote to approve the Petition allow the Legislature to amend the Home Rule Petition so that if the Legislature seeks to make changes to make this consistent with other similar Home Rule Petitions, such as Somerville's petition, the Legislature can do so. The language of the vote is attached. Additionally, a real estate broker is subject to discipline by the Board of Registration of Real Estate Brokers and Salesmen for failing to comply with "all the laws of the Commonwealth, the United States and those of any other state in which he/she is licensed" (254 CMR 3.00(14)), and therefore, a violation of this Petition, if adopted as a Special Act, would be a basis for discipline by the Board. Very truly yours, Megan B. Bayer City Solicitor Facsimile [phone removed] Telephone [phone removed] TTY/TTD [phone removed]