Massachusetts Real Estate Licensing Law

Massachusetts Code · 13 sections

The following is the full text of Massachusetts’s real estate licensing law statutes as published in the Massachusetts Code. For the official version, see the Massachusetts Legislature.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 87AAA

Section 87AAA. The board may, and upon the verified complaint in writing of an aggrieved person shall, investigate the action of any broker or salesman or any person who attempts to act in such capacity within the commonwealth, and, in addition to any grounds hereinbefore enumerated, may suspend, revoke or refuse to renew any license which it has found to have been obtained by false or fraudulent representation. The board may suspend, revoke or refuse to renew any license, when the board has found as a fact that the licensee, in performing or attempting to perform any act authorized by his license, has (a) knowingly made any substantial misrepresentation; (b) acted in the dual capacity of broker and undisclosed principal in the same transaction; (c) acted for more than one party to a transaction without the knowledge and consent of all the parties for whom he acts; (d) failed, within a reasonable time, to account for or remit any moneys belonging to others which have come into his possession as a broker or salesman; (e) paid commissions or fees to or divided the same with any person, who, being required to be licensed as a broker or salesman in this or any other state, is not so licensed; (f) accepted, given or charged any undisclosed commission, rebate or profit on expenditures for a principal; (g) induced any party to a contract or lease relating to real estate to break the same when such action is effected for the personal gain of the licensee; (h) commingled the money or other property of his principal with his own; (i) failed to give to both the buyer and seller a copy of the purchase and sale agreement; (j) committed any act expressly prohibited in sections eighty-seven RR to eighty-seven CCC, inclusive; (k) affirmatively solicited for sale, lease, or the listing for sale or lease, of residential property on the grounds of alleged change of value due to the presence or the prospective entry into the neighborhood of a person or persons of another race, economic level, religion or ethnic origin or distributes, or causes to be distributed, material or makes statements designated to induce a residential property owner to sell or lease his property due to such change in the neighborhood; or (l) accepted from a prospective seller a net listing, an agreement to sell real estate for a stated price which authorized the broker to keep as commission any amount of money received from the sale of said real estate in excess of the stated price. The board shall, after notice by the Massachusetts commission against discrimination that said commission has made a finding, which finding has become final, that a licensed broker or salesman committed an unlawful practice in violation of chapter one hundred and fifty-one B arising out of or in the course of his occupation as a licensed broker or salesman, shall suspend forthwith the license of said broker or salesman for a period of sixty days, and, if the said commission finds that said violation by such licensed broker or salesman occurred within two years of the date of a prior violation of said chapter one hundred and fifty-one B, which finding has been final, it shall so notify the board, and the board shall forthwith suspend the license of such broker or salesman for a period of ninety days. Whoever violates the provisions of clause (k) shall be punished by a fine of not less than one thousand nor more than twenty-five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment for not more than six months, or both. No broker shall engage in a sale in the commonwealth of real property located in a land development in another state which is the subject of promotional advertising in the commonwealth unless the owner or developer of such land has submitted to the board full particulars regarding such land and the proposed terms of sale thereof and has deposited with the board such sum as it shall determine, to pay the expense of the investigation hereinafter prescribed. Any broker acting for such owner or developer, and his salesmen, shall comply with such rules, regulations, restrictions and conditions pertaining thereto as the board in its discretion may impose. The board shall investigate such matters and all reasonable expenses incurred by the board in such investigation shall be borne by the owner or developer of the property involved. No broker or salesman shall in any manner refer to the board of registration of real estate brokers and salesmen or to any member or employee thereof, in selling, offering for sale, or advertising or otherwise promoting the sale, mortgage or lease of any such property, nor make any representation whatsoever that such property has been inspected or approved or otherwise passed upon by said board or by any official, department or employee of the commonwealth. The board may suspend, revoke or refuse to renew any license when it has found that the licensee has failed to comply with the requirements of this paragraph or any part thereof. The board may also suspend, revoke or refuse to renew any license when it has found that the licensee has been convicted of a criminal offence by a court of competent jurisdiction of this or any other state which demonstrates his lack of good moral character to act as a broker or salesman as the case may be. The board may reconsider any decision made by it and may reinstate any license which has been suspended and reissue any license which has been revoked. Any person whose license is suspended or revoked shall also be liable to such other punishment as may be provided by law.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 87PP

Section 87PP. For the purposes of sections eighty-seven PP to eighty-seven DDD, inclusive, the following words and phrases, unless the context otherwise requires, shall have the following meanings:— ''Board'', the board of registration of real estate brokers and salesmen. ''Non-resident'' shall include and be deemed to apply to an individual whose principal place of abode is without the commonwealth and to a corporation, society, association or partnership, organized, formed or existing under the laws of another state and which does not maintain a usual place of business within the commonwealth. ''Real estate'', any and every estate or interest in land and the improvements thereon, whether corporeal or incorporeal, whether freehold or non-freehold, and whether or not said land is situated within the commonwealth. ''Real estate broker'', hereinafter referred to as broker, any person who for another person and for a fee, commission or other valuable consideration, or with the intention or in the expectation or upon the promise of receiving or collecting a fee, commission or other valuable consideration, does any of the following:—sells, exchanges, purchases, rents or leases, or negotiates, or offers, attempts or agrees to negotiate the sale, exchange, purchase, rental or leasing of any real estate, or lists or offers, attempts or agrees to list any real estate, or buys or offers to buy, sells or offers to sell or otherwise deals in options on real estate, or advertises or holds himself out as engaged in the business of selling, exchanging, purchasing, renting or leasing real estate, or assists or directs in the procuring of prospects or the negotiation or completion of any agreement or transaction which results or is intended to result in the sale, exchange, purchase, leasing or renting of any real estate. ''Real estate salesman'', hereinafter referred to as salesman, an individual who performs any act or engages in any transaction included in the foregoing definition of a broker, except the completing of the negotiation of any agreement or transaction which results or is intended to result in the sale, exchange, purchase, renting or leasing of any real estate.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 87QQ

Section 87QQ. The provisions of sections eighty-seven RR to eighty-seven DDD, inclusive, shall not apply to the following:—any person who, acting for himself as owner, lessor, lessee, tenant or mortgagee, shall perform any of the aforesaid acts of a broker or salesman with reference to real estate owned or leased or rented by or to him, or mortgaged to him; the regular employees of any person aforesaid, with respect to such real estate, if such acts are performed in the regular course of, or as an incident to, the management of such real estate and the investment therein; any person, while acting for himself, who seeks to acquire, lease or rent real estate for his own use or investment or his regular employees acting in behalf of such person in the regular course of their employment; a person acting for himself in negotiating a loan secured or to be secured by a mortgage or other encumbrance upon real estate, or his regular employees acting therein in behalf of such person in the regular course of their employment; a managing agent while acting under a contract with the owner of the real estate or the regular employees of such agent acting in his behalf in the regular course of their employment; a person acting as a licensed auctioneer; a person buying, selling or otherwise dealing in any stock, bond or other security, or certificate of beneficial interest in any trust; a public officer or employee while performing his official duties; a person acting as attorney in fact under a duly executed power of attorney from an owner of real estate authorizing the final consummation by performance of any contract for the sale, leasing or exchange of real estate; the services rendered to a client by an attorney at law in the performance of his duties as such; a receiver, trustee in bankruptcy, executor, administrator, guardian or conservator, while acting as such; a person selling real estate under order of any court; a trustee acting under a written instrument of trust, or deed or declaration of trust, or will, or his regular employees, acting in the course of their employment; a bank as defined in section one of chapter one hundred and sixty-seven or organized under the laws of the United States or an insurance company lawfully engaged in business in the commonwealth, or the regular employees of such bank or insurance company acting in the course of their employment, when such bank or insurance company is acting in any aforementioned capacity of a fiduciary or is acting for itself in negotiating a loan secured or to be secured by a mortgage or other encumbrance upon real estate or is acting for itself with reference to real estate owned, mortgaged, leased or rented, by or to it or which it seeks to acquire, lease or rent for its own use; a credit union organized under chapter one hundred and seventy-one or the regular employees thereof acting in the course of their employment.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 87RR

Section 87RR. Except as otherwise provided, no person shall engage in the business of or act as a broker or salesman directly or indirectly, either temporarily or as an incident to any other transaction, or otherwise, unless he is licensed. No salesman may conduct or operate his own real estate business nor act except as the representative of a real estate broker who shall be responsible for the salesman and who must approve the negotiation and completion by the salesman of any transaction or agreement which results or is intended to result in the sale, exchange, purchase, renting or leasing of any real estate or in a loan secured or to be secured by mortgage or other encumbrance upon real estate. No salesman shall be affiliated with more than one broker at the same time nor shall any salesman be entitled to any fee, commission or other valuable consideration or solicit or accept the same from any person except his licensed broker in connection with any such agreement or transaction. A salesman may be affiliated with a broker either as an employee or as an independent contractor and may, by agreement, be paid as an outside salesperson on a commission-only basis but shall be under such supervision of said broker as to ensure compliance with this section and said broker shall be responsible with the salesman for any violation of section eighty-seven AAA committed by said salesman. Except as otherwise provided no person shall recover in any suit or action in the courts of the commonwealth for compensation for services as a broker performed within the commonwealth unless he was a duly licensed broker at the time such services were performed; provided, however, that nothing contained herein shall be construed as affecting the right of a licensed salesman to recover in a suit or action against a broker on any contract or agreement with said broker.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 87SS

Section 87SS. No license to engage as a broker or salesman shall be issued to any applicant unless he has complied with all the pertinent provisions of this section and sections eighty-seven TT to eighty-seven DDD, inclusive, and if the applicant is an individual, unless he shall have satisfactorily passed a written examination conducted by the board or an independent testing service designated by the board, and, in the case of an application for a broker's license by an individual resident of the commonwealth, unless he shall have had his principal place of abode within the commonwealth for one year next prior to the issuance of such license; provided, however, that any applicant who is an attorney at law of the commonwealth shall not be required to take such examination or to have had such principal place of abode for such period. Every individual applicant for a license as a salesman who is required to take an examination therefor shall, as a prerequisite to taking such examination, submit proof satisfactory to the board that he has completed courses in real estate subjects approved by the board, such courses to total 40 classroom hours of instruction; provided, however, that applicants having successfully completed a course in real property while enrolled in an accredited law school in the commonwealth may also take such examination. Every individual applicant for a license as a broker who is required to take an examination therefor shall, as a prerequisite to taking such examination, submit proof satisfactory to the board that he has been actively associated with a real estate broker for a period of 3 years as a real estate salesman and that he has completed additional courses in real estate subjects approved by the board, such courses to total 40 classroom hours of instruction. Such examination shall be prepared by the board or the designated independent testing service to enable the board to determine the competence of the applicant to transact the business of a broker or a salesman. The board or its designated independent testing service shall conduct such examinations at least six times in each calendar year for broker's examinations and at least eight times in each calendar year for salesman's examinations. There shall be no limit placed on the number of applicants who may take the examinations on any examination date. In determining competence the board shall require proof that the applicant has a fair understanding of the principles of real estate practice, real estate agreements and principal and agent relations, of the rudimentary principles of the economics and appraising of real estate, and of the provisions of sections eighty-seven PP to eighty-seven DDD, inclusive. The examination for a salesman's license shall be based upon the same general subject matter as for a broker's license, but shall be more elementary in character. The board may make, and from time to time alter, amend or repeal rules and regulations for the conduct of such examinations not inconsistent herewith.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 87TT

Section 87TT. Applications for licenses, signed and sworn to by the applicant, shall be made on forms furnished by the board and shall be accompanied by an examination fee to be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven. A fee for the issuance of the license shall be determined under the aforementioned provision and shall be payable upon receipt of notice of passing the examination. Each applicant shall furnish evidence of good moral character. If an application for a broker's license is made by a corporation, society, association or partnership, evidence of the good moral character of all the officers and directors, or holders of similar positions, or of all the partners, as the case may be, shall also be furnished. No license shall be issued unless evidence of good moral character, as required by this section, is found. No license shall be issued unless the application has been on file with the board at least ten days. No broker's license shall be issued to any individual under eighteen years of age. Every applicant for a license shall furnish evidence that he is a citizen of the United States or shall present to the board a copy of his declaration of intention to become a citizen of the United States, certified by the clerk of the court in which it was filed, or a certificate from the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the United States, showing that, in accordance with law, he has declared his intention to become such citizen, and no license shall be issued to an applicant who fails to comply with these provisions. Unless an applicant who is an alien and who is subsequently licensed presents to the board his completed naturalization papers showing that he is a citizen of the United States within five years following the filing of the copy or certificate hereinbefore referred to his license shall be revoked. No broker's license shall be issued or renewed until the applicant gives to the board a bond in the form approved by said board in the sum of five thousand dollars, executed by the applicant and by a surety company authorized to do business within the commonwealth, or by the applicant and by two good and sufficient sureties approved by the board. Said bond shall be payable to the commonwealth, for the benefit of any person aggrieved, and shall be conditioned upon the faithful accounting by the broker for all funds entrusted to him in his capacity as such. Any person so aggrieved may bring suit on the bond in his own name; provided, however, that the aggregate liability of the surety to all such persons shall, in no event, exceed the sum of such bond. The board may revoke the license of any broker whenever the bond filed by him ceases to be in full force and effect. In the event of the death of a licensed broker, who is the sole proprietor of a real estate business, the board shall, upon application by his legal representative, issue, without examination, a temporary license to such legal representative, or to an individual designated by him and approved by the board, upon the filing of a bond as aforesaid and the payment of the prescribed fee, which shall authorize such temporary licensee to continue to transact said business for a period not to exceed one year from the date of death subject to all other provisions of sections eighty-seven PP to eighty-seven DDD applicable to a licensed broker except that such temporary license shall not be renewed.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 87UU

Section 87UU. An application for a broker's license by a corporation, society, association or partnership shall designate at least one of its officers or partners as its representative for the purpose of obtaining its said license, and each such officer or partner so designated shall apply to the board for a broker's license in his own name at the same time unless he is already a licensed broker. No broker's license shall be issued to a corporation, society, association or partnership unless an officer or partner so designated has been issued a broker's license as an individual. When the officer or partner so designated has been issued a broker's license as an individual and the corporation, society, association or partnership has complied with all pertinent requirements for the issuance of a broker's license to it, the board shall, for a fee, as determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven, paid in advance to the board, issue to it a broker's license which shall also bear the name of each designated officer or partner to whom a broker's license as an individual has been issued, and each such designated officer or partner shall be entitled to perform all the acts of a broker as agent or officer of such corporation, society, association or partnership, but shall not so act on his own behalf so long as he continues to be a designated officer or partner, unless the written consent thereto of such corporation, society, association or partnership is filed with the board. The license of a corporation, society, association or partnership shall cease unless at least one such designated officer or partner, as the case may be, is a licensed broker. If any designated officer or partner shall be refused a license or renewal, or if his license is revoked or suspended, or if he ceases to be connected with or to act in behalf of such corporation, society, association or partnership, it shall have the right to designate another officer or partner in his place who shall apply for a broker's license as an individual, unless he is already a licensed broker. Upon the death or disability of a sole designated officer or partner, who has been licensed, or upon the severance of his connection with the corporation, society, association or partnership, the corporation, society, association or the surviving partner or partners or successor partnership of the licensed partnership, if any, acting by another officer or partner, as the case may be, may continue to transact business and to exercise all rights of a broker subject to such regulations as may be made by the board, for a period not to exceed one year from such death, disability or severance as if its license were in full force and effect, subject to the suspension or revocation of such privilege for any cause which would be grounds for the suspension or revocation of a license; provided, that it shall proceed with due diligence to qualify for the issuance of a new license; and, provided, further, that the corporation, society, association or the surviving partner or partners or successor partnership, as the case may be, shall maintain in effect during said period a bond as prescribed in section eighty-seven TT as if a broker's license had been issued and was in effect for such period. Except as otherwise provided, nothing in this section shall permit any other individual connected with any corporation, society, association or partnership, to which a license has been issued, to act as a broker or salesman on its behalf or otherwise without first obtaining a license so to act, and nothing in this section shall be construed as preventing any such other individual who is a licensed broker or salesman from acting as such on its behalf, if so authorized by it. No salesman's license shall be issued to a corporation, society, association or partnership.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 87VV

Section 87VV. No salesman who is not licensed shall be affiliated with a broker. A licensed salesman affiliated with a licensed broker shall not act as salesman for any other licensed broker while so affiliated, nor accept any valuable consideration for the performance of any act as a real estate salesman from any person except the broker with whom he is affiliated. A licensed salesman shall promptly give written notice to the board of any change of his business address, and failure to give such notice shall be grounds for the revocation of such license.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 87WW

Section 87WW. A non-resident may be licensed as a broker and a non-resident individual may be licensed as a salesman upon conforming to all pertinent provisions of sections eighty-seven PP to eighty-seven DDD, inclusive; provided, that the board may exempt from the written examination prescribed in section eighty-seven SS a broker or salesman duly licensed in any other state of the United States under the laws of which a similar exemption is extended to licensed brokers and salesmen of the commonwealth. Such non-resident licensee shall not be required to maintain a usual place of business within the commonwealth; provided, that such non-resident broker shall maintain a usual place of business within such other state in which he is so licensed. No license shall be issued to such non-resident until he shall have filed with the chairman of the board a power of attorney constituting and appointing said chairman and his successor his true and lawful attorney, upon whom all lawful processes in any action or legal proceeding against him may be served, and therein shall agree that any lawful process against him which may be served upon his said attorney shall be of the same force and validity as if served on said non-resident, and that the authority thereof shall continue in force irrevocably as long as any liability of said non-resident remains outstanding in the commonwealth. Service of such process shall be made by leaving duplicate copies thereof in the hands or office of the chairman, and the chairman shall forthwith send one of said copies by mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the defendant at his last address as appearing on the records of the board. One of the duplicates of such process, certified by the chairman as having been served upon him, shall be deemed sufficient evidence of such service, and service upon such attorney shall be deemed service upon the principal.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 87XX

Section 87XX. The board shall issue a license to an applicant who has complied with all pertinent requirements which shall entitle him to act as a broker or a salesman, as the case may be; provided, however, that a license issued to a corporation, society, association or partnership shall not authorize any unlicensed individual connected therewith to act as broker or salesman except as expressly provided in section eighty-seven UU. Such license shall be in such form as the board may determine, shall set forth the name and address of the licensee, shall specify the nature of the license, whether for a broker or salesman, the date of issuance, and shall bear a facsimile of the seal of the board. Except as otherwise provided in section eighty-seven UU in the case of a license issued to a corporation, society, association or partnership, a license shall be valid for a period of two years from the date of issue unless sooner suspended or revoked and shall be renewed by the board biennially thereafter, without examination, upon payment of the fee prescribed in section eighty-seven ZZ; provided, that the applicant, if an individual, or, if a corporation, society, association or partnership, each officer and director or holder of similar position or each partner, of whom evidence of good moral character is required in connection with the application for an original license in section eighty-seven TT, has not been found to be disqualified because of lack of good moral character, or for any ground set forth in sections eighty-seven PP to eighty-seven DDD, inclusive; and, provided, further, that the license of a corporation, society, association or partnership shall be renewed only upon the renewal of the individual license of at least one of its designated officers or partners, as the case may be. No fee shall be required of a corporation, society, association or partnership for the renewal of its license. Applications for renewals of licenses shall be signed and sworn to by the applicant and shall be made on forms furnished by the board. Such application forms shall be mailed by the board to each broker and salesman registered with the board, together with notice of the expiration of his license, not less than thirty days prior to such expiration. Renewal licenses shall be in such form as the board may determine. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the license originally issued to an individual shall be valid until the anniversary of the licensee's date of birth next occurring more than twenty-four months after the date of issuance. The board shall keep a record of all licensed brokers and salesmen which shall be open to inspection by the public and shall, from time to time, cause to be printed a new or revised publication containing an alphabetical list of such brokers and salesmen, together with their addresses, accompanied by such other information relative to the enforcement of the provisions of this chapter as it may deem of interest to the public.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 87YY

Section 87YY. A licensed resident broker shall maintain a usual place of business in the commonwealth and shall display conspicuously therein or in any branch thereof his license or a certified copy thereof. He shall promptly give written notice to the board of any change of business location, and the board shall issue a new license for such new location for the unexpired term of such license. Failure to give such notice shall be grounds for the revocation of such license.

M.G.L. ch. 112, s. 87ZZ

Section 87ZZ. Fees, as determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of section three B of chapter seven, shall be paid by individuals in advance for the following:— (a) Examination for a broker's license or a salesman's license; provided however that a veteran holding an honorable discharge or a blind person shall not be required to pay any examination fee; and provided, further, in the event the examination is conducted by an independent testing service designated by the board under the authority of section eighty-seven SS, in addition to the above fee, each individual shall pay to the testing service a fee, approved by the board, covering the actual cost of giving the examination. (b) Issuance and renewal of a broker's license; provided, however, that a blind person or a veteran suffering from paraplegia, as defined in section six B of chapter one hundred and fifteen, shall not be required to pay such fee. (c) Issuance and renewal of a salesman's license; provided, however, that a blind person or a veteran suffering from paraplegia, as defined in section six B of chapter one hundred and fifteen, shall not be required to pay such fee. (d) The applicable fee for the issuance of a license shall be adjusted by the board on the basis of each month during which the license originally issued would be valid unless revoked or suspended and, for this purpose, any part of a month shall be considered as a full month.

M.G.L. ch. 143, s. 9A

Section 9A. If, by any act done by an officer of a city or town for the purpose of making safe or taking down any dangerous structure, any real estate other than such structure or the parcel of land upon which it stands is taken, used or injured, any person owning an interest in such real estate and not having an interest in such dangerous structure may recover damages for such taking, use or injury from such city or town in a petition for the assessment thereof under chapter seventy-nine filed in the superior court for the county in which such real estate is situated within one year after such taking, use or injury; provided, that if such taking, use or injury occurred not more than three years prior to the effective date of this section, said petition may be filed not more than one year after said effective date.

The law belongs to the people. Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 590 U.S. (2020)