Can a Landlord charge an Application Fee?

We had a full house for our seminar for residential landlords last night. One of the people attending asked me if she could charge an application fee. My instinct said no, but I promised her I'd look into it. And so I did and I stand by my initial statement. A landlord cannot collect a fee for an application or a credit check. Section 15B of Chapter 186 provides that a landlord can only collect the first and last months' rent, a security deposit and a fee to change the lock. No other fees are permissible. You cannot disguise the fee by calling it a credit fee or anything else. When you need to rent a unit, make sure you factor in the cost to find tenants as you set the rent.