Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell has secured a $500,000 settlement from Green Ocean Property Management, resolving allegations that the Boston-area firm charged tenants a battery of fees prohibited under state law, a signal that the state’s junk fee regulations adopted last year are now an active enforcement tool.
The settlement, filed as an Assurance of Discontinuance in Suffolk Superior Court on July 28, targets practices familiar across the property management industry. The AG’s office alleged Green Ocean charged tenants a $250 lease renewal fee, a $500 new lease fee, and a $250 roommate addition fee, all of which run afoul of the state’s security deposit statute. That law limits what landlords can collect at or before the start of a tenancy to first month’s rent, last month’s rent, a security deposit, and the cost of a lock and key.
Regulators also took aim at a mandatory monthly “Resident Benefits Package” of up to $42, which the office said consisted largely of services landlords must already provide, such as fee-free rent payment and landlord references. The AG characterized the charge as undisclosed rent that understated the true cost of advertised units.
Of particular note to the receivables community: the settlement addresses collection-adjacent conduct, including allegations that Green Ocean assessed constable charges, court costs, and legal fees against delinquent tenants without a judgment or agreement authorizing recovery, and applied payments to late fees before rent, a practice the AG said produces “pyramiding” late fees against tenants otherwise current on their obligations. The office also alleged non-attorney employees filed and litigated housing court cases, an unauthorized practice of law violation.
Green Ocean did not admit wrongdoing. Under the agreement, the firm must cease the challenged fees, strip prohibited terms from its leases, and comply with data requests to identify affected tenants for one year. The company manages roughly 350 units, concentrated near universities and hospitals.
The action fits a broader pattern of state-level scrutiny of fee structures in consumer finance and housing, and Campbell’s office made clear it views the case as a template. Companies that charge, collect, or pursue tenant debts in Massachusetts should expect continued attention to fee legality, payment application order, and litigation practices.
