NYC Affordability

A broker fee is the commission a licensed real estate broker charges for helping someone rent an apartment. The Attorney General’s tenants’ rights guide says it’s usually a stated percentage of the first year’s rent, isn’t set by law, and should be negotiated; Brick Underground has described the usual NYC range as 12 to 15 percent of a year’s rent. The AG guide also says the broker must actually help you find and obtain the apartment before a commission is due, and the fee shouldn’t be paid until you’re offered a lease signed by the landlord.

Since June 11, 2025, the FARE Act (Local Law 119 of 2024) decides who pays. According to NYC’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, a landlord’s agent, including a listing agent, can’t charge fees to prospective tenants, and an agent who publishes a listing is presumed to be acting for the landlord. No one can make hiring a broker (including a dual agent) a condition of renting an apartment. What’s still allowed: a tenant can choose to hire their own broker and pay that broker. Landlords also have to disclose every fee a tenant must pay, in listings and in an itemized written disclosure signed before the lease.

If you’re charged a fee you shouldn’t be, DCWP can issue violations that may include restitution, and the law lets individuals sue in civil court. A fee for a pre-June 11, 2025 contract may be treated differently depending on the circumstances.

Worked example

Hypothetical numbers: on a $3,200/month apartment ($38,400 a year), suppose you find the place through the landlord’s listing agent. Under the FARE Act, your broker fee is $0; the landlord pays their agent. Now suppose instead you hire your own broker to search for you, and you negotiate a 12% fee: that’s $38,400 × 0.12 = $4,608, which you pay, because you hired them (at 15% it would be $5,760). See the FARE Act guide for a full move-in cost breakdown, or model the scenarios on the Cost to Move calculator.