FARE Act
NYC law (effective June 11, 2025) making whoever hires a broker responsible for paying that broker's fee — usually the landlord, not the tenant.
Last updated: August 12, 2026Before June 11, 2025, NYC tenants routinely paid a broker fee — often 12-15% of annual rent — even when the landlord was the one who hired the broker to list the apartment. The FARE Act (Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses) ended that: whoever hires the broker now pays them. A landlord-hired broker’s fee is a landlord cost; a tenant can still choose to hire their own broker and pay that broker directly.
Worked example
On a $3,000/month apartment listed by a landlord-hired broker, a tenant’s move-in cost before the FARE Act might have included a ~$5,400 broker fee (15% of $36,000 annual rent) on top of first month and security deposit. After the FARE Act, that fee doesn’t appear on the tenant’s side of the ledger at all — see the FARE Act guide for a full move-in cash breakdown, or model it directly on the Rent Calculator, which lets you toggle broker fee scenarios.