FARE Act records show how NYC brokers tried to keep charging renters fees, and what the city did about it

More than a year after New York City banned most broker fees for renters, city enforcement records show the ways some agents kept trying to collect them, and how the city responded. THE CITY obtained hundreds of pages of summonses and evidence issued between June 2025 and April 2026 by the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) through a Freedom of Information Law request.

The Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses (FARE) Act, Local Law 119 of 2024, took effect on June 11, 2025. It bars a landlord's agent, including a broker who lists an apartment with the landlord's permission, from charging the tenant a fee, and it requires landlords to disclose every fee a tenant must pay, according to DCWP's FAQ.

By the numbers

• 2,500+ broker-fee complaints and questions to DCWP from June 2025 through mid-October; the agency says most lacked enough information to act on.
• 91 summonses alleging 130 violations.
• 55 violations resulted in $60,000 in penalties.
• More than $24,000 in fees returned to tenants.

DCWP Commissioner Sam Levine told THE CITY that complaints have declined in recent months and that the agency's own monitoring of StreetEasy and other platforms suggests more landlords are complying.

What the summonses describe

• Fees under another name. One StreetEasy listing for a two-bedroom in Woodside carried a "finders fee" of one month's rent, $2,350. Other listings called the charge a "real estate fee" or a "one-time management fee." DCWP treated all of them as disguised broker fees.
• Paying for better odds. In one Crown Heights case, a broker suggested on a call that paying a fee would improve applicants' chances, according to the summons. DCWP calls this illegal "conditioning" of a rental on hiring an agent.
• "Off-market" units for a fee. Several renters were told the listed apartment was gone but that a better "off-market" unit was available if they paid a fee. DCWP ruled this is also conditioning; Levine called such listings "shenanigans."
• Fees to add a roommate. In two cases, tenants who wanted to add a roommate to a lease were told the newcomer had to apply through the management company's broker and pay a fee.
• Undisclosed small fees. Some brokers were fined separately for not clearly disclosing charges as small as $25 for background or credit checks.

Cases are heard at the city's Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH). Of more than 70 summonses THE CITY reviewed with outcomes, brokers lost by default in over half because they did not appear. Some told THE CITY they never knew about the summons; Levine said DCWP serves brokers at the address where they are licensed.

What Levine wants from Albany

Levine told THE CITY he wants the state to bar agents from representing both tenants and landlords, supports a bill lawmakers passed that would require all listings to be posted publicly, and said the state should consider whether brokers who repeatedly break the law should keep their licenses.

How to file a complaint

Renters can file a complaint with DCWP online, by mail or by fax, or call 311 and say "Broker Fees" (212-639-9675 from outside the city), according to NYC311. DCWP asks for as much evidence as possible, such as texts, screenshots, receipts and the broker's contact information. The law does not stop renters from hiring and paying their own broker, and landlords may still charge for background and credit checks, as long as all fees are disclosed in writing before a lease is signed.