NYC FARE Act Broker Fee Ban: Landlord Guide

The core rule is simple: the party who hires the broker pays the broker.

Under the FARE Act (Local Law 119 of 2024), it is illegal for landlords to charge renters a real estate broker fee for a broker the landlord hired — including listing agents. According to DCWP's official FAQ, this applies even if a lease was signed before the effective date but the broker fee had not yet been paid. (DCWP FARE Act FAQ)

What this means in practice:

• If a broker is marketing your apartment and showing it to prospects because you engaged them, you pay the commission
• A renter can still hire their own broker — if they do, the renter pays that broker
• No one can require a tenant to hire a broker as a condition of renting

"It is now illegal for landlords to charge real estate broker fees to renters. This ban applies even if a lease was signed before today's effective date, but the broker fee has not been paid yet." — DCWP Announcement, June 11, 2025

The FARE Act is not only about broker fees. It also requires broader fee transparency at every stage of the rental process.

Rental listings must disclose all fees

Every rental listing must clearly disclose all fees a prospective tenant would have to pay to rent the unit. This means your StreetEasy listing, Zillow post, or any other platform cannot include tenant-paid broker fee language if your agent posted it with your permission.

DCWP treats any agent who publishes a listing as doing so with the landlord's authorization — which means the landlord is presumed liable for what that listing says.

Written itemized disclosure before lease signing

Before a tenant signs the lease, landlords and their agents must provide a signed, itemized written list of all fees the prospective tenant must pay. The tenant must sign this disclosure, and you must keep it for three years.

The itemized disclosure should include:

• First month's rent
• Security deposit (capped at one month's rent)
• Application, credit, and background check fees (if any — capped at $20 total under state law)
• Any building-specific move-in or move-out fees

This is where many small building owners get caught off guard. If you hire a listing agent — or authorize any agent to post a listing on your behalf — you are liable for their violations.

The NYC 311 broker fee guidance makes this explicit: the law creates a rebuttable presumption that any agent who publishes a listing for your apartment does so with your permission. (NYC 311 Broker Fees)

That means:

• "My broker posted it, not me" is not a defense
• "I didn't know they included a broker fee" is not a defense
• You are responsible for auditing what your listing agents publish

This is a meaningful shift from prior practice. Build a review step into your leasing workflow — check every active listing before a prospective tenant tours.

The FARE Act is enforced by the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP). Tenants can file complaints by calling 311 or through nyc.gov/consumers. Complaints trigger a DCWP investigation and can result in:

Violation Type	Penalty Range	Additional Consequence
Charging illegal broker fee	$750 – $2,000 per violation	Restitution to tenant required
Repeat violations	Higher end of penalty range	Referral to OATH hearing
Private lawsuit	No cap (civil court judgment)	Legal costs + potential damages

DCWP enforcement is not passive. Since the law took effect, the agency has filed 50 summonses — and in early 2026 conducted its first "Rental Ripoff Hearings" citywide to identify additional violations. The trend is toward more enforcement, not less.

For context on how DCWP's broader enforcement posture has shifted in 2026, see the DCWP "Fee Free February" announcement.

Use this as your minimum-safe process for every lease-up.

Step 1 — Decide who's paying the broker If you use a listing agent to market and show the apartment, that commission comes out of your budget. Build it into your rental pricing model.

Step 2 — Fix your listing language Remove or replace any language that implies tenant-paid broker fees:

• Remove: "Tenant pays broker fee," "12–15% fee paid by tenant"
• Use instead: "Broker fee paid by owner" or "No broker fee to tenant"

Step 3 — Standardize your fee disclosure form Create one standard itemized fee disclosure form and use it consistently across every deal. Have the tenant sign it before the lease is executed. File the signed copy.

Step 4 — Train anyone who talks to prospects If a prospect asks "Do I pay a broker fee?", the correct answer is: "Only if you hire your own broker. If our listing agent is showing the apartment, that broker is paid by the owner."

Step 5 — Audit your marketing channels monthly At least once a month, check every platform where your listings appear — StreetEasy, Zillow, broker co-op sites, your own website — and confirm no listing shows an illegal tenant-paid broker fee.

For building managers, the FARE Act creates operational pressure beyond the legal compliance question.

Expect more inbound questions about fees from prospective tenants — the law has raised awareness significantly. Expect more confusion at lease signing if your disclosure process isn't standardized. And expect more complaints if any listing in your portfolio still has outdated fee language.

To reduce friction:

• Add the itemized fee disclosure to your standard lease-up packet as a non-negotiable step
• Use one internal "source of truth" document for listing copy — don't let individual agents customize
• Require your brokers to confirm in writing that all listings comply before going live
• When onboarding a new listing, review it personally within 24 hours of it going live

If you're managing compliance across multiple buildings, the NYC small building owner compliance checklist is a useful companion to this guide.

These are the patterns DCWP is actively looking for based on its enforcement record:

• Stale listing templates: Listings created before June 2025 that were never updated — still showing "tenant pays broker fee" language
• Third-party platform lag: Some aggregators or co-op posting services cached old listing language — your broker may not have caught it
• Verbal assurances instead of written disclosure: Telling a tenant their fees verbally but not providing a signed written itemization
• Dual-agent arrangements presented as tenant-side brokers: The law specifically prohibits conditioning a rental on a tenant hiring a dual agent

If you're uncertain whether your current process is clean, run through the DCWP's full FAQ — it covers edge cases including pre-law leases, tenant-hired brokers, and advertising rules in detail. (DCWP FARE Act FAQ)

For more on broader tenant relations compliance at your building, see what a condo management company does in NYC and the HPD lead paint audit guide.