NYC Broker Fees in 2026: What the FARE Act Changed and What Renters Still Pay

For years, renting an apartment in New York City came with a bill nobody else in the country paid. You found the listing yourself, a broker opened the door, and you handed over 10% to 15% of a year's rent for it. On a $4,000 apartment, that was $4,800 to $7,200 before you moved a single box.

That changed on June 11, 2025, when the FARE Act took effect. But plenty of renters still are not sure what the law covers, and some brokers are counting on that. We hear the same questions from customers all the time: Do I still pay a broker? Is this application fee legal? Why is the first month higher than the rent?

This guide answers all of it. You will learn who can charge you a broker fee now, what a landlord can still collect before you move in, how to spot and report an illegal fee, and what a real move-in budget looks like in 2026, including the move itself. Every rule links to its official source.

The Short Answer

In New York City, you only pay a broker fee if you hired the broker. Under the FARE Act, a broker who represents the landlord, including any agent who posts the listing, cannot charge you a fee, and nobody can make you hire a broker to rent an apartment. Landlords must show every required fee in the listing and give you an itemized fee disclosure to sign before the lease.

To move in, a landlord can legally collect your first month's rent, a security deposit of no more than one month's rent, and up to $20 for a background and credit check. If you are asked for a broker fee on an apartment you found through a listing, report it to the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP).

What the FARE Act Actually Says

The Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses Act is Local Law 119 of 2024. According to DCWP, the agency that enforces it, it took effect on June 11, 2025. It does two big things: it stops landlords from passing their broker's fee on to you, and it forces every fee you have to pay into the open before you sign.

The law has also survived its main legal challenge. In July 2026, a federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of the real estate industry's lawsuit against it.

Who Can Charge You a Broker Fee Now

Only a broker you chose to hire. DCWP puts it plainly: the law prohibits a landlord's agent from charging fees to a prospective tenant.

Whoever hires the broker pays the broker. If the landlord hired the agent, the landlord pays. If you hire your own broker, you pay what you agreed to. And if the landlord's agent charges you anyway, DCWP says the landlord is liable too.

The Listing-Agent Rule

This is the part that closes the old loophole. A broker who publishes a listing with the landlord's permission counts as the landlord's agent and cannot charge you.

The law also presumes that an agent who posts a listing has the landlord's permission. The agent can try to prove otherwise, but the starting point is in your favor. Even the Real Estate Board of New York tells its members in its FARE Act FAQ that a "Courtesy of" line on a listing does not get around this.

Nobody Can Force You to Hire a Broker

No one can make renting an apartment depend on you hiring a broker. That includes a "dual agent," a broker who claims to represent both you and the landlord. In real life, all of these are off limits:

• "You have to sign our tenant agreement before we can show you the unit."
• "To see our other apartments, you need to hire us."
• "The landlord only works with our firm, so you pay our fee."

Brokers can still advertise their services, and you can still choose to hire one. They just cannot hold a specific apartment hostage to get your signature.

Fee Disclosure: In the Listing and Before You Sign

This half of the law gets less attention, but it protects you just as much. Per DCWP's FAQ:

• In the listing: every fee you must pay to rent the apartment has to be shown "in a clear and conspicuous manner."
• Before the lease: the landlord or agent must give you an itemized written disclosure of every fee you will pay the landlord, or anyone the landlord tells you to pay, with a written description of each. You sign it before the lease. They must give you a copy and keep it for three years.

That signed disclosure is your best tool. If a fee shows up later that is not on it, you have it in writing.

What a Landlord Can Still Charge You to Move In

The rules on deposits and application fees come from New York State law, mostly the 2019 rent laws. Put them together with the FARE Act and here is what is legal at lease signing.

The Security Deposit

State law says no "deposit or advance" can exceed one month's rent. The Attorney General's office spells out what that means: a landlord cannot ask for last month's rent and a security deposit. If you see "first, last, and security" on a New York City listing, that is a red flag, not a tradition.

Getting it back is its own topic. See our guide to NYC security deposit law.

The $20 Check Fee

The background and credit check fee is capped at $20 or the actual cost, whichever is lower. Two more rules most renters never hear about:

• The landlord must waive the fee if you bring a background or credit check done in the last 30 days.
• The landlord cannot collect the fee without giving you a copy of the check and the receipt from the company that ran it.

Applying for several apartments in one week? Keep that report. It can save you the fee at every stop.

Holding Fees, Key Fees, and "Admin" Fees

Section 238-a says a landlord may not demand "any other payment, fee or charge" before or at the start of a tenancy, other than the background and credit check. Read plainly, that covers holding fees, key fees, and "administrative" fees from a rental landlord.

The statute has exceptions, mostly for co-op purchases and senior communities. If you rent a condo or co-op unit from an owner, the board may also have its own move-in rules. Either way, any fee you must pay to rent the apartment belongs on the itemized disclosure. If a fee is not on it, ask in writing who is charging it and why before you pay.

Is "No Fee" Still a Thing?

Not really, and that is the point. StreetEasy dropped its "no fee" filter after the law took effect, because a listing posted by the landlord's agent cannot charge you a broker fee anyway. Listings now show a breakdown of required and optional costs instead.

You pay a broker in 2026 only if you choose to hire your own agent, for example when you are relocating on a short timeline. If you do, get the fee in a written agreement, and make sure the broker works for you and is not the one posting the listings you tour. If you are moving to the city before you have a lease, our guide to moving to NYC without an apartment covers storage and short-term options while you hunt.

Are Landlords Raising Rents to Make Up for It?

This was the main argument against the law. The honest answer: some data exists, but it does not settle the question.

StreetEasy, which supported the law, published a one-year analysis in June 2026. After controlling for the housing shortage and other trends, it estimated the FARE Act was associated with a 1.1% increase in asking rents for broker-represented rentals, about $46 a month, while renters avoided an average upfront broker fee of $5,862. The same report put the citywide median asking rent at a record $4,199 in May 2026 and blamed mostly the shortage of apartments. The Real Estate Board of New York sees it differently, saying after its court loss that "rents continue to climb to record levels."

Rents are high either way. What you can control is spotting a fee dressed up as rent:

• A first month that is higher than the monthly rent. StreetEasy flags this as a likely violation.
• Two prices for the same unit, one "with broker" and one "without." REBNY's own FAQ warns members this may run afoul of the law.
• A big jump from the last listing. Check the unit's rental history before you negotiate.

How to Spot an Illegal Broker Fee

Run through this list before you pay anyone anything.

1. Did you find the apartment through a public listing? Then the person who posted it works for the landlord.
2. Does the listing mention a broker fee or a "tenant's agent"? A listing cannot include an unlawful broker fee.
3. Are you asked to sign a representation agreement just to see the unit?
4. Is there a "consulting," "placement," or "processing" fee? A new name does not make a broker fee legal.
5. Is the first month higher than the rent in the lease?
6. Are you asked for more than one month's rent as a deposit, or last month's rent on top of it?
7. Is the application fee over $20, or did nobody give you a copy of the check and the receipt?
8. Is there a fee that is not on the itemized disclosure?

One more point from REBNY's FAQ: you cannot "opt out" of the FARE Act. Offering to pay the landlord's broker to win a competitive apartment does not make the fee legal.

How to Report an Illegal Fee

Step 1: Save Everything

Screenshot the listing with its URL and the date. Keep texts, emails, receipts, and the broker's name and contact details. DCWP asks for exactly this evidence.

Step 2: File With DCWP

• Online: use DCWP's consumer complaint form for a complaint against a landlord or real estate agent about broker fees.
• Through 311: the 311 broker fee page covers a broker fee, a requirement to use an agent, a fee in a listing, or fees that were not disclosed. Include your email or mailing address. Without one, DCWP treats the report as a tip only, with no follow-up.

If the listing was on StreetEasy, you can also use the Report listing button on the page.

Step 3: Know What Happens Next

If DCWP finds a violation, it issues a summons and the case goes to the city's Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. If the charge holds up, the violator pays a civil penalty and may have to pay you back. As of February 2026, DCWP said it had received over 1,400 complaints and filed 50 summonses under the law.

Here is the penalty schedule DCWP adopted in 2025:

Penalties are higher when the respondent skips the hearing, and each violation counts separately. You can also sue in civil court yourself, since the law gives renters a private right of action.

Deposits over one month's rent and application fees over $20 are state law issues. For those, file a housing complaint with the New York Attorney General.

A Realistic Move-In Budget for 2026

With no broker fee, your upfront cost is mostly rent and the move itself. The rents below are round examples to show the math, not quotes for any apartment. Mover prices are the full-year ranges from our NYC moving cost guide, from a winter weekday at the low end to a summer Saturday at the top.

A studio at $3,000 a month.

A two-bedroom at $5,000 a month.

Some co-op and condo buildings also hold a refundable move-in deposit, which our cost guide puts at $500 to $2,000. For comparison, an old-style broker fee of 15% of a year's rent would have added $9,000 to the two-bedroom budget alone.

Where the Move Itself Gets Expensive

Most of the swing in those totals is the move, not the rent.

• Paperwork. Most managed buildings want a COI before a crew can come in. Ask a week ahead. Our COI guide explains what the form needs.
• The elevator. Booking the freight elevator at both ends, for the right hours, saves paid waiting time.
• The date. Leases and moves cluster at the start and end of the month. If your lease can start mid-month, take it. Our look at NYC renting trends covers how the rental calendar affects timing.

If your new lease starts before your old one ends, the broker fee you saved can disappear into overlapping rent. Read our guide to lease takeovers, sublets, and breaking a lease in NYC before you sign.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do tenants still pay broker fees in NYC?

Only if the tenant hired the broker. Since June 11, 2025, the FARE Act bars a broker who represents the landlord, including any agent who posts the listing, from charging the tenant. If you hire your own broker, you pay the fee you agreed to.

Who pays the broker fee in NYC now?

Whoever hired the broker, which in most rentals is the landlord or management company. The law also makes the landlord liable if its agent or listing agent charges a tenant anyway.

What is the FARE Act in NYC?

It is Local Law 119 of 2024, the Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses Act. It stops landlords from passing their broker's fee on to tenants, bans requiring a tenant to hire a broker, and requires every tenant fee to appear in the listing and on an itemized disclosure signed before the lease.

Can a landlord charge first month, last month, and security in New York?

No. New York law caps any deposit or advance at one month's rent. The Attorney General's office says this means a landlord cannot ask for last month's rent and a security deposit together.

How much can a landlord charge for an application fee in NYC?

No more than $20 or the actual cost of the background and credit check, whichever is less. The landlord must waive it if you provide a check from the last 30 days, and must give you a copy of the check and the receipt to collect it.

How do I report an illegal broker fee in NYC?

File a complaint with the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection online or through 311, with screenshots of the listing, messages, receipts, and the broker's contact details. You can also sue in civil court, since the law gives renters a private right of action.

Are there still no-fee apartments in NYC?

Every apartment listed by the landlord's agent is effectively no-fee to you now. That is why StreetEasy dropped its "no fee" filter and shows a full cost breakdown instead.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules can change, so check the linked official sources or talk to a lawyer about your situation.

The Bottom Line

In 2026, you pay a broker fee in New York City only if you hired the broker. A landlord can collect your first month's rent, a deposit of no more than one month, and up to $20 for a background check. Everything else you must pay should be in the listing and on a disclosure you sign before the lease.

If someone asks for more, do not argue on the phone. Save the evidence and report it. Then put the money you kept toward the part of moving that actually costs something: getting your things from one apartment to the next.

Signed the lease and ready to move? Avant-Garde Moving gives free, written quotes for local moves across New York City, with every fee listed up front. Request your free quote and tell us about both buildings.