What Is the FARE Act?
The FARE Act — Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses Act — is a New York City law that went into effect in June 2025. Its core principle: the party who hires the broker pays the broker.
In practice, this means that if a landlord hires a broker to find tenants, the landlord is responsible for paying that broker's commission — not the renter. Before the FARE Act, it was standard practice for landlords to hire brokers, have those brokers show apartments to renters, and then bill the renter for the broker's fee — often one to two months' rent — even though the renter never agreed to hire anyone.
The FARE Act made that practice illegal. This is general information, not legal advice — for your specific situation, contact the NYC Tenant Helpline at 311.
Who Does the FARE Act Protect?
The FARE Act protects NYC renters from being charged broker fees when they did not themselves hire a broker. If you call a number in a listing, visit an apartment, and a broker shows it to you — but you never signed a representation agreement or agreed to pay that broker — you generally should not owe that broker a commission under the FARE Act.
The law applies to apartments throughout New York City: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island.
What Changed vs. Before the FARE Act
Before the FARE Act, the NYC rental market operated under a unique and widely criticized system: landlords routinely hired brokers but structured the deal so that renters paid the broker's commission. A renter searching for a $3,000/month apartment might be required to pay $3,000 to $6,000 upfront to a broker they never chose to hire, just to secure the apartment.
This practice was so widespread that broker fees were simply accepted as a fact of NYC renting — an invisible tax that renters budgeted for even when they didn't want to work with a broker at all. The FARE Act eliminated the legal mechanism that allowed this.
The Most Important Thing the FARE Act Does NOT Do
The FARE Act does not make all NYC apartments broker-free. It shifts who pays the broker — from renter to landlord — but it does not eliminate brokers from the market.
There is a critical distinction that many renters misunderstand:
This is the source of enormous confusion. A building can be advertised as "no-fee" and still leave renters exposed to broker fees — if those renters came in through or with a broker. The FARE Act shifts responsibility, but only when the broker was hired by the landlord. If you retain a broker to help you search, you may be agreeing to pay them.
The Golden Rule of No-Fee Renting Under the FARE Act
Go directly to the building or management company. Do not use a broker to access a "no-fee" building.
Even at buildings that advertise zero broker fees, if you arrive with a broker — or through a broker listing — that broker may claim the right to a commission. The building will not pay it. You will.
NFNY (No Fee NY) exists precisely to solve this: every listing is posted directly by the landlord or authorized management, with no broker in the middle. When you reach out through NFNY, you are contacting the landlord directly. No broker involvement means no broker fee — period.
How the FARE Act Is Enforced
Enforcement of the FARE Act is primarily complaint-based. If a landlord or broker violates the law by charging a renter a broker fee that the renter shouldn't owe, the renter can file a complaint with the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP).
Penalties for violations include fines starting at $1,000 for a first offense and increasing for repeat violations. Some tenant advocacy organizations also provide guidance on the enforcement process.
What to Do If You're Being Charged a Broker Fee You Shouldn't Owe
- Document everything — keep records of all communications, the listing you responded to, and any fee requests
- Do not sign any agreements you don't understand, including "tenant representation agreements"
- Contact the NYC Tenant Helpline at 311 or visit the DCWP website to file a complaint
- Consider reaching out to a free tenant rights legal service — NYC has several that specialize in exactly this type of dispute
This is general information about the FARE Act and is not legal advice. Your specific situation may differ. For personalized guidance, contact a tenant rights attorney or the NYC Tenant Helpline at 311.
How NFNY Works With the FARE Act
NFNY was built around the principle that renters should be able to find apartments directly from landlords — without brokers, without fees, and without confusion. The FARE Act confirmed in law what NFNY has always done in practice: put renters and landlords directly in touch with each other.
Every listing on NFNY is posted by the property owner or their authorized building management team. There is no broker between you and the landlord. This means:
- You contact the landlord directly through the listing
- No broker is involved in your search or transaction
- No broker fee can be claimed by anyone — because no broker participated
- You pay your first month's rent and security deposit — and nothing else
This is what genuine no-fee renting looks like. The FARE Act makes it the law; NFNY makes it the practice.
Frequently Asked Questions About the FARE Act
Does the FARE Act apply to my apartment?
The FARE Act applies to residential rental apartments in New York City. It covers most standard rental apartments in all five boroughs. Some specific situations — like rent-stabilized apartments with specific pre-existing arrangements — may have nuances. If you're unsure whether the FARE Act applies to your specific situation, contact the NYC Tenant Helpline at 311.
What if a landlord says I have to pay the broker fee?
Under the FARE Act, if the landlord hired the broker, the landlord is generally responsible for paying the broker — not you. If a landlord insists you pay a broker fee and you believe the broker was hired by the landlord (not you), document the situation and file a complaint with the DCWP. This is general information; consult a tenant rights attorney for your specific case.
Can I still hire my own broker?
Yes. If you choose to hire a buyer's agent or tenant's representative broker — someone you explicitly retain to help you find an apartment — you may agree to pay that broker a fee. The key is that you are the one who hired them and you agreed to the fee upfront. What the FARE Act prohibits is the landlord's broker billing you when you didn't hire them.
What's the best way to guarantee I pay zero broker fees?
Contact landlords and buildings directly, without any broker involvement. Platforms like NFNY list no-fee apartments directly from landlords. When you contact a listing through NFNY, you are the first point of contact — no broker is in the picture. That's the cleanest, clearest way to ensure you never owe a broker fee.
Are "no-fee" listings on StreetEasy truly no-fee?
Some are, some are not. StreetEasy mixes direct landlord listings with broker listings marked "no fee" (meaning the landlord agreed to pay the broker). If a broker is still involved in the latter, you need to make sure you never signed anything agreeing to pay them. The safest approach: use platforms that only show direct landlord listings, like NFNY.
The FARE Act in Context: NYC's Rental Market Before and After
New York City has long had one of the most broker-dominated rental markets in the world. In most U.S. cities — and in virtually every other major global city — broker fees are either paid by the landlord as a standard cost of doing business or simply don't exist in the rental market. NYC was the exception.
The roots of NYC's broker-fee structure go back decades, to a time when finding an available apartment required local, specialized knowledge that only brokers had. Before the internet, brokers controlled access to listings, maintained proprietary databases, and provided a genuinely necessary service in connecting renters with landlords.
The internet made much of that value proposition obsolete — but the fee structure persisted. By 2020, renters in New York City were paying an estimated $1 billion or more in broker fees annually, with the average fee exceeding $4,000 per transaction. Studies consistently showed that broker fees were a leading cause of renter financial stress at move-in and a significant barrier to housing mobility for lower- and middle-income New Yorkers.
The Path to the FARE Act
Efforts to reform NYC's broker fee system had been underway since at least 2018. An earlier attempt by the New York State Department of State to prohibit landlord-hired brokers from billing renters was reversed after significant real estate industry lobbying. The FARE Act ultimately passed through the NYC Council with a veto-proof majority, reflecting both widespread public support and a shift in the political calculus around housing affordability.
The law went into effect in June 2025. Its passage was celebrated by tenant advocates, renter rights organizations, and housing economists who had documented the outsized burden of broker fees on NYC renters for years.
What the FARE Act Does Not Address
The FARE Act is a significant but targeted reform. It does not cap rents, regulate security deposits, or change any other aspect of the NYC landlord-tenant relationship outside of broker fee allocation. Rent stabilization laws, which govern a separate (and larger) set of concerns about long-term rent increases, operate independently.
The FARE Act also does not prevent renters from choosing to hire their own broker if they want one. Some renters — particularly those with very specific requirements, those unfamiliar with NYC geography, or those with time constraints that make independent searching difficult — may still find value in working with a buyer's agent broker who is paid from the renter's budget. The FARE Act simply ensures that this is always a choice the renter makes explicitly, not a cost imposed on them by the landlord's business decision.