NYC Broker Fees Banned but Not Gone as City Ramps Up FARE Act Enforcement

What happened

THE CITY reported on 10/29/2026 that New York City brokers have kept charging tenants fees in disguised forms since the FARE Act took effect in 06/2025. Brownstoner republished the story on 10/30/2026. The FARE Act says that if a broker publishes a listing for a rental, the landlord pays that broker. The reporting draws on hundreds of pages of summonses and evidence. The Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) issued these between 06/2025 and 04/2026, and THE CITY obtained them through a Freedom of Information Law request.

From the law's start through mid-October, New Yorkers filed more than 2,500 broker fee complaints and queries with DCWP. The agency says most lacked enough information to act on. DCWP issued 91 summonses alleging 130 violations. Of those, 55 violations resulted in $60,000 in penalties. The agency also got more than $24,000 in fees returned to tenants. The Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH) hears the cases.

DCWP says the violations take several forms. Some fees were renamed, such as a "finders fee" of one month's rent ($2,350) on a Woodside listing, a "real estate fee," and "management fees." Some brokers offered better odds or "off-market" units in exchange for a fee, which DCWP treats as illegal "conditioning." One broker, Diana Belorusets, paid a $1,125 penalty after telling Crown Heights applicants a fee would improve their chances. Coney Realty and Management was found in violation twice for requiring broker fees when tenants added roommates, including a $1,000 lease amendment fee in Hell's Kitchen. Some brokers were also fined for not clearly disclosing fees as small as $25 for background checks or credit reports.

In more than half of the over 70 summonses THE CITY reviewed with verifiable outcomes, brokers lost by default because they did not appear at the hearing. Some said they never knew about the summonses. DCWP Commissioner Sam Levine said brokers are served at their licensed address and can contest any service problem. He said complaints have declined in recent months and that monitoring of StreetEasy and other platforms suggests more landlords are complying.