Ding, Dong, the Forced Broker Fee Is Dead: Now What?

We don't say this often, but today, June 11, is a truly historic day in New York City—the forced broker fee is now illegal. 

After months of campaigning from broker fee-ban advocates, pushback from the real estate industry and even a REBNY lawsuit to block the law, the Fairness in Apartment Rentals Act (FARE Act) is finally in effect, making it illegal for tenants to be charged a broker fee if the tenant did not hire the broker themselves. Brooklyn Councilmember Chi Ossé, the lead sponsor of the FARE Act, welcomed the law into effect this morning with a video filmed at a cemetery, eulogizing the fee. 

TODAY IS THE DAY: RIP TO THE FORCED BROKER FEE pic.twitter.com/PZ8Dxin5PP

— Chi Ossé (@OsseChi) June 11, 2025

The FARE Act has come with plenty of dire warnings about how the broker fee ban might affect the rental market. Anecdotal horror stories abound online about how dastardly brokers and landlords might get around the FARE Act. Some landlords have said the law will force them to push up rents, or keep rental units empty. Renters report brokers telling them their rent will be increased in perpetuity if they don't pay a one-time broker fee. Licensed broker Anna Klenkar, a vocal advocate for the FARE Act, told Hell Gate that's just fearmongering.

"This is going to be messy and you are going to see certain agents throw adult tantrums," Klenkar said. "The rent is not going to go up 20 percent overnight. That is a PR campaign to try to get this to blow back on people." She added, "It's going to be important for the public to advocate for themselves this week."

Ossé said much of the naysaying around brokers finding ways to flout the law—like bullying tenants into paying a fee by threatening higher rent as their alternative—was comparable to the hysteria about congestion pricing before it was implemented. "I want folks to let this bill play out and to see the strengths that exist within the language of the law," Ossé said. 

So how will the FARE Act work? Hell Gate has some answers.