A 27th Council Member has signed on as the co-sponsor of the Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses (FARE) Act. This is less than two months after Council Members Chi Ossé, Shaun Abreu and Oswald Feliz brought FARE to the New York City Council.
Currently, tenants often pay broker fees when moving into a new rental, even if the landlord hired the broker. This bill will ensure that the hiring party, whether tenant or landlord, pays the broker. The FARE Act would not restrict broker fees in any way. Brokers would continue to charge for the services they provide.
“Finding an affordable apartment shouldn’t be this far out of reach for working people,” said Council Member Shaun Abreu. “New York is one of the only cities to saddle renters with broker fees even when they didn’t use a broker. It’s time that brokers be paid by those who hire them. The FARE Act is common sense policy: You won’t have to pay for a broker if you don’t hire one, and brokers that are hired must be paid for their valuable work. Let’s do what is right and make this the law.”
In a 51-member body, only 26 members are necessary to constitute the majority support necessary to pass the bill into law. Three additional co-sponsors are Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Queens Borough President Donovan Richards.
“I’m thrilled to see a majority of the City Council back this common-sense bill,” said Ossé. “The FARE Act will bring New York City into alignment with the nation-wide system in which broker fees are paid by the party who hires the broker. The current paradigm is bad for the housing market, bad for consumers, and bad for many brokers. It also makes no sense. Too often, families are forced to pay for a service they did not contract. Too often, tenant-side brokers go unpaid for weeks of difficult and important labor because their fee gets snatched at the last moment by someone else. The FARE Act is profoundly necessary as it is shockingly simple: You get what you pay for, and you pay for what you get.”
The bill now must have a hearing in committee before being voted out onto the floor of City Hall Chambers for a vote of the full body.
