A major change is coming to New York City’s rental market this week: the end of costly, upfront broker fees for most tenants searching for apartments.
A new law banning the fees, except in cases where tenants proactively hire brokers to help with their housing searches, is set to take effect Wednesday. The measure was approved last year by the City Council and is meant to clear a serious financial hurdle for tenants who are often forced to pay fees to brokers ranging from the equivalent of one month’s rent to 15% of their annual rent — $5,400 on a $3,000-a-month apartment — before signing leases.
Final implementation hinges on a judge’s decision in a lawsuit seeking to block the new law that the Real Estate Board of New York and a handful of brokerages filed late last year…