New Yorkers who say they were slammed with illegal broker fees under the city’s FARE Act are still waiting for their money back, even as complaints pile up by the hundreds. The gap between how the law reads and how it is playing out on the ground has tenants and advocates wondering whether enforcement is anywhere close to the law’s original promise.
According to The Real Deal, just two brokers have actually been required to reimburse tenants since the law took effect in June. In one administrative ruling, Israel Mendlewicz of Urban Pads was ordered to refund $4,480 and pay a $750 civil penalty. In a second case, an unidentified broker returned $2,500 and agreed to $1,500 in penalties to resolve the complaint. The outlet also reports that DCWP has settled six additional complaints that have not yet resulted in money landing in tenants’ pockets.
Enforcement so far
The New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) says it has received more than 1,400 complaints about illegal broker fees and has filed roughly 50 summonses in a recent enforcement push. The agency links that surge to its "Fee Free February" outreach campaign and says it is seeking restitution whenever it can substantiate violations.
Rents and the ripple effect
So far, the law’s impact on listed rents appears relatively modest. A December report from StreetEasy estimated that the FARE Act has contributed about a 1.1 percent increase in average asking rents. At the same time, the analysis calculated that renters save roughly $5,454 on average in upfront costs when broker fees are not collected at lease signing. StreetEasy noted that those small rent changes are likely overshadowed by longer-term supply constraints in New York’s housing market.
Where complaints cluster
Complaint data drawn from 311 records shows that certain boroughs are bearing the brunt of alleged illegal fees. As The Real Deal reports, Brooklyn accounted for 67 of 186 broker-fee complaints filed since June, with Queens and Manhattan logging 46 and 41 complaints, respectively. Tenant advocates say that pattern tracks neighborhoods where turnover is high and brokers are deeply embedded in the rental market.
Officials, renters and next steps
City officials insist enforcement is active but acknowledge it is far from seamless. "Some brokers just are not following the law," DCWP Commissioner Sam Levine told CBS New York, noting that cases can be tricky when deals leave only a thin paper trail. To strengthen those cases, DCWP is urging tenants to hang on to texts, screenshots and receipts and to file complaints through the DCWP complaint portal or by calling 311 so the agency has evidence it can use.
Legal backdrop
The FARE Act, passed by the City Council in 2024 and effective June 11, 2025, shifted broker costs to the party that actually hires the agent. The change has drawn legal fire from parts of the real estate industry. A federal judge has allowed the ban to remain in effect while that litigation moves forward, according to reporting by The Associated Press, which means the city’s enforcement apparatus is the first real stress test of how far the law will reach.
For now, tenants and organizers say the only real play is documentation and persistence: keep records, file complaints and follow up with DCWP and 311. Whether those efforts translate into broader payouts, they argue, will ultimately show whether the FARE Act has truly changed how New Yorkers are charged for broker services or if it remains more promise than practice.
