Broker fee bill passed by Council
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A bill to make it so New Yorkers moving into a new apartment will no longer need to pay a brokers fee unless they hire the broker themselves, which was introduced by Brooklyn Councilmember Chi Ossé, was passed by the City Council with a veto-proof majority on Wednesday. Photo by Gerardo Romo/NYC City Council Media Unit
By Ryan Schwach
A high-profile bill to change how New Yorkers pay for their new apartment was officially passed by the City Council with a veto-proof majority on Wednesday.
The FARE Act, a longtime project of Brooklyn representative Chi Ossé, will make it so New Yorkers moving into a new apartment will no longer need to pay a brokers fee unless they hire the broker themselves.
The bill was sponsored by more than half the Council, including several Queens representatives.
“The FARE Act is simple: You get what you pay for, and you pay for what you get,” Ossé said on Wednesday.
The Council voted 42 to eight to pass the bill, more than enough to overrule a potential veto from Mayor Eric Adams. Though the mayor hasn’t outright said he opposes the bill, he has said that he has concerns about it.
“Today is a win for all New Yorkers,” Ossé said as the bill passed on Wednesday. “Finally, after over a year and a half of work after a seemingly endless fight against a relentless and ruthless real estate lobby hell bent on fleecing the people of our city, we passed the FARE Act.”
Ossé and other supporters of the bill say the bill will help New Yorkers with the ever-growing cost of housing.
“Housing is the largest cost for New Yorkers and the number one political concern,” the Brooklyn councilmember added. “For too many decades, tenants have been forced to hand over thousands of dollars in fees to a broker they never hired or asked for straining their budgets and restricting their freedom of movement.”
The push back to the bill came from people in the real estate industry, as well as some councilmembers, who worry the bill will lead to higher rents and put further strain on smaller landlords.
“[Broker fees] are now just going to be built into rents, and rents will go up as a result, all while hurting small business people in this city who make their living helping tenants find housing,” said one of the council’s most conservative members, Queens Councilmember Vickie Paladino.
Paladino was one of the eight nay votes, which included the rest of the Common Sense Caucus, with the exception of Queens Democrat Bob Holden.
Adams has not said whether or not he would veto the bill, but did express some opposition to the bill’s details.
“We're going to look at it,” he said at his “off-topic” press conference on Tuesday. “If you pass the cost on to the small property owners…it goes from a one-time fee to a permanent fee that's built into your rent. So some of the ideals collide with the reality of the operationalizing implementation.”
“We just got to get it right, make sure we reach the goals that we're looking for and at the same time, don't hurt small property owners and try to give some relief to those who are trying to live in the city,” he added.
