Real Estate
Court order halts ban on broker’s fees — for now
BY EMILY DAVENPORT
For the time being, prospective tenants
in New York City will still have to
supply a broker’s fee.
A New York judge granted a temporary
restraining order against the Department
of State’s guidance that would have shifted
the broker’s fee responsibility from the tenant
to the landlord.
Last summer, New York State passed
two acts that were designed to help renters:
Housing Security & Tenant Protection
Act of 2019 and the Housing Stability &
Tenant Protection Act of 2019. Recently,
the New York Department of State issued
clarifications to these two acts — under
these new protections, if the landlord
employs the help of a broker to get an
apartment rented, the broker’s fee, which
was previously paid by the tenants upon
moving in, will now have to be paid by the
landlord renting out the apartment.
According to the Real Deal, a petition
was filed on Monday morning in Albany by
the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY),
New York Association of Realtors and
a dozen New York brokerage firms against
the Department of State’s guidance, calling
the move “misguided and harmful” in
a statement.
The decision is expected to stay in place
until March 13, where REBNY indicated
on Twitter that would be returning to court
for the next phase of their lawsuit.
“The entry today by the Court in Albany
of an order temporarily halting the
implementation of New York State Department
of State’s (DOS) interpretation of the
Statewide Housing Stability and Tenant
Protection Act means that thousands of
hardworking, honest real estate agents
across New York State can do business in
the same way they did prior to last week’s
DOS memo without fear of discipline by
the DOS,” said REBNY President, James
Whelan and New York State Association
PHOTO VIA GETTY IMAGES
of Realtors President, Jennifer Stevenson
in a joint statement. “We look forward to
ultimately resolving this matter in Court in
the weeks ahead. Meanwhile, we appreciate
all of our members’ support and vigilance
during this period of upheaval and
confusion. We also want to thank Claude
Szyfer and his team at Stroock & Stroock
& Lavan LLP for their tireless efforts on
this matter.”
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