Rent an Apartment in NYC With Your Own Broker

Since the FARE Act, the landlord pays the listing broker. If you want someone on your side of the table, NestApple represents renters for a flat one month’s rent.

On June 11, 2025 the FARE Act changed how broker fees work in New York City. The rule is now simple: whoever hires the broker pays the broker. Landlords hire the listing broker, so landlords pay that fee. A tenant only owes a broker fee if the tenant hires their own broker. NestApple is a REBNY-affiliated tenant’s brokerage, and this page explains what that costs and what you get.

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How Renting Works Now That the FARE Act Is in Effect

Three ways to rent, and what each one costs you

You Apply on Your Own

  • You deal directly with the listing agent, who works for the landlord.
  • You pay no broker fee. Under the FARE Act the landlord’s broker cannot charge you.
  • Nobody reviews the lease with you, checks the building, or negotiates the rent, the concessions or the start date on your behalf.

You Hire a Traditional Tenant’s Broker

  • You get representation, and you pay for it. Traditional tenant brokers typically charge one month’s rent or up to 15% of the annual rent.
  • That fee is now yours alone, because the landlord already paid their own broker separately.

You Hire NestApple

  • A flat one month’s rent for full representation: the search, the showings, the application, and the negotiation.
  • No rebate, because there is no landlord commission passing through us to give back. The old rebate worked only while tenants were paying the listing fee.
  • Rentals are handled case by case. If your search is simple you may not need us at all, and we will tell you that.

Did the FARE Act Make Renting Cheaper?

Not really, in our experience. A landlord who used to pay a broker built that cost into the asking rent. The FARE Act moved the fee off the signing table, but for many buildings it moved into the monthly rent instead. What genuinely changed is that a tenant is no longer forced to pay a broker they did not choose. If you want an advocate, you now hire and pay one directly, the same way a buyer does.

“That amount of money was allocated to just higher rents. From a landlord’s perspective, nothing changed — instead of using that money to pay a broker, now it was just distributed monthly and charged to the tenant. Tenants can always hire their own broker and pay it themselves if they want that representation.” — Nicole Fishman Benoliel, co-founder

Step One: Find the Apartment

Market knowledge. We have relationships across the NYC broker community, landlords and management companies from a large volume of business. Our team’s background runs through real estate, investment banking, consulting and corporate law, and we own and rent property ourselves. We will steer you around the pitfalls we have already hit.

A verified list of what is actually available. The NYC rental market is full of stale listings that are already gone and bait listings that were never real. You get a feed of listings we have checked, so you are not spending weekends on apartments that do not exist.

Prepare to make an offer. Whether you do most of the searching yourself or lean on us, once you have a shortlist we run a quick read on the building and the price so you know what a fair offer looks like before you send one.

Step Two: Get Your Documentation Ready

The application. It varies by landlord: fairly simple for most rental buildings, more extensive for a condo or co-op. Have this ready:

  • Your last two pay stubs and a letter of employment stating your position, salary and length of employment
  • Up to two years of tax returns
  • Recent bank and investment account statements
  • A list of your previous landlords with contact information
  • A photo ID such as a passport or driver’s license

For a condo or co-op, expect a longer application reviewed first by the management company and then by the board, and sometimes a board interview before the lease is approved.

Step Three: Negotiate Until the Offer Is Accepted

The offer. After you apply there is usually a negotiation on the rent, the lease term and the concessions — a free month, a lower security deposit, a co-signer, an early or late start date. In a tight market yours may not be the only application, and the landlord may run a credit and background check, so the process can take a few days to finalize. This is the part where having someone negotiating for you earns its keep.

Want an Advocate on Your Next Lease?

Tell us what you are looking for and your budget. If your search is straightforward we will say so. If it is not, one month’s rent buys you a broker who works for you, not the landlord.

Talk to a Tenant’s Broker

Renter’s Frequently Asked Questions

The questions we get most often since the FARE Act took effect. Click a question to see the answer.

1. Do I have to pay a broker fee to rent an apartment in NYC?

No, not to the landlord’s broker. Since the FARE Act took effect on June 11, 2025, the broker a landlord hires to list an apartment is paid by the landlord, not by you. You only pay a broker fee if you choose to hire your own broker to represent you.

2. What does NestApple charge a renter?

A flat one month’s rent for full representation: the search, the showings, help with the application, and the negotiation on rent and lease terms. It is handled case by case, and if we do not think you need a broker for your search we will tell you.

3. Is there still a rental rebate?

No. The rebate worked because the tenant used to pay the listing commission, and NestApple gave back most of its share. Under the FARE Act the tenant no longer pays that commission, so there is nothing to rebate. Commission rebates are still legal and still available on the purchase side — see the buyer rebate.

4. A broker is trying to charge me a fee anyway. Is that allowed?

Not if that broker is working for the landlord. Under the FARE Act a landlord’s agent cannot pass their fee to you, and the landlord is liable even if they never dealt with you directly. Penalties run up to $2,000 per violation plus a refund of the fee. You can report it to the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.

5. Are commission rebates and commission sharing legal in New York?

Yes. The New York Department of State has long held that a broker may share commission with a buyer, seller, landlord or tenant, and in 2015 the Attorney General issued an open letter confirming it and encouraging it as price competition. The FARE Act did not change that. It changed who pays the rental broker in the first place.

6. How do I find listings with NestApple?

Tell us your criteria and we add them to our database. You then get daily emails with available listings that match, drawn from a feed we keep larger and cleaner than the public portals.

7. What happens when I see something I like?

If the apartment has a scheduled open house, we let the listing broker know you are coming. If it does not, we set up a private showing for you.

8. Do you help with the application?

Yes. Once you find the one, we gather the documents, put the application together, deliver it, and follow up so you are considered quickly.

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