FILE - A new building sits between two older-style buildings in the East Harlem section of New York, Feb. 3, 2015. Legislation backed by a majority of the New York City Council would require landlords who hire brokers to pay their broker fees, marking a potential sea change in one of the countrys most expensive housing markets.
“In most businesses, the person who hires the person pays the person,” said Agustina Velez, a house cleaner from Queens who said she recently paid $6,000 to switch apartments. “Enough with these injustices. Landlords have to pay for the services they use.”Ahead of the hearing, hundreds of brokers gathered to voice their objections at a rally organized by the Real Estate Board of New York, the industry’s powerful lobbying group.
Their frustration was echoed at Wednesday’s hearing by dozens of ordinary renters, along with a mix of labor unions, housing policy groups and some prominent business leaders. Critics said paying brokers' fees serves as a barrier to those who’d otherwise move to the city while preventing low-income New Yorkers from relocating to new homes.
Under the legislation, tenants would still pay brokers that they hired directly. The bill’s brief language — less than 200 words — only requires the party that hires the real estate agent pay their fee. “I think it’s not logical. The landlord should pay the listing agent who is working on their behalf,” said Maria Octavio, a real estate broker with the firm of Douglas Elliman. “Because it’s worked this way for many years, the owners are used to it.”