This is great news for tennants in NYC. Hopeful that other prohibitively expensive cities like SF, Seattle, and Boston pass similar laws. Though, an important note: If a city is going to enact a...
This is great news for tennants in NYC. Hopeful that other prohibitively expensive cities like SF, Seattle, and Boston pass similar laws. Though, an important note:
“What was the intended purpose of this?” said Jared Antin, director of sales at Elegran. “If it’s to minimize the cost to the tenant, it just changes when the cost is due. Instead of upfront, they will pay it monthly.”
But state laws limit how much rents can be raised in New York City’s roughly 1 million rent-regulated apartments. There are more than 900,000 market-rate apartments that are not regulated.
If a city is going to enact a similar law, they also need to have a statae law that limits how much rent can be raised in order to prevent the costs from being added to monthly rent. I've had to stay in terrible apartments for years because the cost of moving when a broker's fee is a given for almost every apartment is as much as it is. For me, leasing a new apartment will require you to cut a check before signing that equals 4 months rent: first month, last month, broker's fee equal to one month's rent, and a security deposit equal to one months rent. My last apartment cost me $7000 up front, and my current apartment was ~$10,000. To rent a 2 bedroom. It is so fucking stupid. I am lucky enough to live with my partner and between the two of us after 3 years of saving we could move. There are thousands in this city alone who don't have the benefit of 2 above-average paychecks.
I think broker's free are a scam, but I will begrudgingly give a bit more nuance. I will unhappily pay a broker's fee if I employ the broker and ask him to help me find an apartment. I view that...
I think broker's free are a scam, but I will begrudgingly give a bit more nuance. I will unhappily pay a broker's fee if I employ the broker and ask him to help me find an apartment. I view that similarly to sales commissions, I think they are stupid but I accept it. What is really stupid is when I find a listing on Zillow or some equivalent site, get walked through the apartment, and then I am expected to pay the broker's fee even though the landlord is the one who employed the broker to make the listing, handle walk-throughs, and draft the contract. It is bullshit that broker is involved because the landlord wanted it, and I have to pay even though I had no say in if I wanted to go through a broker or not. That's where it goes from "I am unhappy about this" to "this is absolute horseshit".
What a scam. Even in my area, with its own massive issues with lack of affordable housing, I haven't had to pay more than first month's rent, a deposit (the highest of which was only $250) and the...
What a scam. Even in my area, with its own massive issues with lack of affordable housing, I haven't had to pay more than first month's rent, a deposit (the highest of which was only $250) and the application fee (usually $20-$60). My current place cost my SO and I ~$1900 to move into, for example. And none of these are income-controlled or anything like that, plus my state has very tenant-unfriendly laws.
Even the few people I know who have used a broker to find a place here never paid the broker themselves, the brokers were paid by the complex/landlord themselves.
How do people even afford to get places in cities like this? If it got/gets to this point here, I'll be fine with throwing my hands up and renting the basement apartment from my parents. No wonder we have people moving from places like NYC and being shocked at how cheap (relative to there) it is to rent here.
you either (a) have a very high income (b) have lots of roommates (c) live in the same apartment for as long as possible or (d) are added to the skyrocketing homeless population (or I guess also...
How do people even afford to get places in cities like this?
you either (a) have a very high income (b) have lots of roommates (c) live in the same apartment for as long as possible or (d) are added to the skyrocketing homeless population (or I guess also (e) leave the city)
This is great news for tennants in NYC. Hopeful that other prohibitively expensive cities like SF, Seattle, and Boston pass similar laws. Though, an important note:
If a city is going to enact a similar law, they also need to have a statae law that limits how much rent can be raised in order to prevent the costs from being added to monthly rent. I've had to stay in terrible apartments for years because the cost of moving when a broker's fee is a given for almost every apartment is as much as it is. For me, leasing a new apartment will require you to cut a check before signing that equals 4 months rent: first month, last month, broker's fee equal to one month's rent, and a security deposit equal to one months rent. My last apartment cost me $7000 up front, and my current apartment was ~$10,000. To rent a 2 bedroom. It is so fucking stupid. I am lucky enough to live with my partner and between the two of us after 3 years of saving we could move. There are thousands in this city alone who don't have the benefit of 2 above-average paychecks.
I think broker's free are a scam, but I will begrudgingly give a bit more nuance. I will unhappily pay a broker's fee if I employ the broker and ask him to help me find an apartment. I view that similarly to sales commissions, I think they are stupid but I accept it. What is really stupid is when I find a listing on Zillow or some equivalent site, get walked through the apartment, and then I am expected to pay the broker's fee even though the landlord is the one who employed the broker to make the listing, handle walk-throughs, and draft the contract. It is bullshit that broker is involved because the landlord wanted it, and I have to pay even though I had no say in if I wanted to go through a broker or not. That's where it goes from "I am unhappy about this" to "this is absolute horseshit".
What a scam. Even in my area, with its own massive issues with lack of affordable housing, I haven't had to pay more than first month's rent, a deposit (the highest of which was only $250) and the application fee (usually $20-$60). My current place cost my SO and I ~$1900 to move into, for example. And none of these are income-controlled or anything like that, plus my state has very tenant-unfriendly laws.
Even the few people I know who have used a broker to find a place here never paid the broker themselves, the brokers were paid by the complex/landlord themselves.
How do people even afford to get places in cities like this? If it got/gets to this point here, I'll be fine with throwing my hands up and renting the basement apartment from my parents. No wonder we have people moving from places like NYC and being shocked at how cheap (relative to there) it is to rent here.
you either (a) have a very high income (b) have lots of roommates (c) live in the same apartment for as long as possible or (d) are added to the skyrocketing homeless population (or I guess also (e) leave the city)
Good riddance to the leeches. The fewer middlemen and the more consumer protection laws the better.