Forum Archive: Brokers

Almost four years ago, my two other roommates and I moved into a brownstone in Clinton Hill. However, in addition to asking for first and last month’s rent, our landlord also requested a 12% of yearly rent fee. I was hesitant because of this, but we were desperate and tired of looking for an apartment and here we are.

Now, fastforward, he has been a horrible landlord. Aside from waiting an unreasonable amount of time to fix ANY problem, he has ignored our more recent requests to provide heat and deal with the mice and roach problem that has cropped up (I’m totally aware this is illegal, and this will probably be another part of the potential lawsuit against him). My real question is whether it was legal for him to charge that 12% broker’s fee on his own building. He is a licensed broker and ran it through his very well known employer.

Everything I’ve been able to find has emphasized the need for them to be licensed, but what if they are?

My daughter found an apartment in Greenpoint through a broker and paid the broker a month’s fee (not sure if this was at signing or before). Regardless, she got a lease, signed it, and paid the landlord first and last month’s rent. The lease was for occupancy starting Oct 15th. Soon after signing, the landlord notified her that he wasn’t going to be able to get the current tenant of the apartment out by the 15th, possibly not even November 1st. Even though he was stating that he was going to default on the contract, he refused to give them their money back till October 15. Through all this, the broker did very little to help her.

The 15th came, the tenant wasn’t out and, ultimately, the landlord gave them their money back. However, the broker has kept their fee, stating that “they found her an apartment.” Evidently, the contract she signed with the broker stated that if they got her an apartment (and I guess by that they mean “lease”), they get to keep the deposit.

My daughter had honored the rental agreement — she continued with the application, not backing out until the day the landlord negated the contract on the 15th. Can the broker maintain the position that they found her an apartment when the landlord broke the contract?

Thanks

Hi,

My husband and I have put in an offer for a house; we verbally put one in over 2 weeks ago, and our broker (who also works for the same real estate company who listed the house) has only done this verbally.

We have come up to our “final offer,” which was the amount the broker told us the owner is seeking in order to close the deal (but is less than what the list price is); this was done 1 day before the owner was supposedly due to take the house off the market. Our broker did not ask us to fill out and submit a bid form with our financials, and then said that after the expired “date,” the owner wanted to wait out the weekend as he is “expecting other bids to come in.” We are starting to get suspicious/annoyed by the fact that no documentation of our financials (or anyone else’s) is being submitted.

Thoughts? Any advice if there’s anything we should do?

Thanks!

I made an offer on an coop unit on Tuesday. I did not hear anything for three days. Then I heard from the seller’s broker on Friday that the seller was accepting Best and Final by the end of that day. Though they did not counter (weird?) or even acknowledge my first offer, I came up by a few thousand. I had my offer in by noon on Friday. It’s Saturday night, and I still have heard nothing. My offer–which was very very close to asking–was contingent upon the seller/broker canceling Sunday’s open house. The open house was posted yesterday morning and has not been taken down. I’m thinking the seller’s broker does not want to co-broke with my broker (who came to the first open house with us and made our first offer for us) and has not even told the seller about our very solid offer. The seller’s broker is not answering his cell or office phone. We have not gotten him on the phone since Wednesday. The rest has been email that we can tell he has read but does not respond to. If I find out the broker never gave the seller our offer, do I have any recourse? Is this at all normal? Any insight will help. Thanks.

The NY Post, NY Observer and the Real Deal covered a story about two Douglas Elliman Real Estate agents who stole a tenant’s dog, among other belongings for rent due. Stefani Pace and Avraham Lasri committed an actual felony by breaking into an apartment and stealing the tenant’s belongings. Worse, they also stole her dog and turned the pet into the city shelter under deceptive means, which is a form of animal abuse and neglect. How dare Pace and Lasri still have their licenses. Even if the tenant lied about why she couldn’t pay the rent, this did not give any legal or ethical right for Pace and Lasri to enter the apartment and remove the tenant’s property, especially the dog. Lasri even went on record in the NY Post admitting to what he and Pace had done, albeit to provide what he thought would be a reasonable excuse. Unbelievable!

Their behavior is beyond unforgiveable, and they must be punished accordingly, which does not include them being able to keep their real estate licenses.

Hi,
I am thinking of selling my one bedroom in center Park Slope. I talked to a real estate agent from Corcoran and they told me the fee is 6%. Does anyone know if that is negotiable? Are the other real estate firms a lot cheaper?
Thanks

Does anyone know how to look up a listing from a few months ago that’s been taken down? I can’t find a site where I just click cache.. It was listed on the NYT (where it’s been replaced by a new listing, but I want to see the old again.) Maybe Brownstoner itself keeps archives??

Has anyone had experience either filing a complaint against a broker (or receiving one?) with REBNY and the NYS licensing board? What is the outcome? What might one expect as the outcome?

I am subletting my NYC apartment and would like to know if I should be on the lookout for brokers posing as prospective tenants, or any other scams.

More precisely, I am not subletting my place but rather “assigning” my lease (this is the NYC housing law term for it). It simply means someone fully taking over your lease.

That is, a person can break their lease and assign it to another person, if the landlord agrees. The first tenant’s lease (mine) is then completely terminated and the new person gets their own lease.

My landlord’s condition was that I find someone to take it over, which is very fair. (They have every right to refuse, and could have required me instead to simply sublet.) The management company has been very upfront and cooperative with allowing me to do this.

It also means, of course, that I advertise and show the apartment myself.

Naturally I make the situation clear to everyone who inquires. If they want the apartment they go directly to the management company who handles all the paperwork and credit check. I am not involved in that nor does any money get paid to me.

My only concern is that somehow this situation could be gamed by unscrupulous brokers.

Thanks for your help.