Misrepresentation by Broker - Rental
Notwithstanding what appears to be a potential conflict by the broker in representing you as the renter and the seller at the same time, you have no rights to a lease renewal as a tenant in small brownstone like this. They offered you an 18 month lease, and after the 18 months, the former owner or the new owner each could have said thanks, now get out. If you wanted to be guaranteed longer than 18 months, you needed to have signed a longer lease at the start.
As others have said, try to have a conversation with the new owner and try for a new lease. You can also reach out to the broker and/or the firm, but I dont think you are going to get very far there. A complaint to the Real Estate Board of NY against the broker may get some traction, but not your money back.
boredatwork
in General Discussion 9 years ago
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23 replies
james3210 | 9 years ago
We rented an apartment through a broker a little over a year ago and paid her a 12% fee – coming in at approximately $7,000. We were very clear on saying this was a family home (we had one son at the time and now have two) and that we wanted to be in a long term situation. We asked to extend the one year lease offered and we’re given 18 months. The brownstone has now sold and we’ve been made aware that it went on the market “silently” less then one month after we moved in – listed and sold by the same broker who’s fee we paid for renting. It also came to our that she had listed the house prior to our signing the lease and it was only removed for the few weeks when we first moved in. We have emails and documents with proof of this. Had we known this informtation we never would have taken the apartment with a $7000 broker’s fee knowing it would only be a tempoarary home. Is this illegal on the part of said broker? Is there recourse for getting our fee back? Never mind the moving costs of moving twice….
stuyheights | 9 years ago
Small claims. Max 5k. It’s your only shot
mozeeatupu | 9 years ago
Do you know the new owner will not renew your lease? They have to honor your current lease.
You paid a fee to get a rental. You got a rental. Don’t see a case, but IANAL
katdov | 9 years ago
The new owner has to honor your lease until its termination date. He bought this building with tenants in place (I’m sure all the active leases are part of the contract). However, he has no legal obligation to extend your lease. While your agent acted unethically, I’m not sure you have a case if longer term is not specified on your lease. Even if the building did not sell and the agent did not lie to you, the agent had no way to guarantee that the landlord would have extended your lease after its expiration. Furthermore, I am guessing this was the listing agent, ie, not your agent but the landlord’s? If so, that agent’s fiduciary responsibility is to the Landlord (you should have had your own agent who would have shared the commission with the other agent, at no extra cost to you). That said, you can try and file an ethics complaint with REBNY (Real Estate Board of NY) who is responsible for enforcing the code of ethics (provided this agent is a REBNY member).
slopefarm | 9 years ago
I don’t know the contours of the law and what might be actionable here. Usually brokers are pretty good at knowing the line between what is merely sketchy and what is legally actionable. See moz’s comment above — broker can say he has no way of knowing what the next owner will do. But check to see whether the ads said “delivered vacant.” If so, that might strengthen your case, but hard to see how you get anything more than your fee back. And suing for that amount might not be worth having a record of suing a broker that future landlords might see. It might even encourage the new owners not to renew. Harsh to say that, but it is a real worry, I think. Your best bet is to try to advocate to stay on and be renewed by new owners.
Perhaps write a letter to the broker, not too hostile, just “we’re concerned about” whether we will be able to stay, etc., and lay out your concerns. Perhaps throw in a line about how you had been recommending the broker to friends. Frame it as a customer service/integrity matter, and not a litigation threat. Ask whether he knows w hether new owners will continue the tenancy, whether it was discussed in the course of sale, etc. See what kind of a response you get.
dorkofwindsor | 9 years ago
“We were very clear on saying this was a family home (we had one son at the time and now have two) and that we wanted to be in a long term situation.”
1) you are still in the lease so there have been no damage to you
2) a rental broker can not promise beyond the current lease. ever. rental broker is not the owner. What if the owner does not like you as a tenant? (among a million other scenarios)
3) what you would hope the broker would to be able to promise is between you and yourself, it does not exist within the confines of reality and the law. You rented an apt for 18 months and paid a fee of $7k. That is the deal you agreed to in black and white. It is what you received. New LL can not break this deal by law.
4) new LL could still renew your lease, so how could anyone conclude that you have been wronged? Where are the damages?
slopefarm | 9 years ago
it’s a little grayer than that, dork. Of course broker cannot promise. But since, according to OP, broker was listing the house for sale at the time AND knew renters were looking for long-term, the fact that the house was for sale might have been something the broker ought to have disclosed just so that the renters could make an informed decision. Clearly, the OP would have looked for a rental situation with less risk, even if there are of course no guarantees. To me it leaves a bit of a bad taste, even if likely not actionable.
dorkofwindsor | 9 years ago
If they were selling house and renting at same time one could also assume that they wanted to show solid rent roll locked up so new investor could buy building with certainty of cash flow (i.e. justify a higher price for seller). This isn’t something you would normally do if you were trying to market to owner / occupier. If this is indeed the case, i would be inclined to think the new LL should be pleased to renew OP’s lease. To me this is an assumption that someone was trying to “pull a fast one” on someone else via automatic paranoia. OP should instead try to contact new LL and survey their intentions of renewing lease explaining situation. When this is determined, a conclusion can be drawn.
Have we not learned over the past month to verify facts before making accusations based solely on paranoia?
slopefarm | 9 years ago
I agree that this may work out fine in the end and that there are justifiable reasons for the simultaneous rental and sale listings. I still think, in light of the concerns the renters expressed to the broker, it is a bit sketchy for the broker not to have disclosed to the renters that the property was listed for sale, so that they could make an informed decision, whether or not you of I would agree with that decision. There are ways a broker could have disclosed the info in a reassuring way. I am aware of a few times brokers have chosen not to disclose key details to me that would have directly answered questions I raised. I never used those brokers again and told friends to watch out. If it were me in the renters shoes, I would focus on building a relationship with the new owners, try to renew the lease, and not think of suing. But i would not go back to that broker next time.
james3210 | 9 years ago
The listing stated that the apartment could come with high paying tennets (us) OR vacant. Which was not discussed with us at all.
My issue is that we would not have agreed to a broker’s fee or even moving into this apartment knowing that this was not long term. We’re two adults with two young children. Not college students. It’s an expensive brownstone duplex in Clinton Hill. We met with the broker and with the owners prior to lease signing to discuss intentions. Had the owners paid the broker’s fee – sure. Then we got screwed and that’s that. But we paid her fee and she wasn’t honest about the intentions of the owners and was representing us and paid by us. Seems outright unethical to me.
No information has been given from past owners or new owners on any lease renewal. The entire process has been handled pretty disrespectfully all around. I only know that it sold for sure by seeing it on the real estate website.
james3210 | 9 years ago
The listing stated that the apartment could come with high paying tennets (us) OR vacant. Which was not discussed with us at all.
My issue is that we would not have agreed to a broker’s fee or even moving into this apartment knowing that this was not long term. We’re two adults with two young children. Not college students. It’s an expensive brownstone duplex in Clinton Hill. We met with the broker and with the owners prior to lease signing to discuss intentions. Had the owners paid the broker’s fee – sure. Then we got screwed and that’s that. But we paid her fee and she wasn’t honest about the intentions of the owners and was representing us and paid by us. Seems outright unethical to me.
No information has been given from past owners or new owners on any lease renewal. The entire process has been handled pretty disrespectfully all around. I only know that it sold for sure by seeing it on the real estate website.
james3210 | 9 years ago
Just to add on as well –
1. Co-broker: She straight up lied to us and we asked all the questions that needed to be asked. How would having a second broker in there change the scenario?
2. New Owners: Whst difference does it make if they renew or not. The bottom line is she lied to us on the initial lease and misrepresented facts leaving us in a precarious situation we were clear on. She was going to sell that house to anyone if they want us in or out.
james3210 | 9 years ago
Just to add on as well –
1. Co-broker: She straight up lied to us and we asked all the questions that needed to be asked. How would having a second broker in there change the scenario?
2. New Owners: Whst difference does it make if they renew or not. The bottom line is she lied to us on the initial lease and misrepresented facts leaving us in a precarious situation we were clear on. She was going to sell that house to anyone if they want us in or out.
daveinbedstuy | 9 years ago
Yes, she’s sleazy according to your scenario. Since the house has sold, have you been notified as to whether or not your lease will be extended?
dorkofwindsor | 9 years ago
no doubt sleazy, even more so if they were advertising sale as possible being delivered vacant, esp since you had over six months to go on lease. i’m just playing devils advocate, but in all honesty you paid your brokers fee, received your lease, and that is that. anything else promised to you probably wouldn’t stand up in court, this is the market and if you had greater expectations (lies) after the 18 months it would need to be in writing. No one has any assurances of what to expect beyond their current lease term, whether a brokers fee is paid or not. But yeah, rental brokers are the worst. Do you mind disclosing who? They sound like they deserve to be outed for the next unassuming renter / buyer.
daveinbedstuy | 9 years ago
> @Sarah Barney-Diaz
> New Owners: Whst difference does it make if they renew or not.
Well, that’s what you really wanted.
Everything else is superfluous if they do.
chemosphere | 9 years ago
Ask the new owners, politely, to stay. If they don’t want you to stay, ask to stay a few months more than the lease. If they don’t want this, ask for the $7000. Tell them If they pay you that you’ll move by the month they want. Otherwise you shuffle your feet. They just paid millions. $7000 is not a big deal. If they are planning to renovate or something it may be worth it to have you out of there as soon as possible and your slowness (even if you do it in a nice, non-antagonistic way) will cost them money. And really, the new owners should have asked the sellers to take care of you before closing, since they are getting a nice chunk of change. This is part of the cost of “delivered vacant”.
peaceout | 9 years ago
Sorry this happened to you – no one wants to move under the circumstances young children. We all know the difficulties of trying to find a place, dealing with landlords and finding the right place. I know you do not want to hear this, but as noted above, the agent who you worked with represented the landlord, not you. Her fiduciary responsibility is to her client. You do not know the landlord’s situation and why they are selling. I know someone who renovated their apt in their townhouse, rented it out, and decided to sell 7 months later. Was this done purposely? No, did the timing suck for the tenants? Yes. But that ‘s the downside, and unfortunate side of renting. You are always last in the pecking order. As shitty as it feels, the agent’s role was to find a qualified tenant for her customer – the landlord. Only your current lease had to be honored. Not to sound harsh, but stating you are a family and want to stay long term has no bearing on the situation. Unles s you never signed a NYS disclosure form, which outlines the agent’s role, there is nothing you can do about this unfortunate dilemma you are in.
james3210 | 9 years ago
Peaceout – We did not sign that form. I’ve never heard of it before, had to just google it. If the agent is not paid by the owner and is paid only by the tenant does that not mean the agent should have the interests of the renter? Clearly I’m not a real estate person but I have lived in Fort Greene, renting, for 20 years and I’ve never had any issues like this before with a real estate broker.