Illustration: Emma Erickson

Welcome to “Apartment Department,” Curbed’s advice column by Clio Chang. Join us every other Wednesday for questions about making peace with noisy-sex neighbors, the nuances of roommate fridge etiquette, and whatever else you might need to know about renting, buying, or crying in the New York City housing market.

Got a problem? Email clio.chang@nymag.com.

Dear Apartment Department,

My four roommates and I applied for a house in Bed Stuy. When the broker called to tell us we got the place, he said, “Pack your bags!” He had us sign the paperwork, set up a deposit for transfer, and he even invited us back to make measurements for the furniture. We were thrilled to find a place and scrambling to move, so we failed to notice that the owner had not actually countersigned (even though the Docusign for the lease said “completed”) and that our deposit hadn’t been withdrawn. Two days before move-in, the broker called to say the house was going to someone else — the owner had asked him to “keep quiet” about another application while acting like the place was ours. Are they allowed to do that? How honest does a broker have to be?

Yours, 

Bags Were Packed

Dear Bags,

Something uniquely terrible about New York City  is that the insane competition in the rental market typically means the work of finding and moving into an apartment happens in a matter of weeks, if not days. That frenzy affords landlords a lot of leverage — they can pull this kind of thing on you at the last minute because there’s usually someone waiting in the wings who is willing (and somehow able) to pay more or move faster. Having the broker seemingly mislead you in this way is incredibly rude. But is it illegal?

The question about how honest a broker actually has to be is, like most things, both simple and incredibly complicated. “Kind of a sleazy practice,” James Fishman, a tenant lawyer, told me when I described your situation to him. He said that when it comes to issues with brokers, the best place to turn is the New York Department of State, which issues their licenses. While there are no regulations to address your exact problem, there are a few broad clauses that govern how a broker should generally behave. Fishman points to one (part of Chapter 50 of Real Property law) that states if a broker is found to be “guilty of fraud or fraudulent practices, or for dishonest or misleading advertising,” then they can have their licenses revoked.

I also reached out to the department, and a spokesperson told me your case might indeed violate the state’s Real Property law, pointing to another section that requires landlords’ agents to “deal honestly, fairly, and in good faith.” Other common instances of broker fraud that tenants should look out for include misrepresenting the condition of the property — claiming, for example, there’s laundry in-unit when there’s actually only a pipe sticking out of a closet — and “falsely representing fees required to obtain a lease.” (A landlord can only charge a $20 application fee, and a broker can only make you pay a broker fee if you hired them.) To report a broker for any of this, you can file a complaint to the Department of State and should, as always, include as much documentation as possible to support your claim.

But the case might not be all that clear-cut. Brokers are salespeople: Some exaggeration and backend negotiation is part of the job. Anna Klenkar, an independent broker, said that while she was “horrified” by your scenario, there are lots of ways what your broker did could be perfectly legal. The exact details likely matter — was the broker working exclusively for the landlord, or was it an open listing where multiple brokers were trying to rent out the same place? Was the broker sitting on two signed leases for weeks, or did it all happen so quickly that they also thought you had the place until the landlord told them otherwise? (There is always a tension in what a broker tells you and what they are withholding on behalf of their client. It’s also possible the landlord was withholding information from them.) This isn’t to say that you shouldn’t report the broker and see what happens, but just be ready if things don’t work out in your favor. “Without the specifics, it’s hard to know how shitty the person was being,” Klenkar said. “Maybe they were being manipulative and gross, or maybe this was a total shock.”

The broker is working on behalf of the landlord, so ultimately it’s the landlord who screwed you. To better protect yourself in the future, Klenkar says it’s important to keep pressing the agent for a countersigned lease. (Until the landlord countersigns, you also have the leverage of being able to pull out.) If they’re ducking you, that should raise alarm bells. This might seem obvious in hindsight, but it’s actually not uncommon for tenants to move into an apartment without getting their lease countersigned. Most of all, it’s important to remember that the broker is adhering to the contract they likely signed with the landlord to try to rent their apartment for the most money possible. “Just because an agent is buddy-buddy with you,” Klenkar said, “at the end of day you’re not their client.”

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