Standard Rental Agreement in NYC
How long is a standard NYC rental agreement for landlords looking to rent out their property? How does the lease agreement language differ for “no fee” versus normal listings where the tenant pays the broker fee?
Who normally pays the broker fee for rentals in NYC?
The broker fee is paid by the tenant in the vast majority of rental transactions simply because of the supply and demand dynamics of the NYC rental market. There is normally such a high demand for non-luxury rental housing stock that landlords can get away with never paying the broker fee. Listing brokers thus are able to list the landlord’s property for free and charge the tenant typically 15% of annual rent in fees. This fee is often split 50/50 between the tenant’s broker and the listing broker if the tenant is represented.
This situation may reverse itself if the property is very expensive, niche or otherwise hard to rent out. In this case the landlord will pay the broker’s fee and advertise the listing as “no fee.” This may be advantageous when the NYC market is experiencing a surplus of housing stock and new construction coming onto the market. In this market situation, a landlord may be forced to offer further concessions such as one or two months of free rent in addition to “no fee.”
What does a standard NYC rental agreement look like?
As a landlord, you’ll notice that a standard NYC rental agreement is relatively short versus a standard Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Agreement.
If a landlord wishes to advertise the property as “no fee,” the commission language in Part 6 of the sample NYC rental agreement below simply needs to be changed to “You agree that when and if a lease of the property is fully executed, we will seek and be paid our commission and compensation for services rendered only from the landlord, at a rate of [__]% of the first year’s rent.” Landlords who have sold properties before will recognize that the listing broker will “co-broke” or offer to split the commission with any brokers representing tenants.
We’ve included a sample standard NYC rental agreement below where the tenant will pay the broker’s fee.
Please check out the full article at https://www.hauseit.com/standard-nyc-rental-agreement/ for a copy of a Standard NYC Rental Agreement

Please note: this article is not intended to serve as legal or tax advice. You should consult your lawyer and tax attorney for all aspects of your real estate transaction.
