Exclusive | NYC fields hundreds of complaints over new broker fee ban but just 2 refunds issued so far

No “fare.” Hundreds of complaints about New York City’s new broker fee ban have been filed since the law went into effect over the summer — but only two real estate agents have been forced to reimburse tenants who were wrongly charged, The Post has learned.Israel Mendlewicz, of real estate brokerage Urban Pads, was ordered to return a $4,480 broker fee he charged tenants for a rent-stabilized Brooklyn apartment in June, the month the Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses (FARE) Act went into effect.He claimed the tenants had agreed to hire him as a broker for the apartment, on Dean Street in Crown Heights — and griped that he must now shell out a $750 civil penalty in addition to the returned fee.“[The tenant] was out of town and was looking for an apartment – and agreed to hire me,” Mendlewicz fumed to The Post.The first-of-its-kind judgement followed an administrative hearing, according to the city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.The other group of refunded tenants saw their $2,500 broker fee returned by their agent before an administrative hearing could come to fruition, DCWP said – with the broker, who was not identified, now forced to pay $1,500 in penalties.The agency has received more than 1,600 gripes and questions about the FARE Act, resulting in 53 summonses, since the law took effect, a spokesperson said.The law, which was passed by the City Council in 2024, states that the party who hires the broker must pay the fee – including landlords who employ brokers to publish apartment listings.The FARE Act prohibits charging tenants for the fees of a broker retained by the landlord.Fines start at $750 for first-time violations and increase up to a max of $2,000.Mendlewicz railed that the new regulations have stiffed him out of business and force those in the real estate industry to work “much harder” to “explain [to] clients the value of hiring a broker … [who] need to work 6-8 weeks to find a tenant that can afford ...