NYC FARE Act Disclosure Form Template

What the FARE Act fee disclosure is for

New York City's Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses Act, Local Law 119 of 2024, took effect on June 11, 2025. It did two things. It ended the practice of tenants paying the fee of a broker hired by the landlord. And it added a disclosure duty that many landlords and agents still handle informally or not at all. Under Administrative Code section 20-699.22(b), before a residential lease is signed, the landlord or landlord's agent must give the tenant an itemized written list of every fee the tenant must pay to the landlord, or to anyone at the landlord's direction, with a short description of each. The tenant has to sign that list before signing the lease. The landlord or agent then keeps it for three years and gives the tenant a copy.

The law doesn't publish a form, and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection's guidance only restates the requirement. This template turns it into a two-page document an agent can complete in a few minutes. The broker fee statement is written in plain words. The fee tables are laid out against the New York State limits that decide what can be charged at all: the $20 background check cap, the one-month deposit and the late fee ceiling. The tenant acknowledgment records the time of signing so the order of documents can be proved, and the certification and retention record cover the three-year rule. Listing wording, a compliance checklist and an optional acknowledgment for tenants who hire their own agent are included.

When to use it

Use it for every new residential lease in the five boroughs, whether a broker is involved or not: market-rate and rent-stabilized apartments, condo and co-op units rented by their owners, and houses. Give it to the tenant once you've accepted the application and agreed the terms, and have it signed before the lease is sent for signature. If the lease is signed electronically, send the disclosure first as its own document, or make it the first document in the signing order.

Keep a completed copy with each lease file. If a fee changes before the lease is signed, prepare a new disclosure and have it signed again. The law speaks of "an agreement for the rental", and it doesn't say expressly whether renewals are covered. Giving an updated disclosure with a renewal that adds or changes any fee is the careful course.

What's inside

The full list of sections and fields in this template, in the order they appear.

1. The rental

   • Apartment address and unit
   • Landlord legal name
   • Managing agent
   • Landlord's agent and license number
   • Listing reference
   • Prospective tenants
   • Lease term
   • Monthly rent
   • Rent-stabilized status

2. Broker fee statement

   • No fee to the landlord's agent
   • No required agent
   • Tenant's own agent explanation

3. Itemized fees

   • First month's rent
   • Security deposit
   • Background and credit check
   • Total due at signing
   • Recurring charges
   • Late fee
   • Returned payment fee
   • Other contingent charges
   • Statement that no other fees apply

4. Tenant acknowledgment

   • Each tenant's name
   • Signature
   • Date
   • Time

5. Landlord or agent certification

   • Name
   • Capacity and license number
   • Signature
   • Copy given to tenant

6. Record retention

   • Signature and lease dates
   • Keep-until date
   • Storage location
   • Background check copy and receipt

7. Appendices

   • Listing fee wording
   • Landlord and agent compliance checklist
   • Penalties
   • Tenant's own agent acknowledgment

Preview pages

How to fill in the disclosure

1. Describe the rental. Enter the building owner's legal name, any managing agent, the listing broker and license number, the listing reference, every tenant, the term and the rent.
2. Keep the broker fee statement as written. Do not edit it to add a fee. The landlord pays its own agent.
3. Fill in the amounts due at signing. Usually first month's rent, a security deposit of no more than one month, and a background and credit check fee of no more than $20.
4. List recurring charges. Only include charges the lease allows, such as optional parking or storage, and mark each one optional or required.
5. List charges that apply only if something happens. These include the late fee, which can't apply until rent is more than five days late and can't exceed $50 or 5% of rent, and a returned payment fee if the lease provides for one.
6. Have every tenant sign Part 4 first. Record the date and time, then sign the lease.
7. Certify and give copies. The landlord or agent signs Part 5 and gives each tenant a copy.
8. File it. Complete Part 6 with a keep-until date three years after signing.

Example: a completed disclosure excerpt

A fictional owner, 412 Ditmars Holdings LLC, lists a one-bedroom in Astoria at $2,850 a month through a listing agent at Steinway Realty. The tenant, Marisol Ortega, applies on March 9 and provides a credit report from February 26, so the check fee is waived.

Landlord's agent: Steinway Realty Group, Daniel Park, licensed real estate salesperson. You will not pay any fee to the landlord's agent. A. Due before or at lease signing: First month's rent, $2,850. Security deposit, held for the tenant and returned less lawful deductions within 14 days after move-out, $2,850. Background and credit check, $0 (waived; applicant's report dated February 26). Total: $5,700. B. Recurring: Bike room space, optional, $15 a month. C. Contingent: Late fee, only if rent is more than five days late, $50. Tenant acknowledgment: Marisol Ortega, March 12, 10:05 a.m. Lease signed March 12, 10:20 a.m. Keep until March 12, three years later.

New York rules to know

The disclosure sits on top of New York City and New York State rules that decide what can be charged.

• Broker fees (NYC Admin. Code section 20-699.21). A landlord's agent, or any agent who publishes a listing with the landlord's permission, may not impose or collect a fee from a tenant. Listing agents are presumed to have permission. No one may make a rental conditional on the tenant hiring an agent, including a dual agent.
• Listing disclosure (section 20-699.22(a)). Every listing must disclose clearly and conspicuously any fee the prospective tenant must pay.
• Itemized disclosure (section 20-699.22(b)). It must be signed before the lease, kept for three years, and copied to the tenant.
• Penalties and lawsuits (sections 20-699.23 and 20-699.24). Civil penalties, restitution, and a private right of action, with DCWP's penalty schedule in 6 RCNY section 6-89.
• Upfront fees (Real Property Law section 238-a(1)). No application or other upfront fee except a background and credit check fee capped at the lesser of actual cost or $20, with the report and receipt given to the applicant.
• Late fees and returned checks (section 238-a(2) and (2-a)). A late fee only after five days, capped at the lesser of $50 or 5% of monthly rent. A returned check fee only if the lease provides for it.
• Security deposits (General Obligations Law section 7-108(1-a)). No more than one month's rent, a move-in inspection offer, and an itemized statement and return within 14 days after move-out.

Mistakes landlords and agents make

The most common FARE Act violations are listings still syndicated with old fee language, and broker fees renamed as something else: an "admin fee", "processing fee", "holding deposit" or "move-in fee". State law already prohibits those charges, and the FARE Act makes the landlord liable for its agent's fee. The second mistake is timing. A disclosure signed after the lease, or bundled into the lease packet so both are signed at once, doesn't meet the rule that the tenant signs it first. Recording the time on Part 4 and sending it ahead of the lease avoids both problems.