Queens skyline.

NEW YORK CITY – The New York real estate industry gathered in arms on Monday to secure a temporary injunction against the Department of State guidance barring tenant-paid broker commissions from a landlord-retained real estate agent, but many are asking how long will the injunction last, could the court deem it as justified since it is not law but a litigation position?  Leni Morrison Cummins, a real estate attorney at Cozen O'Connor, tells GlobeSt.com 

Since the passing of the Housing Tenant and Protection Act in 2019, the market has experienced a slowdown. The legislation clamped down on the popular strategy of transitioning rent-stabilized units to market-rate housing and set a standardized apartment application fee to $20, which significantly tempered investor enthusiasm. However, with the Department of State guidance of a rental-fee ban has flushed everyone in the industry to take a closer look at the legislation, Cummins said.

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.

Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.

Mariah Brown

Mariah Brown is the New York Bureau Chief and Real Estate Reporter for GlobeSt.com, covering the New York Metro area, Northeast region and national real estate trends. She is responsible for producing multi-media content, including articles, podcasts and video. Before joining the GlobeSt team, she served as a New York Times fellow, reported for the Associated Press in New York and Philadelphia and several other New York City-based outlets.