More NYC Apartment Stuff
It looks like some New York City officials are starting to notice some of the creepy practices of apartment brokers. I won't hold my breathe waiting for a change though. Theses brokers take being crooked to levels on par with corporate lawyers, without the gloss. From the article:
In September, the committee called 223 real estate agents who had advertised no-fee apartments on craigslist.org and backpage.com, two popular Web sites that list classified ads. When asked if they charged a broker's fee, 31 percent said they did, despite their ad.

Another 4 percent said the cost was actually noted on the posting, in miniature print at the bottom. Of those with fees, 87 percent charged one month's rent or 10 to 15 percent of the annual rent.

"These ads are costing New Yorkers thousands of dollars," Councilman Eric Gioia (D-Woodside), chair of the committee, said at a news conference Thursday."The truth is that you can't put an ad in a newspaper that's dishonest and we've gotten pretty good at protecting against that."

Robert Eichner, president of the Manhattan Realtors Association, said he was shocked by the amount of fraud the committee found."The magnitude is out of control," Eichner said, adding that most probably use the old "bait and switch," luring customers with a deal that's too good to be true.