Broker's Fees? Broken Leases? (apartment, college, maintenance)

[mmihwa]

My question is, if you have signed a lease, under what conditions can you break it. And if you end a lease prematurely, (so, two weeks now?) then is there any way to get your Broker's Fee back?

I'm moving to the city after graduating from college on the west coast. And I certainly wasn't prepared for the business of Broker's in NYC. First, the apartment isn't what I thought it would be once 'maintenance' was finished. They did paint the place and fix a damaged ceiling, but I thought the place would be clean when I moved in--it took 4 hours of lysol and scrubbing just to see the counters again. And they left paint on the windows and it's just a pain.

The second issue I haven't gotten over is that the broker told us one "total fee" which was 40% less than what we were actually charged.

I understand these aren't big issues, but I hated that there was so much pressure to sign for the place, and now I want to just pick up and sign a lease for the other apartment we were approved for. It has only been five days since we signed, we haven't moved anything in, and we also haven't received the signed lease back yet.

Suggestions for a girl who wants to get out fast??

Thanks!

[Cida]

Sorry that you started off with such a bad experience. If you're just out of college, I was going to say that I'm surprised you didn't begin with a roommate, which would have been helpful, and maybe prevented your falling into a bad situation. But then at one point you suddenly say "we."

I'm guessing that once you signed, you were committed. And you probably signed something that specified the fee, no matter what the broker said. Maybe you didn't read the contract? I think you might be stuck - and I notice that no one else posted a response. However, that wouldn't stop you from writing a dignified angry letter to the head of the agency, telling him that the broker grossly misrepresented the fees - and you can send a copy to whatever the regulatory/oversight government office there might be, maybe Consumer Affairs. That might intimidate them into giving you a partial refund.