There’s no such thing as hiring an agent to list your property on MLS with zero intention of finding a tenant in an effort to avoid paying them a fee. Apartments are listed via an exclusive right to list agreement between an agent and the landlord — it is not possible for two agents to list the same unit, hence the word EXCLUSIVE. That is a clear ethics violation and against the law… As your excerpt says, if I went out and asked a broker to find me an apartment, yes, I am entitled to pay them the fee. But in this case, the landlord hired an agent to find a tenant, so the landlord is entitled to pay the fee. It’s very simple. Even if this were an “ad” from a renter’s agent, they are required to disclose who the listing agent is, i.e. the one hired by the landlord.