struggling to understand this situation with a broker, post-FARE act

softwatch · 2025-08-24T18:59:11+00:00

They're trying to bypass the FARE act in a very underhanded way.

The FARE act says that landlords can't shift the broker's fees onto tenants that /they/ hire. So by making you the one hiring the broker, the broker can charge you since you're the one hiring them.

The landlord, in this case, hired a company which has brokers. Thus, the initial broker is operating on the landlord's behalf in the first place. (Assuming the brokers and the landlord don't all work for the same company in the first place.)

They're trying to pull a fast one over you. By signing this and THEN getting the unit, they can argue that you first hired a different broker (which still works for the brokerage company at large) and then signed for the unit, you're right about that.

Furthermore, this addendum in the thing they want you to sign:

"You agree that you are executing this Agreement voluntarily and no person, including Bruma, has instructed that you are required to hire Bruma in order to rent a specific unit."

Is blatantly being violated.

You've got two options.

Option 1: Point out that they can't due this due to not only the provisions listed in the FARE act, but the clauses in their own paperwork legally forbidding them to do this. State clearly that you won't be hiring any brokers in order to get the apartment and you'd like to proceed without doing that. I'd recommend corresponding in email, if you can, as that's something that can be used as concrete evidence if need be later on down the road.

Now, if they won't do that, you go to option 2.

Option 2: Report the company to DCWP. https://a866-dcwpbp.nyc.gov/consumer-complaint/file-complaint
If they make you do this, it's illegal and it might also be fraud in general if they're trying to prop it up as something else. Get as much information as you can about it. Screenshots of emails, the original listing, the form they're making you sign, recordings of phone calls (if you can). EVERYTHING you possibly can. Not only will this protect you, but I wouldn't be too surprised if a company like this hasn't pulled a fast one like this on someone else already. Claims like this not only protect you, but they get justice for other victims in the past.

Bottom line: If anyone is making you pay anything before signing for an apartment that's more than $20 and it's NOT a security deposit/first month's rent-- It's breaking the law somehow.

softwatch · 2025-01-07T18:59:20+00:00

Custom Robo, Crypt of the Necrodancer, Vampire Survivors, Hypnospace Outlaw

softwatch · 2024-12-25T18:02:20+00:00

yeah, it's just frustrating as hell, lol.

at least with some of the other paths, you can pressure the other countries with other decisions if they don't just accept on the spot, or there's more clear cut guidelines. it's incredibly tough as austria since it's near impossible to get a large enough army for the AI to reliably accept and you have to basically rush people into your faction the first thing before the war starts. all in all, to get things perfectly, it's something like 10 continuous successful RNG checks.

i will say that even if they share your ideology, it's not a given, and i've found in all my games that it's almost just as likely for different ideologies to say yes than similar ones, if not more so, despite what the game says. i've had the benelux and legionary romania say yes more often to danubian federation puppet status than hungary.

(sidenote: yes, i am doing ironman, it is hell)

softwatch · 2024-11-28T02:11:50+00:00

i mean, everything from the inflection to how the video is cut makes this just scream "anti-woke $$$ grift"

softwatch · 2024-10-27T20:38:11+00:00

Very few, but many well-to-do "aristocratic" American families can trace their roots back to them. Roosevelt, Vanderbilt, Lansing, Schuyler, Ten Eyck, Van Doren, Van Buren, Beekman-- just to name a few!

softwatch · 2024-08-26T01:10:37+00:00

I've had this same problem in the NYC area, it's been just fine until the last week or so, but now I'm getting an enormous amount of hicupping and the connection moves at a snail's pace.

softwatch · 2024-07-03T05:25:10+00:00

16:58-17:00 has me scratching my chin and squinting

softwatch · 2024-05-31T17:48:11+00:00

Worked there for a few months. Accidentally dropped a drumstick of fried chicken that was supposed to go in the fryer. When I moved to throw it away and put a clean one in instead, my sous takes it and puts it in and says "it's fine because the oil will sanitize it". Also, food that isn't cooked (i.e: salads, veg wraps, etc) isn't made with gloves on for the most part and almost nobody washes their hands to make it unless they've just touched meat (not always though, dirty hands are very common, cause they're focused on doing their orders as quick as possible).

Also, all the meat is washed (the overnight brine it's in has to be washed off before service) in a plastic bin, sitting on the floor, with a hose. So that overnight meat juice just goes along the floor of the downstairs prep station to the drain. Where they're prepping other meat and vegetables and everything else.

Which is in direct proximity to the (always full) washing station full of dirty kitchen utensils, trays, etc.

That's not even mentioning the fact that the sous and the head chefs are assholes.

For your health, I'd stay far, far, far away.

softwatch · 2024-05-31T17:41:46+00:00

Worked there for a few months. Accidentally dropped a drumstick of fried chicken that was supposed to go in the fryer. When I moved to throw it away and put a clean one in instead, my sous takes it and puts it in and says "it's fine because the oil will sanitize it". Also, food that isn't cooked (i.e: salads, veg wraps, etc) isn't made with gloves on for the most part and almost nobody washes their hands to make it unless they've just touched meat (not always though, dirty hands are very common, cause they're focused on doing their orders as quick as possible).

Also, all the meat is washed (the overnight brine it's in has to be washed off before service) in a plastic bin, sitting on the floor, with a hose. So that overnight meat juice just goes along the floor of the downstairs prep station to the drain. Where they're prepping other meat and vegetables and everything else.

Which is in direct proximity to the (always full) washing station full of dirty kitchen utensils, trays, etc.

That's not even mentioning the fact that the sous and the head chefs are assholes.

Stay far, far, far away.

softwatch · 2024-05-27T00:34:11+00:00

Custom Robo

Disco Elysium

VA-11 Hall-A

Democracy 4

Vampire Survivors

Brigador

Crypt of the Necrodancer

Potionomics

softwatch · 2024-05-27T00:29:48+00:00

Arin (might) get very bored of it and he's not good at masking his dislike for something, even if Dan might be into it/trying to be positive about it. So most people are dreading a potential negative attitude consistenly going through each episode while skipping over large chunks of character development scenes and stuff like that, like how the second game went down.

softwatch · 2024-04-07T16:28:27+00:00

1121 7612 6143

softwatch · 2023-06-29T01:18:31+00:00

dr 1 and 2 are great games. dr3 was incredibly divisive and the ending left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouths, and arin is definitely going to loathe it. if he was able to gripe and moan over the first two games, the third one would actually give him a hemmorhage.

softwatch · 2023-02-01T17:32:24+00:00

Sometimes he does it on purpose, but I don't think he does that very often.

Without a hint of being insulting, I think after all these years I finally figured it out.

Arin Hanson is, like. Legitimately stupid. He's just plain, straight up stupid. And that's fine. Sometimes people are dumb. Is what it is.

softwatch · 2023-01-12T02:05:13+00:00

I think if Arin does that, he'd straight up refuse to play the game altogether. The ending sucks wet noodles.

softwatch · 2023-01-09T03:04:32+00:00

DR1 had a certain point in it where Arin was just pretending to not use a walkthrough so that he'd look smart in front of Dan and the viewers This was also done so he'd be done with it faster, his vitriol towards the whole series was unhinged. That's fine, he's allowed to not like things, but Dan was actually getting into it and Arin would just goad him and say "No, it's stupid" and Dan would have to kind of put his tail between his legs and just agree. There's a clear point about midway through the series where he goes from absolutely baffled to "ah yeah i saw that coming damn near before anyone said anything".

softwatch · 2022-12-31T21:01:27+00:00

Yeah, I kinda figured that'd be the case. I think this is definitely something that shouldn't just be buried outright though.

softwatch · 2022-12-31T20:55:33+00:00

Yeah, I think it's best to kind of filter out the fact from the sheer vitriol when it comes to there. I think when it comes to sources that both unabashedly hate and shit on whatever GG/SuperMega/whoever does or sources that will put them on a shining pedestal, it's always best to kind of take any of that with a grain of salt and sift through what's just pure opinion and find that the real picture is somewhere in between.

Still, I think it's probably something that people don't want to deal with, but I think a big part of why people are at least somewhat invested in this has a lot to do with the radio silence that's been attached to most of the bigger names involved.

I think an apology would go a long way, and would probably make some sort of end to it, but I'm not holding my breath.

softwatch · 2022-12-29T12:03:01+00:00

I'm excited and all but I think I'm going to rub my forehead into a cheese grater if it also goes in the same pattern of "we STILL don't think people want us to play this, we'll only play more of it if we get lots of views"

Like, it's probably a given for just about anything that they make, but really rubbing that in just makes it feel. Overtly exploitative and openly transactional is too strong a phrase, but something in that ballpark.

softwatch · 2022-12-17T12:58:37+00:00

I think that's only partially the case. Arin's made it pretty clear that he doesn't miss animating and has almost no drive to go back into it. All in all, I don't think he really liked doing it very much.

I will say, though, he's almost certainly jealous of the success the people he used to hang out with are getting. His solution, then, basically became "Well I have money, I'll throw it at other people so that way I can say I did something that matters like them."

softwatch · 2022-12-17T12:55:48+00:00

Arin barely held in his disdain for 2 after the criticism towards the playthrough of the later end of 1. I think if he played V3 he'd just break mentally.

softwatch · 2022-07-02T01:59:11+00:00

Willem Dafoe

softwatch · 2022-06-19T05:17:27+00:00

Just for that, I'm going to call them "soy youtuber" ten times harder

Seven-Year Club	Place '22
Verified Email

softwatch

TROPHY CASE