Lucas A. Ferrara in New York Times Real Estate Section, A BROKER’S FEE ON LEASE RENEWAL, Sunday, April 3, 2005

Q. When I moved to Manhattan a few years ago, I resigned myself to paying a broker's fee to find an apartment. What I didn't foresee was that I would be asked to pay this same broker an additional $300 each time I renewed the lease, for faxing forms between me and the landlord. The apartment is not rent-regulated. Is there any legal basis for the broker to collect $300 every time a tenant renews her lease? . . . Cathy Ellis Stadecker, Manhattan.

A. Lucas A. Ferrara, a Manhattan real estate lawyer, said that at the end of a free-market lease, a landlord is free to condition a renewal lease upon such terms as may be agreeable to the parties, including payment of a processing fee to a broker.

''While renewal leases typically are not tied to the kind of payment the writer has described, the arrangement does not appear to be illegal,'' Mr. Ferrara said. So, he said, if the landlord cannot be persuaded to eliminate or reduce the fee, the letter writer will either have to accept the landlord's terms or find another apartment.