(a)No apartment information vendor or employee thereof shall collect a fee prior to a customer obtaining an apartment as a result of the information supplied by the apartment information vendor unless said vendor shall deliver to the customer a fully executed contract as described in section 190.1 of this Part and a fully executed separate escrow agreement as described in subdivision (d) of this section.
(b)Any advance fee collected by an apartment information vendor or employee thereof shall be deposited in the vendor's escrow account no later than the business day following the day on which it is received.
(c)The provisions of this section shall not apply to an apartment information vendor who deals solely with apartments to share.
(d)The form of the standard apartment information vendor escrow agreement shall be as follows:
No.______ ( enter sequential number ) APARTMENT INFORMATION VENDOR STANDARD ESCROW AGREEMENT Agreement between (vendor) [ print name and address of apartment information vendor ] and (customer) [ customer's name and address ] entered into on ______
(date).
(1)Vendor acknowledges receipt this day of an advance fee from the customer, in the amount of ____.
(2)In consideration of customer's payment of such fee before an apartment has been obtained, and in accordance with the provisions of article 12-C of the Real Property Law, vendor agrees to deposit such fee in escrow, less ____
(not more than $15) (Fee for administrative expenses).
(3)The vendor shall deposit the advance fee in:
( print name and address of bank, and account number where escrow will be deposited ) AMOUNT OF THE ADVANCE FEE
(4)The vendor may not receive an advance fee which is greater than one month's rent for any of the apartments on the list supplied to the customer.
(5)If the monthly rental of the apartment rented or leased by the customer through information supplied by the vendor, is less than the advance fee, the customer shall receive a refund equal to that portion of the advance fee that is in excess of the amount of the monthly rental. This refund shall be made within 10 days of the date on which customer makes a written request for said refund.
PROCEDURE FOR OBTAINING A REFUND
(6)It is understood and agreed that the customer has an absolute right to receive a refund of the full advance fee if he or she follows the following directions:
(a)The customer will receive a refund when the vendor is notified that the customer has not leased or rented and does not intend to rent or lease an apartment, or other residence, through information supplied by the vendor.
(b)The notice must be in writing signed by the customer.
(c)The notice may be delivered to the vendor either in person or by first class mail to the vendor's address set forth above.
(7)The vendor shall refund the advance fee, less the fee for administrative expenses set forth in paragraph (2) above, within 10 days of receipt of the notice; and the customer shall NOT be required to present evidence that he or she actively pursued the information supplied by the vendor to be eligible for a refund.
(8)The vendor agrees to be personally responsible and liable for carrying out the terms of this escrow agreement.
(9)This document has been filled out and signed by:
( Print full name and address of authorized agent ) (Signature of Customer) Date (Signature of Vendor, or his duly authorized agent) Date Date Delivered to Customer: ANY COMPLAINTS ARISING FROM THIS AGREEMENT MAY BE MADE TO:
New York State
Department of State
Division of Licensing Services
270 Broadway
New York, N.Y. 10007
OR
You may contact any local
office of the New York State Department of State.