Mandatory broker fees, an unusual feature of New York City apartment hunting long reviled by renters, will be banned under legislation that passed Wednesday after overcoming fierce backlash from the city's real estate lobby.

Apartment hunters in New York City got good news on Wednesday when the City Council there passed a bill that would largely compel landlords, not tenants, to cover broker fees, that expensive charge tacked on to the cost of signing an apartment lease.

New York City landlords will be required to pay costly broker fees for tenants under a plan approved by the City Council that real estate groups argue will drive up rents and make it harder to find housing in the city.