In the Greater Boston area, the broker’s fee is usually an entire month’s rent. According to Zumper, the average cost of a Boston apartment was just over $3,000 in November. That puts total move-in cost (first and last months’ rent, security deposit, and a broker fee) at a total of at least $12,000.

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.

Legislation passed this week in New York City leaves Boston as the last major city where tenants can be required to pay hefty fees for real estate brokers hired by their landlords.