The City Council approved a bill on Wednesday that would curb a loathed New York City real estate practice: making renters pay thousands of dollars in broker fees.

New York City appears to getting rid of broker fees. In Boston, where 65-percent of residents rent, it's still an issue.

New York is one of the few cities where tenants paid broker fees instead of landlords. 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.