No Fee Apartments - Realtor takes Fee

[Maria Nizhegordova]

Hi,

My friends and I just signed a lease for a shared apartment in Manhattan. We are kind of new to the country and do not know much about the realtor business.

The realtor took a fee from us. Today while i was searching for the Zip Code, i saw the listing of our apartment saying "No Fee". It says that on several apartment search machines.

For my understanding, No Fee means that the landlord pays the realtor.

Does this mean he took the fee from us AND from the landlord?

If so, is this legal?

If not, is there a way we get our money back?

Thanks!