What you should know before you sign a real estate lease

EAST TREMONT (WABC) -- A lot goes into finding a rental space, as well as lots of fees, with tenants forking over a lot of money for brokers.

When a local woman's lease fell through, getting her broker fee back turned out to be a big problem. Until 7 On Your Side got involved.

The dispute goes back to 2011, between the leader of a Bronx dominoes club and her broker. She says she never took possession of the space and never got a refund.

Luck has always been on Laura Santiago's side. She's a dominoes champion, so passionate about the game she even incorporated her own social club "Narajinto" in the Bronx.

Along with music and dancing, Laura always made sure her club served her favorite Puerto Rican creation, pina coladas.

When the lease on Laura's old club ran out, so did her luck. She put down a big deposit, $5,000, to rent a new space in East Tremont.

That was four years ago.

She says the landlord promised in the lease that it was OK for the club to serve alcohol and play cabaret music. But Laura says she found out after the lease was signed that the unit was never zoned for that.

She was also denied a certificate of occupancy for numerous violations inside the unit. And while the landlord returned her deposit, the broker kept her $1,700 broker's fee.

"I lost a lot of money, and he said wait, wait," she said. "Wait for nothing."

After waiting for years, last November, despite falling ill, the feisty grandmother secured a signed refund agreement. But her money never followed.

But the dominoes diva is no one's fool, so she put a bet on 7 On Your Side. And she got two cashier's checks worth the full fee.

"It's beautiful," she said. "I appreciate it."

The real estate broker blamed the mix up on the landlord, and he agreed to the refund only as a goodwill gesture to Laura.

The big takeaway is that before you sign a lease, remember to always get all promises in writing. And research the building to make sure it has a valid certificate of occupancy and is free of violations (CLICK HERE to check for building violations).

And always use a licensed broker (CLICK HERE to check a real estate broker's license).