This is a fallacy, at least in NY. I asked my last landlord about this. I asked "if brokers can't charge renters their fee will you pay it instead?". He replied immediately, "no way, I'll just ask my nephew to show the apartments instead". I had just paid a 12% fee to a broker a year earlier with this same landlord! Thousands of dollars. The broker did very little for this exorbitant fee, they opened a door for a dozen people maybe, and uploaded a few pictures online. They were simply the gate-keeper and I had no choice in the matter.

The only reason landlords deal with them is that it's easier for them to do so, so why not. It's pervasive enough, as a quirk of history, that it's tolerated. They certainly do not provide value that matches up with their fees in most cases.

Rents may go up, but it will be only a fraction of the insane fees retail brokers in NY charge. It needs to change.