I agree that before you pay any nonrefundable deposit you should see the lease first. But the thing is, that is totally in your control. Ask to get a copy of it before giving up the money. If the landlord says no, walk away. NY has plenty of apartments and you can find lots of them where you can review the lease before paying any nonrefundable deposit. If every prospective tenant refused to pay up until they saw the lease the landlord would cave into the market pressure and let tenants see it. No law is really needed to get landlords to do it. It just takes tenants willing to say no. It always surprises me in sales situations how many people are unwilling to say no when confronted with a term or situation they don't like. They think they want what is offered so badly they'll ignore that nagging voice in their head warning them that there is a possible problem and forge ahead anyway. Then when it turns out bad, they want to blame everyone but the one person who had the power to prevent getting sucked in in the first place: themselves. So next time, don't get sucked in.

