Agency fees charged to the tenant are still quoted routinely, sometimes as courtage (commission), sometimes buried under contract or administration costs. Most people pay and move on without knowing that Dutch courts have already ruled on exactly this arrangement, and that the money does not stop being reclaimable the moment the keys change hands.
No, and there's a Supreme Court ruling backing that up. In the 2015 Duinzigt case, the Hoge Raad decided a rental agent can't charge a consumer-tenant courtage (commission) when the agent is acting on the landlord's behalf — advertising the property, showing it, drawing up the contract — even if the landlord isn't the one paying them directly. This is dwingend recht, meaning it can't be contracted around with clever wording in the agreement. If you paid such a fee, you can reclaim it: send a written letter citing the ruling and demanding repayment, use a model letter from Het Juridisch Loket if you want the phrasing done for you, and go to the kantonrechter (small-claims-style court, no lawyer required) if the agent stonewalls. You generally have five years from payment to claim it back.