After more than a decade of working in commercial real estate, under corporate umbrellas and partnerships, Kenneth D. Clyman founded Ken Clyman Realty “KCR”, a commercial real estate brokerage company, specializing exclusively in professional tenant representation.
Mr. Clyman’s experience revealed various and significant conflicts that exist within large brokerage firms that relate to their policies and procedures, and where their fiduciary responsibilities lay and how these inherent conflicts dictate decisions that are ultimately made regarding tenant specific transactions.
Most listing agents represent both landlords and tenants in the same market. Listing agents have a contractual and fiduciary duty to direct as many tenants as possible to a respective landlord’s building while simultaneously trying to secure the most favorable economics for their landlord. This is in direct contradiction to the goals of the tenant. Representing both landlords and tenants in the same market is an inherent, yet repeated, conflict of interest often costing tenants’ significantly over the course of their lease. While these business practices have been commonplace in commercial real estate for many years, these same practices are considered a conflict and unacceptable in many other areas of professional representation. For example, when working with a law firm. Your lease and real estate needs are major expenses. Why would a tenant knowingly allow and accept these conflicts?