The host of The Commercial Real Estate Show, Michael Bull, answers the question; “As a tenant, will I have to pay my tenant rep?” His answer, a firm “typically, no,” further noting 90-95% of the time “no,” is consistent with my experience. As he further notes, tenant representative fees tend to be built into the financials of a business. I would further note that tenant reps and most of the time paid by the landlord. It is a generally accepted standard, with but few exceptions.
When we act as tenant representatives, we ask our customer, the prospective tenant, to sign an agreement assuring us, among other things, that if a landlord does not pay a commission of at least some level then the tenant will do so. As much as anything, this identifies us as the representative to compensate. Although in a case where a landlord will not pay a commission to a tenant rep, a tenant would be expected to pay, the vast majority of the time this simply does not happen.