Angry Brokers Band Together to Request Discount from Domineering Giant

The commercial real estate data giant, CoStar is denying its client brokerages a discount of the monthly fees they pay despite a petition from leading firms pleading their case. The Washington based tech firm which charges real estate brokerages for the provision of data around commercial real estate has not given in to the demands of 52 of its customers outlined in a letter late last week.

The firms claim that commercial real estate is virtually “shut down” and that CoStar’s deferred payment plan simply kicks the can down the road. The brokers also claim that CoStar representatives are “under the misimpression that the virus has minimally affected our transaction volume”.

The firms are calling for reduced payments rather than deferrals, but CoStar CEO Andrew Florance used an interview with TRD to say that his customers

“don’t need a break from us or anybody”

CoStar is by far the largest commercial real estate provider in the market and last week acquired specialist foreclosures platform, Ten-X with $190 million of the $745 million received from creditors in March. Responding to claims that the company effectively operates a monopoly, Florance was upfront in saying:

“We are never going to pursue a path where we try to get smaller and smaller, and become less effective and provide less solutions”

Angry brokers forming pressure groups to try to effect change in a high-handed company that they claim operates a near-monopoly. Where have we seen that recently..?