Real Estate Team Agreement — Ohio Edition Template

Teams are the dominant growth structure in modern residential real estate — and the most common source of intra-brokerage disputes. Who owns the leads? What's the split on a team-generated deal versus an agent's self-generated deal? What happens to the pipeline when a team member leaves? Without a written team agreement, those answers default to memory and goodwill, and both run out quickly when a $30,000 commission is on the table.

This 8-page Real Estate Team Agreement documents the full team structure: team identity and the team leader's authority (operating under the supervising broker — many states now regulate team names and advertising, requiring the brokerage name to appear and prohibiting misleading team names that suggest an independent brokerage); roles and duties of team members (buyer's agents, listing partners, showing assistants, transaction coordinators); compensation splits by deal source (team-generated vs. self-generated) and by role, with cap and bonus structures; lead ownership and database rights — the single most litigated team issue — with explicit language that team-provided leads and the CRM database remain team property; expense allocation (marketing, ISA, software); conduct standards and fair housing compliance; non-solicitation of team clients and staff after departure (with notes on state restrictive covenant enforceability, which varies widely); departure mechanics including pending-deal splits and listing reassignment; and dispute escalation through the supervising broker.

Everything in a team agreement sits underneath license law: commissions must still flow through the broker, and the broker's supervisory duties are non-delegable. The 50-state notes flag team registration and advertising rules states have adopted, plus restrictive covenant limits. Use this template as the framework and have brokerage counsel finalize it.

About this Ohio Edition: the template and its drafting notes are adapted for Ohio practice under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 4735, Ohio's real estate license law, which requires brokerages to deliver a Consumer Guide to Agency Relationships and the Ohio Real Estate Commission's prescribed Agency Disclosure Statement before an offer is presented (ORC 4735.56–4735.58). Ohio permits dual agency with informed written consent and also recognizes "split agency," in which two licensees of one brokerage each represent one party while the brokerage and its management-level licensees act as dual agents (ORC 4735.70–4735.74) — so this edition's agency document remains a Dual Agency Disclosure & Informed Consent drafted as a supplement to the statutory statement, with Ohio's split-agency alternative built in. Seller disclosure follows the mandatory Ohio Residential Property Disclosure Form under ORC 5302.30, including the purchaser's three-business-day rescission right for late delivery; electronic execution relies on the Ohio Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, ORC Chapter 1306; and compensation provisions reflect ORC 4735.21 (payment only through the brokerage) and Ohio's commercial-only broker lien law. The regulator is the Ohio Division of Real Estate and Professional Licensing. Ohio-specific drafting notes accompany the template for review before use.