Referral Agreement (Broker-to-Broker) — Indiana Edition Template

Referral fees are a core revenue stream in real estate — but they are legal only when paid between licensed brokers. Every state's license law prohibits paying referral fees to unlicensed persons, and in transactions involving a federally related mortgage loan, RESPA Section 8 (12 U.S.C. § 2607) prohibits kickbacks and unearned fee-splitting for settlement-service referrals — with an exemption at 12 U.S.C. § 2607(c) that permits cooperative brokerage and referral arrangements between licensed real estate agents and brokers. The practical rule: broker-to-broker referral fees are fine; anything else needs scrutiny. And because a referral fee is a commission-sharing promise, the statute of frauds in most states means an unwritten referral deal is an unenforceable handshake.

This 4-page Referral Agreement locks the arrangement down in writing: identification of referring broker and receiving broker (with license numbers and states), the referred client's identity and the scope of the referral (buy-side, sell-side, or both; geographic area; property types), the referral fee as a percentage of the receiving side's gross commission (or a flat amount), when the fee is earned and payable (at closing, out of escrowed commission), treatment of multiple transactions by the same referred client during a defined capture period, a no-brokerage-services acknowledgment by the referring broker in the destination transaction, status updates, and governing law.

The included notes cover interstate referrals (fee must generally be paid broker-to-broker through the licensee's own broker), states with specific referral disclosure requirements to clients, and the RESPA boundaries for anything touching settlement services beyond brokerage. Template for drafting purposes — not legal advice.

About this Indiana Edition: Every form in this set is drafted around Indiana's single-license structure — since 2014 all licensees are "brokers" working under a "managing broker," and compensation, listings, and trust funds run through the broker company. Dual representation is handled under Indiana's limited-agency regime in IC 25-34.1-10, which permits it only with written consent containing specified disclosures; the consent form tracks those statements. The listing, buyer, referral, and disbursement forms are built to satisfy Indiana's statute of frauds (IC 32-21-1), including its writing requirement for commission agreements, and the electronic-signature provisions of IC 26-2-8. The seller disclosure template is a supplemental worksheet to the Commission-prescribed state form required by IC 32-21-5, with delivery before offer acceptance, actual-knowledge standard, and the IC 32-21-6 stigmatized-property rule noted. The commercial broker lien act (IC 32-28-12.5) is flagged as inapplicable to residential property. Not legal advice; have an Indiana-licensed attorney review before use.