Referral Agreement (Broker-to-Broker) — Nebraska 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 Nebraska Edition: These forms are adapted to Nebraska's limited-agency framework under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 76-2401 et seq., using the state's own vocabulary (limited seller's agent, limited buyer's agent, limited dual agent, designated broker, affiliated licensee) and permitting dual representation only as a limited dual agent with informed written consent under § 76-2422, including the statutory confidentiality limits. The seller disclosure and transaction forms are keyed to the Nebraska Seller Property Condition Disclosure Statement requirement of § 76-2,120 (the Commission's prescribed form still controls), the statute of frauds (§ 36-105 for land contracts; § 36-202 for commission/brokerage agreements), and the Nebraska UETA (§ 86-621 et seq.) for electronic execution. Broker-side forms reflect the Nebraska Real Estate License Act (§ 81-885.01 et seq.) — broker supervision, commissions flowing only through the designated broker, broker-to-broker-only referral fees — and note that lien rights for unpaid commissions exist only for commercial property under the Nebraska Commercial Real Estate Broker Lien Act (§ 76-2601 et seq.).