Referral Agreement (Broker-to-Broker) — New Mexico 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 New Mexico Edition: New Mexico licenses only associate brokers and qualifying brokers, so every form names the brokerage (acting through its qualifying broker) as the contracting party and routes all compensation through the qualifying broker, consistent with the Real Estate License Law (NMSA 1978 § 61-29-1 et seq.) and the NMREC rules at 16.61 NMAC. The brokerage-relationship forms are built around 16.61.19 NMAC: transaction broker is the default, seller/buyer agency arises only by written agreement after a written Broker Duties disclosure, and dual agency requires prior written consent of both parties — hence the "Dual Agency Disclosure & Consent" title and the removal of the master template's designated-agency alternative. Because New Mexico has no statutory seller-disclosure form, the condition disclosure is drafted as a voluntary actual-knowledge statement anchored to the broker's 16.61.19 NMAC duty to disclose adverse material facts, with New Mexico-specific sections on wells, septic, acequia/water rights, flat roofs, and HOA/tax-levy attachments. Electronic execution cites the New Mexico UETA (NMSA 1978 § 14-16-1 et seq.); the statute of frauds, broker-lien absence, and community-property spousal signatures are phrased generally.