Referral Agreement (Broker-to-Broker) — Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin Edition: These twelve templates are drafted around Wisconsin's firm-centered real estate license law. Agency runs between the firm and its clients under Wis. Stat. ch. 452, with duties owed to all parties (§ 452.133), written brokerage disclosure (§ 452.135), and "multiple representation relationships" permitted only with written client consent, with or without designated agency (§ 452.134). Each form carries a prominent notice that Wisconsin licensees must use DSPS/REEB-approved forms (WB-1, WB-11, WB-36, WB-40, WB-44 and others) where Wis. Admin. Code ch. REEB 16 requires them; these documents are positioned as educational drafting templates and supplemental documents. The edition reflects the § 240.10 writing requirement for commission agreements, the § 706.02 statute of frauds, the Real Estate Condition Report regime in Wis. Stat. ch. 709 (treated as a supplement to, never a substitute for, the statutory form), ch. 137 UETA electronic signatures, § 452.38 independent contractor status alongside the firm's non-waivable REEB 17 supervision duty, REEB 18 trust-account rules, § 779.32 commercial broker liens, and § 103.465 restrictive-covenant limits. Not legal advice; have a Wisconsin-licensed attorney review before use.