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<p>Just to follow up on this a bit more, there are at least two RCWs
in play. 18.85.301 (Sharing commissions) and 18.85.151(8)
(Exemptions from licensing).</p>
<p>The former prevents sharing commissions with unlicensed
persons/entities, and would seemingly be problematic regarding
rebates to a buyer. However, a rebate has apparently been seen as
being merely an agreement to reduce compensation. Personally I'm
not familiar with the legal basis for such a rational,
particularly when the reduction of commission does not go back to
the person/entity paying the commission. I'd be interested in
seeing that private letter ruling on rebating commission, but it
may be only of historical interest at this point.<br>
</p>
<p>Note that now under the new statewide listing agreements it's
typically the seller paying the commission to the buyer's broker's
brokerage, under a third party beneficiary theory. So it's no
longer the firm sharing the commission, as opposed to clearly
reducing the commission, and it really would be more akin to a
seller paying a portion of buyer's closing costs. So 18.85.301
may no longer be much of a concern on this issue, particularly
given the forms contemplate such a rebate. The standard listing
agreement indicates that the compensation may be modified by the
PSA, and there's form 41C providing for rebates.<br>
</p>
<p>The latter statute creates an exception to licensing for referral
fees as long as the referral fee is not contingent on the closing
of a transaction. So technically that would not be sharing a
commission since it's due and owing regardless of whether a
commission is earned.</p>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">Kary L. Krismer
John L. Scott, Inc.
206 723-2148</pre>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 11/10/2022 9:57 AM, Erik Marks
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:8CD87B40-55E3-41F0-BE36-ADD3C68140B2@contoso.com">
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<p class="MsoNormal">When I first acquired a broker’s license, I
would routinely rebate 50% of the buyer’s agent commission to
my client when the client found the home on their own and I
didn’t need to do any showings. (This was 2008-2012
timeframe, when that sort of thing was easy to achieve.) At
the time I did pursue the question about legality of the
rebate, and I got to a personal comfort level that such
commission rebates to the buyer were allowed. My recollection
is that I achieved that comfort level through research, a
phone call with DOL, and review of a private letter ruling
issued by DOL to another brokerage who was operating with a
similar structure. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Erik<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.5pt;color:black">--
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span
style="font-size:10.5pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D573A">Erik
G Marks</span></i></b><span
style="font-size:10.5pt;color:#4D573A"> </span><span
style="font-family:"Times New
Roman",serif;color:#4D573A"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D573A">Attorney
at Law</span></i></b><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:#4D573A">
</span><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"><br>
PO Box 16247<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Seattle,
WA 98116<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black"> <br>
(206) 612-8653<br>
</span><u><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:blue"><a
href="mailto:erik@egmrealestate.com"
moz-do-not-send="true"><span style="color:#0563C1">erik@egmrealestate.com</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><span
style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial",sans-serif;color:black">Physical
Office:<br>
4220 SW Spokane St<br>
Seattle, WA 98116<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</div>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
</div>
<br>
<fieldset class="moz-mime-attachment-header"></fieldset>
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