Referral fee raises question in real estate transaction

Question: My father recently passed away and my mother is moving to Arizona from Oregon to spend more time with my sister and me. My mother bought a lot in Gilbert near both of us, and she has hired a builder who was recommended to her by her real estate agent, who is a family friend who also used to live in Oregon.

My mother recently saw on the builder’s cost sheet a $5,000 referral fee paid to my mother’s real estate agent.

My mother doesn’t want to get her family friend in trouble, and she has no problem with the payment of the $5,000 referral fee — she just feels somebody should have told her about the fee. Should my mother have been told about it?

Answer: Yes. The Arizona Department of Real Estate Rule R4-28-1101 (G) states that a referral fee cannot be paid to a real estate agent by a third party such as your mother’s builder without the client’s written consent. Similarly, referral fees paid to the real estate agent by other third parties, such as a home warranty company, require written consent.