In a two-licensee team where one negotiated the deal, who is typically paid by the brokerage?

• A. The licensee who negotiated the transaction
• B. The broker pays the seller
• C. The licensee listed on the purchase agreement
• D. The brokerage pays the transaction fees directly

Answer: (A)

The key idea is how a brokerage disburses a completed transaction when two licensees are involved and only one negotiated the deal. When a sale closes, the brokerage earns the commission from the transaction and then pays out according to its internal compensation plan. The licensee who actually negotiated the deal is the one who produced the transaction, so that licensee is typically the one to receive the payout from the brokerage. The other licensee’s involvement might be compensated only if the firm’s team agreement provides for a split, but the primary payout goes to the producing licensee.

Being the licensee listed on the purchase agreement doesn’t alone determine who gets paid, and transaction fees aren’t handled as direct payouts to a licensee in the same way a production-based commission is. The seller doesn’t receive a payment from the brokerage, and fees are handled within the broker’s compensation structure rather than as a separate payment to the licensee who didn’t negotiate the deal.