Commissions based on a percentage of the purchase price of the property sold have always been the most common form of compensation in the real estate industry. Although fee-for-service and even wage programs exist in the industry today, commissions continue to dominate. This topic is about how commissions are earned, shared, disputed, used and misused in real estate.

Central to any discussion of commissions has to be a discussion of “procuring cause.” Accordingly, Understanding Procuring Cause is the first subject in this topic. The subject includes sections explaining the Legal Definition of Procuring Cause as well as Applying Procuring Cause to Real Estate. If procuring cause has to be the first subject in any discussion of commission, Sharing Commissions has to be second. Finally, no discussion of commissions would be complete without some mention of Commissions and Antitrust.