(a) Except as otherwise provided by the Act or Commission rules, a broker or sales agent may not share a commission or fees with any person who engages in acts for which a license is required and is not actively licensed as a broker or sales agent.
(b) An unlicensed person may share in the income earned by a business entity licensed as a broker or exempted from the licensing requirements under the Act if the person engages in no acts for which a license is required and does not lead the public to believe that the person is in the real estate brokerage business.
(c) A broker or sales agent may not share a commission or fees with an unlicensed business entity created by a license holder for the purpose of collecting a commission or fees on behalf of the license holder, unless the entity is exempted from the requirements of licensure as provided by §535.5 of this chapter (relating to License Not Required) and §1101.355(d) of the Act.
(d) A license holder may rebate or pay a portion of the license holder's fee or commission to a party in the transaction when the sales agent has the written consent of the sales agent's sponsoring broker and the party represented by the license holder. A commission or fee may not be paid to any party to the transaction in a manner that misleads a broker, lender, title company, or governmental agency regarding the real estate transaction or the financial resources or obligations of the buyer. A license holder who intends to pay a portion of the license holder's fee or commission to a party the license holder does not represent must obtain the written consent of the party represented by the license holder before making the payment.

Source Note: The provisions of this §535.147 adopted to be effective January 1, 1976; amended to be effective March 11, 1981, 6 TexReg 725; amended to be effective October 1, 2000, 25 TexReg 8646; amended to be effective August 31, 2004, 29 TexReg 8297; amended to be effective January 1, 2011, 35 TexReg 11691; amended to be effective January 1, 2015, 39 TexReg 9669; amended to be effective June 11, 2023, 48 TexReg 2948; amended to be effective January 1, 2024, 48 TexReg 6914