I just started working as a real estate agent and I wanted some halachic guidance about the following issue. A property can be listed in two ways. There are exclusive listings and non-exclusive listings. An exclusive listing is where the property owner contracts with an agent and grants the agent exclusive rights to sell the property.  When such an agreement is made but another broker finds a buyer, the sale must still go through the agent that has the exclusive listing. A non-exclusive listing is when an agent publicizes the availability of a property – but potential buyers do not legally have to contact the listing agent.

Q: May I approach a property owner about a buyer if another agent has a non-exclusive listing? Must I share the commission with the agent that originally listed the property, since my involvement in the deal came through his efforts of publishing an ad, although it was a non-exclusive listing?

A: The following is the halachic perspective and does not take into account different laws and/or customs that may apply in different locations. Specific questions must be addressed to a local rav who will incorporate those laws/customs into the relevant halachic principles.

The job of a broker or a real estate agent is to bring two parties together to make a deal. Payment to a broker is for performance of this service. This type of employment is categorized as contract work (kablanus) and thus the agent is paid when the deal is finalized, e.g. when a contract is signed to purchase the property. It does not matter how much time the contractor invested in making this deal.  Sometimes he spends hours negotiating with both parties until they agree to terms of the sale; sometimes all he does is introduce them and they take care of the negotiating between themselves. Either way, the agent will receive his full fee, since he is the one that brought these two parties together in a way that resulted in the finalization of a deal.

Therefore, if an agent merely publicizes that a property is for sale but does not introduce the two parties to one another, he has not fulfilled the job description of a broker and therefore has not earned a commission for the sale of the property.