by Broker Risk Management | Jan 16, 2024 | Blog, BLOG 10.24
Question: Can a licensed real estate agent share a commission or pay a referral fee to an attorney?
Answer: No, unless the attorney has a real estate broker’s license or a salesperson’s license and is affiliated with a broker. A California appellate court has held that an attorney may not be paid a real estate commission unless the attorney has a real estate license.
Bill Jansen is a partner in Broker Risk Management, PC, a firm he founded in 2002 to provide risk management services to real estate brokers and agents in California. He was joined in 2017 by Vickie Naidorf as a law partner.
Previously, Mr. Jansen was a founder and principal of Soma Living Real Estate, serving as broker of record, chief legal officer, and member of the executive team. For 23 years, he was an executive and broker with Pacific Union, overseeing risk management and transaction integrity in the Bay Area.
Mr. Jansen served as the 1986 President of the San Francisco Association of REALTORS® and has been on its Board of Directors for 15 years. He has been a Director-for-Life with the California Association of REALTORS® (CAR)
, serving on numerous committees, including the Strategic Planning and Finance Committee and the Legal Affairs Forum. He has also earned the Certified Residential Broker (CRB) designation.
In 2010, he served on the California Department of Real Estate’s Broker Supervision Task Force, which made recommendations leading to legislative and policy changes.
Mr. Jansen has been a Continuing Education of the Bar (CEB) instructor and contributing author to CEB publications. He has spoken for CAR, bar associations, and JAMS.
He holds a Juris Doctor from the University of Minnesota School of Law and is a member of the Bar Association of San Francisco and California and American Bar Associations.
Bhumi Dahya has had the privilege of working alongside Ms. Jones for several years, during which Bhumi has gained invaluable experience and expertise. Our collaborative approach has fostered a strong team dynamic. Holding dual master’s degrees in Legal Studies and Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University’s Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution, Bhumi brings a comprehensive understanding of legal principles and conflict resolution strategies to our team’s efforts.
Shannon B. Jones has been representing real estate agents and brokerages for 34 years. She currently represents close to 70,000 agents. She is a partner in Broker Risk Management, PC, which provides risk management services to real estate brokerages and agents.
Ms. Jones has been named a Super Lawyer for three years in a row in the area of real estate. She has vast experience in litigation, including handling thousands of depositions, mediations, arbitrations, numerous court trials, jury trials, and has argued matters before the appellate court. She has also successfully defensed Department of Real Estate hearings. Ms. Jones published the best-selling real estate book, “A Real Estate Agent’s Practical Guide to Avoiding Litigation.”
Ms. Jones has a Bachelor of Science in Public Administration and a Juris Doctor from the University of Southern California. She is a Department of Real Estate and Graduate Real Estate Institute approved instructor. She has written and published numerous articles in various publications. She regularly speaks before the California Association of Realtors and local associations.
Grant Jones is a second-year law student at Santa Clara University, specializing in real estate law. He holds a degree in Business Administration and a Master’s in Social Entrepreneurship from the University of Southern California, where he also played football. Grant has significant experience in the real estate sector as a licensed California Real Estate Salesperson and has spent almost three years at the real estate law firm, Broker Risk Management in Danville, California. His goal is to become a real estate trial attorney, leveraging his comprehensive knowledge and industry connections to provide exceptional service to his clients.
Vickie Naidorf is best known as the Vice President and Brokerage Counsel for Coldwell Banker NRT Northern California where she helped protect approximately 5000 Sales Associates in 65 Northern California branch offices from Tahoe to Carmel. However, after 31 years of being an employee Vickie recently decided to become an entrepreneur; she joined forces with her long-time friend and colleague, Bill Jansen. Bill and Vickie have formed a new partnership called Broker Risk Management, LLP where they will provide legal services for Brokers throughout California to help avoid claims, lawsuits and BRE investigations. Their current clients include Alain Pinel Realtors, Lyon, Pacific Union and some Better Homes, Keller Williams and REMAX offices.
Bill and Vickie have long worked together to create local Advisories and Contract documents for several Associations of Realtors including Alameda, Contra Costa and Marin. Vickie is the author of most of the in-house transaction forms and procedures that continue to be used by Coldwell Banker many of which have been adopted by CAR such as the Market Conditions Advisory.
Vickie has had the unique distinction of being the only person who is currently on the 3 Major Purchase Contract Forms Committees for CAR, the San Francisco Association of REALTORS® and PRDs. Vickie was the person who originated much of the language that is used every day in California residential transaction forms and she works with Santa Clara County Attorney David Hamerslough on many forms projects.
Bill, Dave and Vickie are frequent guest speakers at various Associations of REALTORS® and California State Bar presentations because of their vast real estate law expertise, their extensive knowledge of relevant real estate forms and the practical transaction advice that they can provide.
Vickie graduated from the prestigious University of Southern California Law School where she was on the team that won the USC Moot Court Championship and the California State Moot Court Championship in 1977. She began her career in Century City as an insurance defense counsel representing various licensed professionals including REALTORS®, architects and doctors. After moving to Northern California in 1983 she worked for Ticor Title Insurance Company until she was hired by Coldwell Banker to handle claims, litigation and help manage risk.
Vickie was a cited contributor to a law review article on California Real Estate Disclosure Laws and is a cited authority in House Selling for Dummies. She is proud to have successfully launched 2 adult children. In her spare time, Vickie writes mystery novels so that she can delight in killing off people who irritate her without fear of incarceration or reprisal but (so far) her fictional stories have yet to be published. Her first novel is entitled Death Takes a Listing and a REALTOR® is the heroine!