How Commissions Get Paid at a Florida Closing: Instructions, Splits and Referral Fees

Published October 10, 2026 · Recalde & Friedman, PLLC · For real estate agents

The contract tells the closing agent to pay

The Florida Realtors/Florida Bar AS IS contract (ASIS-7x) has a Broker section on the signature page. In it, the seller and buyer "direct Closing Agent to disburse at Closing the full amount of the brokerage fees as specified in separate brokerage agreements with the parties and cooperative agreements between the Brokers, except to the extent Broker has retained such fees from the escrowed funds." It also says the brokers named there are the only brokers entitled to compensation in connection with the contract, and that the contract does not modify any offer of compensation. When the title commitment provides gap coverage under § 627.7841, Standard I(iv) has the closing agent pay the brokerage fees to Broker at closing, once funds are collected.

So the closing agent pays according to the separate agreements. That's why it asks for them, or for a written instruction from each broker that summarizes them.

What the title company needs

• The brokerages' names exactly as licensed, as they appear in the Broker section.
• A commission instruction from each brokerage, often called a commission disbursement authorization. It should give the gross amount or formula, the payer (seller, buyer, or the listing broker out of its fee), any credit to a party, and the payee and payment method. A broker usually signs it.
• The underlying agreements when the instruction depends on them: the cooperative compensation agreement, the seller-to-buyer's-broker agreement, Rider FF or GG, or the buyer agreement if the buyer pays.
• Any referral fee instruction, if the referral fee will be paid out of the closing rather than broker-to-broker afterward.

The check goes to the broker, not the agent

Under § 475.42(1)(d), Fla. Stat., a sales associate may not collect money in a brokerage transaction "except in the name of the employer and with the express consent of the employer." The closing agent pays the brokerage, and the brokerage pays its agents. A sales associate can be licensed as a professional corporation or LLC under § 475.161, but is still a sales associate and is paid through the employing broker. An instruction to wire a commission to an individual agent is a red flag.

Splits

A split between the listing brokerage and the buyer's brokerage is set by their agreement. A split between a brokerage and its agent is internal to the brokerage and normally doesn't appear on the settlement statement. Team splits work the same way. The closing agent pays the brokerages, and the internal split happens afterward.

Referral fees

• Florida. Under § 475.25(1)(h), a licensee may not share a commission with, or pay a referral fee to, anyone who isn't properly licensed as a broker, broker associate or sales associate in Florida. There's one exception: a Florida broker may pay a referral fee to, or share a commission with, a broker licensed in another state, as long as that broker doesn't violate Florida law.
• Federal. RESPA Section 8 generally bans payments for referrals on federally related mortgage loans. The regulation expressly allows payments "pursuant to cooperative brokerage and referral arrangements or agreements between real estate agents and real estate brokers," but only when everyone involved is acting in a real estate brokerage capacity (12 C.F.R. § 1024.14(g)(1)(v)). It doesn't cover a fee split with a mortgage broker.
• Title agents. Title agents can't pay agents for referrals. See what we don't do.

Wires and last-minute changes

Commission wires are a fraud target. Any change to a brokerage's payment instructions should be confirmed by a phone call to a number you already have, not one from the email that requested the change. See real estate wire fraud.

On the Closing Disclosure

Commissions appear under "Other," showing the total paid to each brokerage. Any extra broker charge, such as an administrative fee, is itemized separately with the name of the payee (comment 38(g)(4)-4). If the seller has to approve the commission figures, send them to the seller early. A commission dispute found at the signing table holds up the whole closing.

Frequently asked questions