How Referral Fees Work

A referral fee is paid when you send a client to another agent (at Side or another brokerage) and that agent successfully closes a transaction with them. The fee is a percentage of the receiving agent's commission, agreed to in a signed Referral Agreement before the transaction closes.

Side pays out referral fees after the underlying transaction closes and the receiving brokerage remits the agreed amount — Side cannot release a referral fee before that happens, even if you sent the referral months ago.

Submitting a Referral Fee Claim

If a transaction you referred has closed and you haven't received your fee, follow these steps to submit a claim:

1. Confirm the transaction has actually closed with the agent or brokerage you referred the client to.
2. Locate your signed Referral Agreement — see Where can I find the Referral Agreement (RFA)? if you need to retrieve a copy.
3. Email help@side.com with the property address, the closing date, and the signed Referral Agreement attached.
4. Side's Payments team will verify the closing and the agreement, then issue a commission form or payment request for the referral fee.

Referral fees can sometimes arrive as a check mailed directly to Side rather than through the standard payment flow. If you were told a check was mailed, allow 1–2 weeks for it to be received and logged before following up.

Checking Your Payment Status

If you already submitted a claim or know a payment is in progress and just want a status update:

1. Contact the agent or brokerage you referred the client to and confirm the transaction closed and the amount they remitted.
2. Email help@side.com with the property address and the amount you're expecting.
3. If you already have an open request with Side about this referral, reply on that thread instead of opening a new one — it keeps your case from being duplicated and slows down resolution if support has to reconcile two threads for the same payment.

No Transaction Record for a Referral-Only File

If you're the referring agent only (you didn't represent the client directly), you may not see a way to create a standard listing or offer record in the Side App for that address — this is expected, since a referral-only file isn't a transaction you're the agent of record on.

Don't try to force-create a transaction record for a referral-only file. Instead, submit your claim by email as described above, referencing the property address — Side's Payments team tracks referral fees against the closing brokerage's file, not a Side App transaction record on your account.

New to Side? Bringing In Outside Referral Relationships

If you're joining Side and already have referral fee arrangements with agents or brokers outside of Side, those arrangements carry over — you don't need Side's involvement to set up the relationship itself.

1. Any outside referral agreement should be documented in writing (a signed Referral Agreement) between you and the other broker, the same as any other referral.
2. When a referral you sent closes, submit your claim the same way described in Submitting a Referral Fee Claim above — Side processes outside referral fees the same way it processes fees between Side agents.
3. If you're unsure whether a specific split or arrangement needs sign-off from your Partner or broker of record, ask before the referral closes rather than after.

Common Questions