Request By:
Mr. Charles Maples
Director of Education
Lexington Board of Realtors
121 Malibu Drive
Lexington, Kentucky 40503
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; John Stephen Kirby, Assistant Attorney General
This letter is in response to your request for an Opinion, dated April 21, 1982. Specifically you asked whether a licensed real estate salesman, when managing realty of others, for a fee or commission, must comply with KRS 324.160(1)(f) and see that all fees or commissions paid are paid through his or her broker. KRS 324.160(1)(f) reads as follows:
"(f) Accepting valuable consideration as a salesman or associate broker for the performance of any of the acts specified in this chapter, from any person, except his principal broker. "
The statutes governing real estate licensees prohibit anyone from acting as a licensee without a license issued by the Real Estate Commission. KRS 324.020. Acts which are prohibited without a license are defined in KRS 324.010(2) as follows:
"One act for a fee, commission, compensation or other valuable consideration of buying or selling real estate of or for another, or offering for another to buy, sell or exchange real estate, or leasing, renting or offering to rent real estate, or referring or offering to refer real estate for the purpose of securing prospects shall constitute the person performing, offering or attempting to perform such act as a broker, associate broker or salesman. "
A real estate salesman is defined in KRS 324.020(1)(f) as follows:
"(f) 'Salesman' means any person who for a fee, commission, compensation or other valuable consideration is associated either directly or indirectly with a broker to sell or offer to sell, or to buy or offer to buy, or to negotiate the purchase or sale or exchange of real estate, or to lease or negotiate leases thereof or to rent or offer for rent, or to refer or offer to refer for the purpose of securing prospects any real estate and the improvements thereon for others as a whole or partial vocation."
When performing any of the acts defined in KRS 324.010(2) or 324.010(1)(f), for a fee, commission or other valuable consideration, a salesman must be associated with a broker directly or indirectly. It follows then that compensation in any form, for the performance of acts as defined in the above statutes, must be paid through the principal broker in order to avoid violation of KRS 324.160(1)(f). Provided the management of property includes acts as defined in the selected statutes (offering to rent or lease, referring prospects, negotiating leases, sales or purchases are a few examples), then payment for such acts must also be made through the salesman's broker to avoid violation of KRS 324.160(1)(f). to avoid violation of KRS 324.160(1)(f).