commission split

Assuming this is pre-deal sheet? Was this mentioned when you were negotiating on the price? perhaps seller agreed to your price if both agents took a haircut and this wasn't communicated correctly. You should have your manager contact his/her manager to confirm and I would think this will be resolved quickly.

When both firms are REBNY members they are covered by the Universal CoBrokerage agreement. When there is a potential deal where one or both firms are not REBNY members it is best to get some agreement signed before beginning a negotiation. The big firms used to send out their own versions of the universal agreement at the beginning of every year, but stopped when REBNY instituted the current policy.
Are you saying the commission is 6% and the Cororan agent is proposing it be split 4% to Corcoran and 2% to your firm? Have you asked the manager/owner of your firm to have a discussion with the manager of the Corcoran agent's office? I'm assuming you meant you had been a member of REBNY with your prior firm but your current firm isn't?

If this was a "both-brokers-throw-in-to-get-the-deal done" situation, then it would have been discussed before the AO, and it should have been in writing when the offer was accepted. This much more seems like a "trying to push you around because he can" tactic on the part of the listing broker. Yes, that's underhanded, and rather vile.

Still, it's possible that because your firm isn't REBNY, that he can push you around, and you will come out from this sadder but wiser, learning to get your commission split written into every offer.

HOWEVER, while your firm isn't REBNY, it's not tiny either, and I would think a call from the head of your firm to the manager at Corcoran is the next step here.

I'd be interested, if Keith Burkhardt is around, to see what he has to say, because I believe for the first couple of years of its existence his firm wasn't a REBNY member either.

ali r.
{REBNY member broker}

"If this was a "both-brokers-throw-in-to-get-the-deal done" situation, then it would have been discussed before the AO, and it should have been in writing when the offer was accepted. "
While I agree this should be the case, I am aware of situations in the past where the listing broker made no mention of a reduced commission to the buyer's broker, who was then sort of forced into it after the deal sheet went out. What is a buy side broker going do? The REBNY agreement simply states commissions will be split 50/50 and if they don't like the commission they are receiving what is their recourse? Are they going to say to the buyer "you can't go through with the deal because I'm not getting enough commission"? What would the result of that be? I would think most likely the buyer's attorney would say to the buyer that if the broker doesn't like the commission that the buyer can find a new broker at any point in time.
I wonder what happens in such a situation when the buyer is represented by a discount broker? What happens if they have promised the buyer an X percent discount and their split of the commission ends up being less than X percent?
Keith, has this happened to you? How do you deal with rebates when the commission is less than anticipated either because the seller's broker took the listing at a lower than anticipated percentage to begin with or the commission is negotiated lower at sow point during the deal?

To answer Ali's question, 99% of the time we were dealt with ethically by the listing agent, they would simply send us a Co brokerage agreement to sign. There were a few times we dealt with less than ethical agents who pulled some shady stuff with us. In one case the attorney general's office got involved, this agent at a large firm messed with the wrong client. Let's just say the other agent had to really eat some humble pie and apologize to me and the client. It was pretty clear this other agent cared little for his client or our clients best interest. It's a bit of a gray area regarding sharing commissions with non-rebny firms, from a legal perspective. However this particular agent made some statements in an email to me that violated New York State and department of State laws.

Point being if you are an agent that's interest is to get the best offer for their client, you would not exclude another agent from doing a deal simply because they're not a member of your trade. Assuming the buyer broker has acted in a professional and ethical way.

For the last five years I've been a member of REBNY again,(previously I had been a member for at least 15 years) of course there have been zero issues. I highly recommend to anyone doing business in New York City joining REBNY. In my opinion they're a very good organization and needed to regulate brokers conduct.

Regarding the commission rebates this all happens outside of closing. We know what the commission is going into a negotiation and the rebate is based on that. If the listing agent suggests lowering the commission to get a deal done, we discuss with our client. Sometimes we have agreed, other times explain we're already contributing to our client and suggest the listing agent simply contribute to their clients. They appreciate the transparency.

Keith Burkhardt