Agent - LO Duel Employment?

Is the Sitzer Verdict the force driving Agents to hire as employees of their Lender partners?

It sounds crazy, but in January 2023, it became legal, there are controls in place to try and maintain ethical practices...

But there is a growing trend of Realtors becoming actual paid employees of their lender partners, allowing for payment between parties, and that may be the next level of locking in a realtor partner. 

What will this mean for Lenders? 

• Lenders hire Agents as LOs, partners, or marketing liaisons… There is obvious value in hiring a close agent relationship because it can be a closer and more formalized partnership, with more collaboration between parties, sharing of data, and sharing of revenue. This was a change that became allowable on Jan 23, but we see it picking up steam. 
• Obviously, buyer's agents have been providing great value, and they are especially important on the mortgage side of the transaction as they are often the source of purchase business to LOs. 
• Agents have an asset: a database of engaged people and contacts, and they have a brand and reputation. 
• You are bringing them and their assets into your branch, and you can provide them tools like MonitorBase to better capitalize on that asset, which can be mutually beneficial. 
• This protects your buyer-side referral source right as they may be experiencing an abrupt disruption of how they are allowed to be paid.

The agent provides a value and while there might be changes in how they collect commissions, the value they have been delivering is still there; it’s just a matter of figuring out how they can go about being paid in the transaction process now. 

Are any of you doing this or seeing examples of this in your own company or network?