Real estate licensing laws universally mandate that a salesperson can only receive compensation for licensed activities from their sponsoring broker. The agency agreement and the right to a commission belong to the brokerage, not the individual salesperson. Accepting payment directly from a client, even if the broker was fired, constitutes a violation of these laws. The proper procedure is for any earned fees to be paid to the broker, who then compensates the salesperson according to their independent contractor agreement.

B. The owner cannot unilaterally cancel the sales contract with the buyer; this option incorrectly confuses the listing agreement with the purchase agreement.

C. This is legally false. Accepting direct payment from a client is a common and serious violation of real estate licensing regulations.

D. Even with the broker's consent, the legal flow of funds requires payment to be made to the brokerage first, not directly to the salesperson.

1. Galaty, F. W., Allaway, W. J., & Kyle, R. C. (2022). Modern Real Estate Practice (21st ed.). DF Institute, Inc. In Chapter 5, "Real Estate Brokerage," the section on "Sales Associate Compensation" specifies that a sales associate's compensation is paid by their employing broker. It states, "The amount of a sales associate's compensation is set by mutual agreement between the broker and the sales associate... A sales associate may not receive compensation from any person other than that broker." (p. 78).

2. Jennings, M. M. (2017). Real Estate Law (11th ed.). Cengage Learning. Chapter 7, "The Broker's Role and Commission," clarifies that the listing agreement is a contract between the seller and the broker. It states, "Agents working for brokers cannot be paid directly by the parties to the transaction; they must be paid by their brokers." (p. 215).

3. University of North Texas, College of Business. Course: REAL 2100 - Principles of Real Estate. Course materials on "Agency and Brokerage" emphasize that the broker is the agent of the principal (client), and the salesperson is an agent of the broker. All commissions are paid to the broker, who then distributes the salesperson's share. This structure is a cornerstone of brokerage supervision and liability.