Your licence does not reach the UAE. So can you introduce an American client to a Dubai brokerage and be paid for it? RESPA is not the obstacle everyone thinks it is. Your own state licence law is, and in two of the four biggest states the answer is genuinely unresolved. Here is every instrument, including the gaps.
By Umer Shauket, Founder & CEO, Cresco Real Estate. Dubai head office, US office in Los Angeles. Licensed UAE brokerage, RERA ORN 34288.
An American client tells you they are buying an apartment in Dubai. You cannot list it, you cannot show it and you cannot negotiate it, because your licence does not reach the United Arab Emirates.
So the question every US agent asks next is the same one.
Can I introduce them to a Dubai brokerage and be paid for it?
Most of the answers online are written by people selling referral programmes. This one is not. We are a licensed UAE brokerage with a US office, we receive these referrals, and it is in our interest that they are done cleanly rather than quickly. So here is what the actual instruments say, including the two places where the law is genuinely unsettled and we will tell you so.
Ask a US agent what stops them taking a foreign referral fee and most will say RESPA. The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, section 8, the anti kickback rule at 12 USC 2607.
RESPA does not reach a Dubai property purchase.
This is not an interpretation. It is written into the regulation in plain words. Regulation X, at 12 CFR 1024.2(b), defines what a federally related mortgage loan is, and it says this.
If the residential real property securing a mortgage loan is not located in a State, the loan is not a federally related mortgage loan.
The same section defines State as any state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and any territory or possession of the United States. And 12 CFR 1024.5(a) confirms that RESPA and Regulation X apply to federally related mortgage loans.
A Dubai apartment is not in a State. So the loan is not federally related. So RESPA section 8 does not apply to a referral fee paid on that purchase.
| Scenario | Does RESPA section 8 apply |
|---|---|
| Client pays cash for a Dubai apartment | No |
| Client takes a UAE bank mortgage on a Dubai apartment | No |
| Client cash out refinances a US home to fund the Dubai purchase | Yes, on the US loan |
| Referral bundled with US settlement services | Yes, on that part |
Read the bottom two rows carefully. If any part of the arrangement touches a US secured loan, RESPA attaches to that leg. The Dubai purchase itself is outside it. The American mortgage used to pay for it is not.
Two things, and neither is RESPA.
One. You may not perform licensed brokerage activity in Dubai. No showing property. No negotiating price. No advising on the Dubai transaction. Under Bylaw No. 85 of 2006 regulating the real estate brokers register in the Emirate of Dubai, Article 3, no person may engage in real estate brokerage activities in the Emirate unless licensed and entered in the register. A bare introduction is the safe shape. Anything past introduction starts to look like practice.
Two. Your own state licence law governs who may pay you. This is where it gets specific, and where the answer changes depending on which state you are licensed in.
Every US state runs the same basic architecture. A salesperson or sales associate may be compensated only through their own broker. What varies is whether the state permits that broker to share a commission with a brokerage outside the United States.
Florida Statutes section 475.25(1)(h) makes it a violation to pay a fee for the referral of real estate business to a person not licensed in Florida, and then carves out an exception in terms that could not be more useful to you.
The statute expressly permits a Florida broker to pay a referral fee or share a real estate brokerage commission with a broker licensed or registered under the laws of a foreign state, so long as the foreign broker does not violate any law of Florida.
Florida contemplated this situation and wrote the answer down. Section 475.42(1)(d) still requires the sales associate to be paid in the name of their employing broker, so the money routes through your brokerage, not to you personally.
22 Texas Administrative Code section 535.131 provides that a broker licensed in Texas may cooperate with a foreign broker and share earned commissions with a foreign broker, while making clear that only Texas licence holders may handle negotiations physically conducted within Texas.
Same shape as Florida. Cooperation and commission sharing permitted. Practice inside the state reserved to Texas licensees.
California Business and Professions Code section 10137 makes it unlawful for a licensed broker to compensate any person for acts within the scope of the chapter who is not a licensed California broker or a salesperson under that responsible broker. Then it carves out an exception.
The exception permits a licensed California broker to pay a commission to a broker of another state.
A broker of another state. On the plain words, that reads as another American state, not another country.
We looked for a California Department of Real Estate opinion, a regulation or a decided case resolving whether a Dubai brokerage falls inside that exception. We could not find one. Not one. The question appears to be genuinely open.
There is a second wrinkle worth knowing. Section 10131 defines a broker as someone who sells or offers to sell, buys or offers to buy, or solicits prospective sellers or buyers of real property. It does not say where the property has to be. So the common argument that the property being abroad means California licence law is not engaged is not clearly supported by the statute's own text either.
If you are licensed in California, do not take our word or anyone else's. Ask the DRE in writing before you take the fee.
New York Real Property Law section 442 prohibits a broker from paying part of a fee or commission to any person unless that person is a licensed salesperson associated with the broker, a licensed broker, or a person regularly engaged in the real estate brokerage business in a state outside of New York.
Section 442-a bars a salesperson from receiving compensation from anyone other than the licensed broker with whom they are associated.
A state outside of New York. Same words, same problem. We searched for a New York Department of State opinion reading that to include a foreign country and found none.
| State | Instrument | Foreign brokerage sharing |
|---|---|---|
| Florida | F.S. 475.25(1)(h) | Expressly permitted |
| Texas | 22 TAC 535.131 | Expressly permitted |
| California | B&P Code 10137 | Unresolved. Statute says "another state" |
| New York | RPL 442 and 442-a | Unresolved. Statute says "a state outside of New York" |
Four states, two clear answers and two open questions. That is the honest state of it, and any page telling you all fifty states are fine is not reading the statutes.
Now turn the question round. Can a Dubai brokerage legally pay you.
We went through Bylaw No. 85 of 2006, the instrument that regulates the real estate brokers register in Dubai. Here is what it actually contains.
| Article | What it says |
|---|---|
| Article 3 | No person may engage in real estate brokerage activities in the Emirate unless licensed and entered in the register |
| Article 27 | Broker remuneration is determined by agreement, and in the absence of agreement by prevailing practice |
| Article 28 | Remuneration falls due on conclusion of the contract |
| Article 31 | Where several brokers act for one party the fee is partitioned as if they were one broker |
| Article 33 | Brokers are paid by the party appointing them |
Articles 14 to 25 set out obligations and prohibitions. Articles 26 to 33 deal with remuneration. None of them prohibits a registered broker from paying or sharing commission with a person not on the register, and none requires registration in order to receive an introduction fee. The prohibition in Article 3 is on practising brokerage in the Emirate. That is a different thing.
The Dubai Land Department's own Real Estate Brokerage Practice Guide 2024 covers Trakheesi registration and broker cards and is silent on referral fees, introducers, sub agents and payments to parties outside the UAE.
So the accurate statement is this. A pure introduction made from outside the UAE, with no brokerage activity performed inside Dubai, is not addressed by Bylaw 85 of 2006, and we could find no RERA circular or DLD rule either permitting it or prohibiting it.
Market practice does it openly. Multiple Dubai brokerages run public referral programmes. One large group's scheme paying non licensees a share of broker commission was reported in the UAE press. But market practice is not law, and we are not going to present it to you as though it were. If the sum involved is material, get a UAE qualified opinion.
Strip away the uncertainty and the shape that survives every version of these rules is narrow and simple.
| Do | Do not |
|---|---|
| Introduce the client and stop | Show, tour or present Dubai property |
| Put the arrangement in writing before the introduction | Negotiate price or terms |
| Have the fee paid to your brokerage, not to you | Advise on the Dubai transaction |
| Tell your broker before you agree anything | Hold or handle client funds |
| Disclose the fee to your client in writing | Describe yourself as acting for them in Dubai |
| Check your own state licence law first | Assume RESPA is the only issue |
The written agreement matters more than people think. Article 27 of Bylaw 85 says remuneration is determined by agreement, and in the absence of agreement by prevailing practice. Prevailing practice is a bad place to end up when the disagreement is about your money.
There are 1,439,163 members of the National Association of Realtors as at 18 June 2026, down from 1,463,352 a year earlier.
NAR's Certified International Property Specialist designation, the closest thing to relevant training, has roughly 1,900 designees. Its regional electives cover Europe, Asia Pacific, The Americas and Africa.
There is no Middle East regional CIPS course. We checked against NAR's own course list.
We also searched for anyone at all who trains US agents on referring clients to Dubai. Courses, designations, certifications, continuing education credit, brokerage programmes, NAR global education. We found nobody. What exists is the reverse direction, UAE agents being taught NAR curriculum, and Dubai brokerage referral schemes that are lead capture rather than education.
So the reason you have not been told is not that the answer is secret. It is that no one has written it down.
If you take nothing else from this page, take this.
Your client cannot 1031 exchange into Dubai.
Section 1031(h) of the Internal Revenue Code provides that real property located in the United States and real property located outside the United States are not like kind. There is no exchange available. The gain crystallises on the sale of the US property.
We hear this promise made to American buyers regularly, and it is wrong every time. If your client is selling a US rental to buy in Dubai, that gain is taxable this year. Tell them before they sign, not after.
Three more that follow the same pattern. Foreign residential rental property depreciates over 30 years on the Alternative Depreciation System, not 27.5. There is no foreign tax credit on Dubai rental income, because the UAE levies no tax on it and there is nothing to credit. And the client may owe FBAR on FinCEN Form 114 and possibly Form 8938, with penalties that are not proportionate to the tax at stake.
None of that is your job to advise on. All of it is your job to raise, so the client takes it to a CPA before they commit rather than in April.
We will put the arrangement in writing before the introduction, not after. We will tell you plainly if your state is one of the two where we think the answer is unresolved. And if your client should not buy in Dubai, we will say so and there will be no referral to pay on, because we do not think an advisor's job is to find a reason to buy. It is to find every reason not to, first.
Send these before the introduction, not after.
The mirror image of this page. We run a free founding cohort for licensed UAE brokers on serving American buyers, covering the same instruments from the other side of the transaction.
The American Client Desk, Cresco Academy
Does RESPA apply to a referral fee on a Dubai property purchase?
No. Regulation X at 12 CFR 1024.2(b) states that if the residential real property securing a mortgage loan is not located in a State, the loan is not a federally related mortgage loan. The same section defines State as a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico or a United States territory or possession. 12 CFR 1024.5(a) confirms RESPA applies to federally related mortgage loans. A Dubai property is not in a State, so the RESPA section 8 anti kickback rule at 12 USC 2607 does not reach the referral. If the client cash out refinances a United States property to fund the purchase, RESPA does attach to that United States loan.
Can a Florida real estate agent accept a referral fee from a Dubai brokerage?
Florida Statutes section 475.25(1)(h) expressly permits a Florida broker to pay a referral fee or share a real estate brokerage commission with a broker licensed or registered under the laws of a foreign state, provided the foreign broker does not violate any Florida law. Section 475.42(1)(d) requires a sales associate to be paid in the name of their employing broker, so the fee routes through the brokerage rather than to the associate directly.
Can a California or New York agent accept a Dubai referral fee?
This is unresolved and we will not tell you otherwise. California Business and Professions Code section 10137 permits a licensed broker to pay a commission to a broker of another state. New York Real Property Law section 442 permits payment to a person regularly engaged in the real estate brokerage business in a state outside of New York. Both statutes say state, which on the plain words reads as another American state. We could find no California Department of Real Estate opinion and no New York Department of State opinion resolving whether a foreign brokerage falls inside those exceptions. Ask your state regulator in writing before you accept a fee.
Is a US agent allowed to show or negotiate Dubai property?
No. Article 3 of Dubai Bylaw No. 85 of 2006 regulating the real estate brokers register provides that no person may engage in real estate brokerage activities in the Emirate unless licensed by the competent entities and entered in the register. A bare introduction is the safe shape. Showing property, negotiating price or terms, advising on the transaction or handling client funds all move beyond introduction.
Does Dubai law allow a brokerage to pay an overseas introducer?
It is not addressed. Bylaw No. 85 of 2006 prohibits practising brokerage in the Emirate without registration, and its remuneration articles 26 to 33 contain no provision prohibiting a registered broker from sharing commission with a person not on the register. The Dubai Land Department Real Estate Brokerage Practice Guide 2024 is silent on referral fees, introducers and payments outside the UAE. We could find no RERA circular either permitting or prohibiting it. Market practice does it openly, but market practice is not law. Take a UAE qualified opinion if the sum is material.
Can my client 1031 exchange a US property into Dubai?
No. Section 1031(h) of the Internal Revenue Code provides that real property located in the United States and real property located outside the United States are not like kind. There is no exchange available and the gain crystallises on the sale of the United States property. This promise is made to American buyers regularly and it is wrong every time.
Is there any NAR training on referring clients to Dubai?
No. The Certified International Property Specialist designation, which has roughly 1,900 designees, offers regional electives covering Europe, Asia Pacific, The Americas and Africa. There is no Middle East regional CIPS course. We searched for any course, designation, certification or continuing education programme teaching United States agents to refer clients to Dubai and found none.
Cresco Real Estate LLC is a licensed UAE brokerage, RERA ORN 34288, with a US office in Los Angeles. We are not attorneys, tax advisers or licensed financial advisers in any US state, and nothing on this page is legal or tax advice. It is general information about published statutes and regulations, current as at 24 August 2026. Two of the questions covered here are genuinely unresolved and we have said so where that is the case. Verify every instrument against the issuing authority and take advice from your own attorney, your broker and your state regulator before you enter any referral arrangement.
Dubai head office. US office in Los Angeles. A licensed UAE brokerage, RERA ORN 34288, that will put the risks, the tax and the comparable transactions in front of you before you sign. Bring your CPA. We will work with them.