Policies

Crucial information that every Kelly Right Real Estate agent should know.

Click the section or scroll down the page to review the following information:

Required Agency Disclosures and State Policies

You must check your state laws and local real estate commission for disclosure requirements.

Law of Real Estate Agency Pamphlets and Forms: Per local laws, the below Law of Real Estate Agency for WA, ID and OR are required to be given to every buyer and seller you work with prior to any paperwork being signed.

Alabama Buyer’s Acknowledgment Statement: Alabama agents will need to use this form in your transactions.

Washington Agents Required Records, WAC 308-124C-105 (2.c): You must keep “… all agreements, receipts, contracts, documents, leases, closing statements and material correspondence for each real estate or business opportunity transaction, and for each rental, lease, contract or mortgage collection account.” WAC 308-124 (2.c) www.app.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=308-124C-105

E&O Insurance Policies

See below for your location's E&O policy.

Idaho agents, we submit this to the state for you.

Transaction & E&O Insurance Fees Explained

Transaction Fee Breakdown:

Agent shall pay a maximum fee of $209 per standard transaction to be deducted from commission for processing of Agent’s transactions.

$109 transaction fee for gross commission up to $1000
$159 transaction fee per gross commission of $1001 to $2000
$209 transaction fee per gross commission of $2001 and above
WA state charges a B&O tax, we charge this on every Washington transaction closed (currently 1.5% of the total commission) and report it each month directly to the DOR (Department of Revenue).
Kelly Right charges a $50 processing fee for Ojo lead program generated transactions in addition to the standard transaction fee. Ojo takes 30-35% of the commission depending on the sale price. Details here.
Kelly Right charges a 5% fee of the gross commission earned from all Opcity /Realtor.com lead transactions generated through the Kelly Right Real Estate portal, in addition to the standard transaction fee. Opcity takes 30-35% of the commission depending on the sale price. Opcity details here. Fee announcement email sent on 10/28/2022 details here.
*Due to extreme increases and inflation in our costs, the transaction fee increased by $20 on December 21, 2023. Announcement email sent Nov 21, 2023. ($89 dollars became $109. $139 became $159. $189 became $209). Our low monthly fee of $79 stayed the same.

E&O Supplementary Fee & Claim Deductibles:

Kelly Right has implemented an Errors and Omissions supplementary fee on high value transactions due to extreme increases in our insurance. (Written notice sent on Dec 20, 2021 and Dec 21, 2021 of this change via this email).
On sales over 2 million, your E&O charge will go up $25 for every $100,000 over $2 million in price. This $25 will be reflected in the adjusted transaction cost.
Note: The transaction fee for a $2.4 million property will still only be $209 while the agent earned $71,791 in commission. This is after paying their transaction fee of $209 based on a 3% commission. States with mandatory tax obligations still apply.
For example, you close on a house that was $2.5 million. The transaction cost for that will be: $209 (normal rate) + $25×5 ($500 thousand over $2 million) = $314
Broker agrees to maintain Errors and Omissions insurance for all Agents with a deductible not to exceed $2500. Agent is responsible for all deductible payments should a claim be necessary. Broker is designated to withhold deductible from Agent commissions if it is determined by Broker that a violation and/or an error has occurred.

1099's, W9's and Tax Information

CPA Explanation & Business Expenses

Kelly Right Real Estate is a 100% commission firm and advertises as such. 1099’s issued have your gross commission reported (your 1099 issued will not reflect any deductions from your 100% commissions).

Any of your business-related expenses such as Kelly Right monthly/transaction fees, referral fees, Opcity fees, MLS’ dues, Realtor Association fees, license renewal fees, CE classes, commission advance payments, business marketing/advertising expenses, etc., may be filed as your business expenses. You will need to keep track of these expenses as we do not send these out.

We are not a licensed CPA; please confirm with your accountant the deductions you feel questionable and what to best include as a business expense for your taxes. It is your responsibility to keep track of your expenses and income. (Please see the section below for helpful tips on tracking business expenses.)

Our CPA has provided a letter with an explanation of the gross income reporting, please click on the button below to review the letter. (Explanation letter first sent 3/4/2022, see email here.)

When and how do I get my 1099?

1099’s for 2022 were emailed to you on January 27, 2023 from Tax1099.com.
If you cannot find this email, please email sfarrel@kellyright.com
Only agents who have had commissions the previous year will receive a 1099.
If you are an S Corp or C Corp election, please let us know at billing@kellyright.com if you want a 1099 issued- we only send a 1099 upon request in these circumstances.

Tracking Your Business Expenses

We strongly advise you to track your business expenses at the beginning of each year to make tax filing a smoother and more accurate process. This includes your Kelly Right fees, MLS and Association fees, marketing materials for your business and so on. Please contact your accountant for questions on what else may be used as business expenses (examples: % of your cell phone bill, gas, mileage, internet usage, etc.)

There are several types of Expense Tracking programs that can help you track business expenses such as: Excel, Quickbooks, Stride, IXACT Contact, Zoho etc.

Helpful Articles

Turbo Tax: Reporting Self-Employment Business Income and Deductions
H&R Block: Filing Taxes as an Independent Contractor
IRS.gov: Reporting Payments to Independent Contractors
Turbo Tax: Tax Tips for Real Estate Agents and Brokers
Quick Books: Self-Employed Expenses and Organization Program

* Kelly Right is not affiliated with, nor endorses any specific tax preparation or expenses tracking company. These articles are meant to be informative only. We advise speaking to your accountant for your specific questions.

Kelly Right Real Estate Policies and Procedures Manual

Specific action plan for carrying out procedures.

This manual includes information regarding:

Affiliation
Office Polices
Advertising: This section is being updated. Refer to the Brand Guide for Marketing Compliance Policies
Compensation
RESPA
Listing Policy
Buyer’s Principal Brokerage
Selling Policies and Procedures
Closing Procedures
Antitrust
Termination of Affiliation. Cancellation of Billing Form must be returned by the 10th of the month to avoid fees for that month. Cancellation of Billing Form Below. Learn more about membership cancellation here.

New Teams Joining Kelly Right

All Team Members Must Sign the Independent Contractor Agreement:

Each agent on the team must fill out the New Agent Paperwork as normal to join our brokerage; this includes our Independent Contractor Agreement, Commission Disbursement, Billing Enrollment Form for monthly dues and W9.
If we are paying each team member’s commission disbursement, then we need the agent’s bank information for deposits. If the team leader has an LLC and will be paying the team member’s commission disbursements, then we do not need their bank information.
Team leaders need to have contracts signed with their team members. Contracts must include: a breakdown of how the commissions are split within the group and signed by each team member.
Each commission disbursement within a team for the same transaction will be charged the $209 transaction fee.
Each team of agents must have their own separate bank account for the commissions to be received.
Team agreements are effective upon receipt of signed and dated agreement submitted to Kelly Right.
When creating your team agreement, consider, do you want a monthly type of split to remain the same, or use an outlined split based on # of transactions to ramp up agent experience and maintain the team? *See the basic team agreement for an example of splits and team member expectations.
Contact Stefanie Farrel at sfarrel@kellyright.com for more details.

Company Texts, Support Chat, Emails and Scams

Kelly Right Real Estate sends our agents company wide emails and texts a few times a month. Please respond to them only if necessary.

It is a requirement per state and commission rules for you to be able to receive and review company communication. Please do not unsubscribe or block our phone number for texts and phone calls as you are an Independent Contractor with the company and we need to be able to contact you. We are careful to only send a few texts a month so you will not receive excessive communication.

If you unsubscribe from our emails, you must resubscribe using this link: http://eepurl.com/gmLnnf After you fill out the short form in the link, the system will send you a confirmation email. This email will come from our email hosting company, Mailchimp. You may need to check your spam/junk/other/promotions folder for the email to confirm the resubscribe.

Kelly Right emails and texts will always be very clear about specific company announcements or information pertaining to you personally. Please see the “Avoid Scams and Safety Tips” module of the Agent Portal for extensive information to help you recognize and avoid scams, examples of many scam types, how to protect yourself, and how to report them.

NOTE: Do not forward suspicious emails or texts to us. Do not reply to them, do not click on links/attachments and do not give them your personal information.

Friendly reminder about our texting system. We send out a “Refer an Agent” text a few times a year, however we keep the texts we send relevant to you and not contact you too often unless necessary. Please don’t have to reply to our reminder texts or emails either (unless it’s one where we need to hear back from you). We have a 1000+ agents and receiving hundreds of likes or replies back makes it difficult to answer the ones who need it.

We also answer chat messages, emails, voicemails, social media messages and phone calls all at the same time- so if you don’t get an immediate response, don’t worry, you don’t need to try our other contact methods- we will answer you!

Examples of our company email and text topics:

Welcome texts when you first join the company, Conference Call reminders, Licensing notices, Marketing Material releases, end of year 1099 information, E&O Insurance Policy updates, MLS issues, holiday office hour announcements, training opportunities, website and Agent Portal updates, kvCORE information, your specific transaction or listing information etc.

Commissions & Transactions

Kelly Right Real Estate is dedicated to making the transaction and payment process as fast and efficient as possible.

Please review our Commissions & Transactions page on the Agent Portal for the policies, forms and instructions on the below topics.

Continuing Education & Licensing

It is your responsibility to maintain your active license, association and MLS status, and to pay your dues.

You must know your license expiration date, renewal requirements and keep your license active. Be proactive so that your license is current and remains in good standing.

Please review our CE Hours and License Renewals page on the Agent Portal for continuing education options, and licensing information by state.

L&I and Worker's Compensation FAQ

Agent's Taxes portion of the Independent Contractor Agreement:

Explanation of “Industrial Premium”:

“At Broker’s request, Agent will pay one-half of the medical aid and supplemental retirement portions of any industrial insurance premiums which State law requires the Broker to pay on independent contractors.”

Explanation: This is in reference to L&I and Worker’s Compensation, for any minimum state requirements. For Washington state, there are no requirements.

Industrial premiums are worker’s comp, if there are any injuries or operational damages sustained in the course of business. If there are any additional state required policies that are above and beyond what we offer (i.e. E&O, general liability, worker’s comp.).

Office Guide by State

License #s, Brokers, Addresses, MLS IDs, HUD Homestore, etc.

Corporate Office Guide: This section of the guide covers corporate office information such as: email addresses to use for paperwork, where to find resources, HUD Homestore/NAID # information, company social media pages, transaction coordinator details, etc.

Local Office Guide by State: You can quickly select your state and/or region to find your broker's information, broker liaison contact, kvCORE website, MLS information, office license numbers, office address and more.

Termination of Affiliation / Cancellation Forms

If you are considering leaving Kelly Right Real Estate, we would love to have an opportunity to talk to you about any questions or concerns you have to see how we can better support you and your business. Please feel free to reach out to us.

Office: 844-535-5974
Matt Bayley, WA Broker Liaison: mbayley@kellyright.com | 844-535-5974 ext. 1018
Kendra Jenks, Broker Liaison: kjenks@kellyright.com | 208-280-0754
Joe Kelly, President & Designated Broker: jkelly@kellyright.com

Cancellation of Membership and Billing with Kelly Right

Forms must be completed and returned to us by the 10th of the month to cancel fees for that month.
Listing Transfer / Cancellation Form is included in the Cancellation of Membership & Billing Form link.
Complete the bottom Cancellation portion of the Credit Card Billing form. You DO NOT need to enter your credit card information.
There are 2 forms: Cancellation Notice for Automatic Credit Card Charge of Fees (1 page) and the Authorization and Release (Transfer Representation Under Purchase Contract and/or Listing Contract) (2 pages), these are both in the same pdf link.
You will need to sign all 3 pages total.
If you do not have any transactions or closings for the Authorization and Release form, you can cross out the property information and write “Not applicable” or “N/A” near your signature.
If you have multiple that need to be released/transferred, you will need to sign an Authorization and Release form for each one.