Where a dispo service sits under the new marketing rules

Two things drive the licensing question in most states: whether you hold an equitable interest in the property you're marketing, and whether your pay depends on a transaction closing. You hold no interest and your $1,500 is contingent, which is the pattern brokerage definitions were written to catch. Whether that actually makes you a broker turns on your state's exact statutory language and how its commission has read it, so put the structure in front of a real estate attorney licensed in every state you take clients from before you sign another one.

A monthly retainer removes the contingent-fee factor and does nothing about the other one. You'd still be soliciting buyers for property you don't control, on someone else's behalf, for money. Where public marketing of a contract has been folded into brokerage, as in Nebraska and Kentucky, the marketing act is the trigger and how you bill is beside the point.

The version of this service with the least exposure is back office only. Escrow coordination, document assembly, proof-of-funds collection, deadline tracking, and zero outbound contact with buyers. Your client sends to their own list. That's a smaller business and it's a much easier one to describe to a regulator.

On pricing, per-closing fees assume closings happen. Connecticut's Public Act 25-168 takes effect July 1, 2026 with registration, a three-day seller cancellation right, and a bar on closing dates past 90 days. A three-day window means the dispo work you do on days one through three can evaporate through nobody's fault, after you've already spent the labor. Bill for work performed, or build the cancellation rate into the flat fee. Also check whether any errors and omissions carrier will write you at all; several decline unlicensed transaction services outright.