At least you are getting 40%. The last transaction I had with Cartus was a 50% referral fee. I closed on the buyer, and I think my buyer got more money than me. It was a complicated escrow and the sellers and my buyers were both pain in the rear.

When the time to renew being a Cartus agent came, and of course you have to attend a Webex training  at your expense of $65, and then they pass the transaction fee of up to $500 per transaction to the referred agent- this is on top of the 50% , is when I said Adios Cartus!

There is a difference between relo companies and relo companies! The big machines who churn out volume and the medium size ones WHO LOOK AFTER PEOPLE! We are one of them.
We do not take profit from our clients and their employees! For our all encompassing services we charge a management fee, adding value to the relocation process, buying and selling of properties. To be totally transparent, stick to the open book policy and be honest about our earnings is our differentiating factor! We make potential clients aware during tender process about some companies ripping off their 'approved suppliers' or adding fees to external invoices - however often this message is ignored when they are vetting a supplier. What a shame, this could save millions of dollars/punds! We do not charge suppliers to be on our panel, in fact we do not have a panel. Our suppliers are ''quality assured'' and undergo a stringent supplier selection process.
Frank - thanks for starting this blog and all the feedback. How I wish the Washington Post and the Financial Times would take up this story...

Frank - clarification for selling a home:
This scheme is called the Guaranteed Sales Price. The relo company does not purchase the property but handles the transactions, marketing, management and (most of the time) funding.
Two valuations (3 if the difference is more than 5 %) are taken on a property and the average value price is offered to the employee as a guaranteed price. Once accepted the employee has 'cash in the pocket' to purchase a new home, however the funds are only released when the employee is ready to close on the new home. The client (employer) pays the funding for this 'bridging loan' until the property is sold.
When selling the property a loss or gain on sale is achieved. Depending on the clients relocation policy the gain/profit is sometimes released to the employee, some companies keep the profit to offset costs or pay out a percentage.
If a loss is taken when the property is sold, usually the client (employer) covers 100% of the loss, there are however companies who cap the loss they are willing to take.
How it works - check our website at http://www.hcr.co.uk/?page=GuaranteedSalesPrice
Natascha

I tried one as a buyer agent my first month in RE; from that experience plus everything I've heard since, they're a scam and on the buyer side they probably violate RESPA to boot. The seller side is just as bad; the listing agents know that they get paid whether the house sells or not, so they "buy" the listing with a high suggested list price, do nothing to sell the house, and then get their cut when the Relo company buys out the now-desperate seller (who usually either has already moved or is about to move), at a price that is always (based on the valuation done by their own in-house appraiser...) below market.

what you guys don't realize is that relocation companies simply facilitate corp policies.  what you need to realize is that if a corp was not moving the individual then your opportunity for that business may not have even been there to receive that business. 

consequently, fees to handle the client's relocations are usually lowered if a referral fee is paid.  And yes, many corps have hooks in their relo policies that state that some or all typical closing costs will not be covered if a referral fee is not paid on either or both sides of the transaction.

one thing you have to think about here is "be careful what you wish"...... agents started referrals many years ago because they wanted to get a piece of another agent's pie when they referred the other end.  rather than the "good ol' boy handshake"

What I don't understand is that Cartus is owned by Realogy, Inc and Realogy, Inc ownes all the Franchises for Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA and a couple other Real Estate Company Franchises.  Realogy thus owns Cartus, Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA , etc.  Cartus is contracted by the government & other companies to provide relocation services to their people so Cartus then contracts their relocation businesses to real estate agencies throughout Amercia and guess who those companies are - Century 21, Coldwell Banker, ERA and their other real estate companies.  Thus, I don't see how Cartus is abiding by the government requirement to have a certain portion of those contracts go to Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Businesses, Woman Owned Small Business, etc.  In addition, if someone could verify information, I'll bet ALL Cartus' real estate agencies are their own franchises!!!  Thus, why isn't this a monopoly since they are controlling government contracts?!  I'm a Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Business and Cartus won't even talk to me about getting some of their government sub-contracts.  I thinkall the relocation companies should be put out of business - they don't do anything except make a few phone calls and demand money from hard working agents!!!

I worked for Cendant Mobility/Cartus for ten years (been gone for 2 years)  I was the Client Services Manager for one of their larger accounts.  The referral fee is primarily driven by the client's relocation policy.  What clients do a poor job of doing is reviewing the relocation policy with their employee and getting them to understand the aspects of the relocation policy.  Most clients have a zero fee structure with Cartus so the revenue is generated off of referral fees. 

1. Most companies will not pay a service fee for Cartus to move their employees (what does that say about the employer?)

2. Most companies build it into their relocation policy that the agent the employee chooses must pay a referral fee to Cartus.  The employer is driving the requirement for Cartus to collect the referral fee.

What you don't hear as the agent is that in some instances, Cartus is required to share a portion of the referral fee with the employer!  The employer in most instances is leaning on Cartus to share the referral revenue.  What you also don't hear as the agent that if the agent declines to pay the referral fee, the employer may with hold some of the relocation benefits from their employee.  Once again, the employer will drive this requirement, not Cartus.

The value that Cartus does offer is that it in most instances, it can transact the home via the IRS approved 11 step amended process.  This saves the employer any "gross up" costs on the sale of the home and the transaction becomes a business expense for the employer and not an income generating event for the employee.  This is what generates all of the seemingly redundant paperwork a buyer must sign when the employee has a sale on their home.

So before you want drop the hammer on Cartus any more, please realize that the employer relocation policy (decided by the employer) for the most part drives the requirement for an agent to pay a referral fee.  The fact that the request comes after the fact is also a result of the employer not doing a good job of communicating and reviewing the relocation policy with their employee.

I have not been with Cartus for two years.  This thread requires better understanding of the relocation policy which the employee, the employer, and also Cartus need to do a better job communicating about.  The discussion here is more about the relocation policy the employer imposes on their employee.  If you want to discuss all the other faults that Cartus has, well, that could take a lot longer.

Jason is 100% right!  Agent registration as a requirement is employer driven.  Any Cartus employee is restricted from sharing the employee's benefits with you and you are in the dark about the real reason we need to "register" you.  If you think we enjoy calling you for registration, you're outta your mind.  No one enjoys calling you to ask for the 40% fee and then not be able to give a reason.  All we can say is we're giving you the opportunity to register, if you resist, we're told to drop it.  The reason your prospective client walked is because his/her consultant most likely advised them of what they would be losing if they work with an agent who refuses registration.  As for the loan origination fee, that's just the tip of the iceberg.  The employer can tie any and all benefits to you paying this fee.  It's true that Cartus makes money on it too but we have to make it somewhere.  It's the same for any business that doesn't plan on going bankrupt.

Cartus no longer does business with the feds. They terminated those contracts over a year back. if they still do any business, its indirectly, but not based on the SOW. SOW/fixed fee was fast tracking Cartus to bankruptcy land, they had to go. as far as the minority/disabled vets owned business issue, there are very few realtors in the country that even qualify for such a designation. if they are missing quota thats the reason. A lot of the former govt. clients (BOP forest svce etc) relocated people so rural they had no local agent at all, let alone an MWOB.

Jason is very sharp & his info is SOLID. i hope it enlightens all the agents here bitching about the relo process because its not Cartus out to screw the realty community. much of the bureacracy you face is because of the clients policy, the 11 step process, & the varying requirements of 50 states. Of course Cartus CYA's itself when flipping a home in the 11 step process. Maybe if they didnt get sued for every little thing that goes wrong in the thousands of sales they manage, fees would be lower.

Cartus does not take resale losses on homes in the home sale assistance program. Resale losses are absorbed by the client. There was a CNN story in March about the Postal Service buying a million dollar house from Ron Hopson. Google it. Good read. It was Postal taking the bath on that deal not Cartus.

Last, working as a consultant at Cartus is a horrible, demeaning existence & many of us are in therapy. The processes are hopelessly complex & are always changing. The transferees behave like spoiled children. the company pays peanuts relative to costs in CT. Management are biggest ass kissers ever to walk the earth, because thats the only track up the ladder here. If you can avoid working for or with Cartus you are better off.

Any other questions hoe relocation companies really work and why agents are asked to pay referral fees?