Side announces mentorship-focused rev share program
The brokerage platform also asked a judge to dismiss a copycat commissions lawsuit, saying it fails to prove Side conspired with anyone over agent compensation.
Brokerage platform Side has been busy, announcing a new revenue share program and other product enhancements while seeking dismissal of a copycat commissions lawsuit.
The company also said an undisclosed number of employees would be laid off as part of a restructuring related to its new initiatives.
What's new? Side is launching PartnerUp Revenue share, a program meant to reward existing Side partners who refer and mentor agents to start their own companies on the Side platform. Referring agents will get an unspecified "portion of the revenue Side collects from that company in perpetuity without caps" — as long as the agent and team meet Side's production requirement of $30 million a year or more, the company said in a statement.
Side also announced a new referral platform, a private network featuring off-market and coming soon listings, and a marketplace of verified tools and services.
What Side is saying: Side CEO Guy Gal said the PartnerUp program reflects the company's commitment to top-producing agents and teams.
"Other programs are structured like multi-level marketing schemes with downlines that incentivize quantity over quality, compromising the integrity of our industry," Gal said. "So many of our agent partners already mentor other agents, and this program formalizes and supports them in doing more of that."
What's happening in court? Side has asked the judge to dismiss the QJ Team "copy-and-paste" commissions case in Texas, while others have taken the settlement path, saying in a court filing that the complaint "fails to allege any facts showing that Side agreed with anyone—the National Association of Realtors or any competitors—about the Compensation Rule."
Side's filing also points out that the complaint "repeatedly refers to, but does not quote, what the Plaintiffs refer to as the Mandatory Offer of Compensation Rule (the 'Compensation Rule')," which allegedly requires sellers to offer buyer agent compensation but "does not mandate a seller to offer a buyer agent a specific commission."