Mo. Rev. Stat. » Chapter 339
Missouri Revised Statutes

Mo. Rev. Stat. § 339.150 (2026)

Unlicensed persons not to be employed, when

✓ laws through the 2026 session (checked Sept. 2026)
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MO-REVrevisor.mo.gov Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

  339.150.  Unlicensed persons not to be employed, when — no fees paid, when, exception — compensation directly to business entity owned by licensee, when — definitions. — 1.  No real estate broker shall knowingly employ or engage any person to perform any service to the broker for which licensure as a real estate broker or a real estate salesperson is required pursuant to sections 339.010 to 339.180 and sections 339.710 to 339.860*, unless such a person is:

  (1)  A licensed real estate salesperson or a licensed real estate broker as required by section 339.020; or

  (2)  For a transaction involving commercial real estate as defined in section 339.710, a person regularly engaged in the real estate brokerage business outside the state of Missouri who has, in such forms as the commission may adopt by rule:

  (a)  Executed a brokerage agreement with the Missouri real estate broker;

  (b)  Consented to the jurisdiction of Missouri and the commission;

  (c)  Consented to disciplinary procedures under section 339.100; and

  (d)  Appointed the commission as his or her agent for service of process regarding any administrative or legal actions relating to the conduct in Missouri; or

  (3)  For any other transaction, a person regularly engaged in the real estate brokerage business outside of the state of Missouri.

­­

­

Any such action shall be unlawful as provided by section 339.100 and shall be grounds for investigation, complaint, proceedings and discipline as provided by section 339.100.

  2.  No real estate licensee shall pay any part of a fee, commission or other compensation received by the licensee to any person for any service rendered by such person to the licensee in buying, selling, exchanging, leasing, renting or negotiating a loan upon any real estate, unless such a person is a licensed real estate salesperson regularly associated with such a broker, or a licensed real estate broker, or a person regularly engaged in the real estate brokerage business outside of the state of Missouri.

  3.  Notwithstanding the provisions of subsections 1 and 2 of this section, any real estate broker who shall refuse to pay any person for services rendered by such person to the broker, with the consent, knowledge and acquiescence of the broker that such person was not licensed as required by section 339.020, in buying, selling, exchanging, leasing, renting or negotiating a loan upon any real estate for which services a license is required, and who is employed or engaged by such broker to perform such services, shall be liable to such person for the reasonable value of the same or similar services rendered to the broker, regardless of whether or not the person possesses or holds any particular license, permit or certification at the time the service was performed.  Any such person may bring a civil action for the reasonable value of his services rendered to a broker notwithstanding the provisions of section 339.160.

  4.  Notwithstanding provisions of this chapter to the contrary, a broker may pay compensation directly to a business entity owned by a licensee that has been formed for the purpose of receiving compensation earned by such licensee.  A business entity that receives compensation from a broker as provided for in this subsection shall not be required to be licensed under this chapter and shall be owned:

  (1)  Solely by the licensee;

  (2)  By the licensee together with the licensee's spouse, but only if the spouse and licensee are both licensed and associated with the same broker, or the spouse is not also licensed; or

  (3)  By the licensee and one or more other licensees, but only if all such owners are licensees which are associated with the same broker.

  5.  For purposes of subsection 4 of this section, the following terms shall mean:

  (1)  "Business entity", any corporation, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability company, professional corporation, or association;

  (2)  "Licensee", any real estate broker, real estate broker-salesperson, or real estate salesperson, as such terms are defined under section 339.010.

­­--------

(L. 1941 p. 424 § 15, A.L. 1993 S.B. 18, A.L. 2004 H.B. 985, A.L. 2008 S.B. 788, A.L. 2021 H.B. 273 merged with H.B. 476, A.L. 2025 H.B. 596)

*Section 339.860 was repealed by S.B. 613 Revision, 2007.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 10 cases, 1955–2006 · leading case: Gilbert v. Edwards, 276 S.W.2d 611 (Mo. Ct. App. 1955).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Gilbert v. Edwards, 276 S.W.2d 611 (Mo. Ct. App. 1955). · cites it 22× “Turning our attention to the provisions of Section 339.150 RSMo 1949, V.A.M.S., -we find that in clear and definite language it is provided that no real estate broker shall pay "any part of * * .”
Mueller v. Ruddy, 617 S.W.2d 466 (Mo. Ct. App. 1981). · cites it 12× “In Count II, the Commission charged Mueller with violating § 339.150 RSMo 1969. The Commission alleged that Mueller compensated unlicensed sales persons for selling real estate for him.”
O'CONNER v. Follman, 747 S.W.2d 216 (Mo. Ct. App. 1988). · cites it 7× “Section 339.150 RSMo 1986 captioned “No fee paid to unlicensed persons” provides: No real estate broker shall pay any part of a fee, commission or other compensation received by the broker to any person for any service rendered by such person to the broker in buying, selling,…”
Sandbothe v. Williams, 552 S.W.2d 251 (Mo. Ct. App. 1977). · cites it 2× “Section 339.150 prohibits licensed brokers from sharing their commissions with unlicensed persons.”
Miller Nationwide Real Est. Corp. v. Sikeston Motel Corp., 418 S.W.2d 173 (Mo. 1967). · cites it 4× “In connection with their first contention, plaintiffs argue that § 339.150 “* * * clearly contemplates and sanctions a situation such as this where a foreign broker may become associated with a licensed resident broker * * * ” and recover on an assignment of the interest of the…”
White v. Miriam Realty Co., 547 S.W.2d 184 (Mo. Ct. App. 1977). · cites it 2× “1967), and “our courts have construed Chapter 339 very strictly, and have trenchantly turned aside various attempts to avoid or erode the provisions of Section 339.150 and 339.160,” Ingalls v. Neufeld, 487 S.”
Ingalls v. Neufeld, 487 S.W.2d 52 (Mo. Ct. App. 1972). “Plaintiff’s position is that the regulatory provisions of Chapter 339 do not and were not intended to apply to this isolated transaction in which he was acting only as a “business chance broker”, that is as a broker who undertakes to sell a business as a going concern, including…”
Siedler v. Tamar Realty Co., 491 S.W.2d 566 (Mo. Ct. App. 1973). “Sections 339.150 and 339.160, V.A. M.S. provide that a broker cannot pay any part of a fee or commission for service rendered in buying and selling real estate to any person who is not a licensed real estate salesman or broker and, in an action to recover a commission for a sale…”
Smith v. Premium Homes, Inc., 103 S.W.3d 810 (Mo. Ct. App. 2003). “1988) (finding that sections 339.150 and 339.160 prohibit a party from recovering commissions earned in real estate transactions without first alleging and proving that the party is a licensed real estate broker).”
Brennan v. Dorsett Vill., L.L.C., 203 S.W.3d 770 (Mo. Ct. App. 2006). “Brennan and Meyers did not submit a submissi-ble case for consideration by the jury to recover for services rendered in a real estate transaction because they did not overcome the requirements of sections 339.150 or 339.160. III. CONCLUSION The judgment is reversed.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.