You can ask another licensed agent to cover a showing in Texas. You cannot pay them directly for it. The compensation has to reach them through their sponsoring broker.
“A sales agent may not accept compensation for a real estate transaction from anyone other than the broker the sales agent was associated with at the time the commission was earned and may not pay a commission to a person except through the sales agent's sponsoring broker.”Read Tex. Occ. Code § 1101.651(b)–(c) — Certain practices prohibited ↗
Texas publishes this chapter as one document; the link jumps to § 1101.651 within it.
Texas states both halves in one sentence: a sales agent takes payment only from their sponsoring broker, and pays other people only through that broker.
A text message, a favour, and a payment app. The money goes from one sales agent to another, neither sponsoring broker is told, and nothing is recorded.
The fee is agreed up front, the required forms are signed before the job proceeds, the sponsoring broker can see the assignment and what was paid, and the showing leaves a record.
Licensure is the firm's responsibility in Texas, as everywhere: the sponsoring broker is the party the state holds accountable for supervising affiliated agents. ShowingMarket does not claim to verify licences — it records who attested to them. An agent onboarded by their brokerage carries that firm's attestation; an agent who joined alone is labelled self-reported.
ShowingMarket gives your sponsoring broker oversight on payment: the fee agreed up front, your firm's required forms enforced before the job proceeds, and a record of the assignment and what was paid. It is not a broker and does not route compensation to a firm on your behalf — payouts are made to the covering agent's own connected Stripe account. Information, not legal advice: your sponsoring broker and the Texas real estate commission are the authorities on your situation.
No — Tex. Occ. Code § 1101.651(b)–(c) requires that compensation reach the sales agent through their sponsoring broker. Texas states both halves in one sentence: a sales agent takes payment only from their sponsoring broker, and pays other people only through that broker.
Yes. Agent-to-agent coverage is ordinary, lawful work in Texas — what the statute regulates is how the money moves, not whether one licensed agent may cover for another.
The brokerage. Texas licenses and holds the sponsoring broker responsible for supervising the agents affiliated with the firm, so licensure is verified by the firm that affiliates the agent — not by a marketplace, which carries none of that accountability.
Free for brokerages. Your own network, your compliance rules enforced before a job proceeds, and a sponsoring broker who can see every job, every signed form and every fee.