Is Offering a Finder's Fee Illegal?

[Hal Cranmer]

I am thinking of ordering some business cards and get into wholesaling. I have flipped and rented out several properties and wanted to do some wholesaling to

a. Find some good properties to rent/flip

b. Make some extra cash for rentals and flips

Everything I read says offer a finder's fee on your business card for people to bring you leads. But I heard that these fees can be illegal. Can I put that on a business card and leave them around? Or will it get me in trouble? I'm in Minnesota if anyone has any local knowledge. Thanks.

[John Fossetti]

If you are not a licensed professional there shouldn't be a problem with giving referral fees but definitely check with legal consul. RESPA would be the ones to come down on you if you were an agent, I believe the law is something like you can only give $50 for a referral or something like that, You may need to have your bird dogs fill out a W-9 in case you pay them more than $600. I usually have a bird dog package to send to my referrers? Please check with your local ordinances for exact answers.