# Colorado lists 14 tasks an unlicensed transaction coordinator may do

> The Real Estate Commission revised Position 20 on 4 August. It names transaction coordinators directly, sets out what an unlicensed one may perform, and says pay contingent on a closing may raise a RESPA problem. The revision tracks HB26-1426, in force since 12 August, which requires a signed written agreement before any brokerage activity.

**Section:** The Desk  
**Published:** August 18, 2026  
**Byline:** TC Bulletin Staff  
**Canonical URL:** https://tcbulletin.com/desk/colorado-position-20-reaps-revised-august-2026  
**Publisher:** TC Bulletin (tcbulletin.com)

## Key points

- Colorado Real Estate Commission Position 20, Licensed and Unlicensed Real Estate Administrative Professionals, now carries the line 'Revised August 4, 2026'. The Division of Real Estate's file was created on 6 August 2026. The prior revision was adopted on 6 April 2021 and the statement was recodified on 7 June 2022.
- It defines REAPs to include 'Unlicensed On-Site Managers, secretaries, bookkeepers, assistants, transaction coordinators/managers or short sale coordinators', and lists fourteen tasks an unlicensed REAP may complete, including reviewing the entire transaction file for missing documents, ordering title commitments, sending disclosure documents, collecting due diligence documents and receipting earnest money.
- The revision replaces the 'Brokerage Relationship' framing for licensed REAPs with a signed written agreement, tracking HB26-1426, Session Laws Chapter 334, approved 2 June 2026 and effective 12 August 2026, which amends C.R.S. 12-10-403(2) to require a written agreement that conspicuously discloses compensation before any brokerage activity.
- It restates that a broker is responsible for a REAP's unlawful acts where the broker had actual knowledge or was negligent in supervision, that an employee includes an independent contractor, and that a REAP falls under the definition of an employee.
- On pay, the Commission's position is that payments to an unlicensed REAP 'contingent on the closing of a transaction may result in a violation of' RESPA, and that a REAP may need a separate errors and omissions policy. Position statements are the Commission's stated positions, not rules.

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Colorado's real estate regulator names transaction coordinators in a document of its own. Commission Position 20 defines real estate administrative professionals, REAPs, to include 'Unlicensed On-Site Managers, secretaries, bookkeepers, assistants, transaction coordinators/managers or short sale coordinators', and then does what most state guidance does not: it lists what an unlicensed one may do, task by task, and says what the Commission thinks about how they are paid and insured.

The Real Estate Commission has just revised it. The document on the Division of Real Estate's site now carries the line 'Revised August 4, 2026', and the file was created on 6 August 2026 according to its own metadata. The prior revision was adopted at the Commission's meeting of 6 April 2021, announced by the Division on 12 April 2021, and the statement was recodified under its current title on 7 June 2022.

## What changed on 4 August

TC Bulletin compared the revised text with a copy of the previous version captured by the Internet Archive on 24 May 2025. Four passages differ; the fourteen-task list, the disclosure duty, the insurance paragraph and the payment paragraph are unchanged.

- The heading gains 'Revised August 4, 2026' ahead of the recodification note.
- The liability sentence is rewritten to track the statute. It previously said a broker 'can be held liable for any unlawful act or violations of the license law committed by a REAP of a Broker'. It now says section 12-10-222, C.R.S., 'provides that a Broker can be held responsible for the actions of an employee, officer, or member of a licensed broker if the Broker had actual knowledge of the unlawful act or violation or had been negligent in the supervision of such employees', and adds: 'A REAP would also fall under the definition of an employee.'
- Task 1 now reads 'Complete forms prepared for, and as directed by, a Broker and as a scrivener.' The three words 'and as a scrivener' are new.
- The licensed REAP section replaces the old 'Brokerage Relationship' framing. It now says: 'Brokers are required to have a signed written agreement prior to performing Real Estate Brokerage Services. Licensed REAPs working on behalf of Brokers must also have a signed written agreement with the Client to perform Real Estate Brokerage Services.' Discipline for the hiring broker now attaches to allowing licensed activity 'without a signed written agreement'.

## Why the written agreement language arrived now

HB26-1426, the Department of Law's 2026 legislative report bill, was approved by the Governor on 2 June 2026 as Session Laws Chapter 334 and took effect on 12 August 2026. Section 87 amends C.R.S. 12-10-403(2) so that a broker 'shall establish either a transaction-broker or a single-agency relationship through a written agreement between the broker and the party or parties to be represented by the broker. Such written agreement must specify and conspicuously disclose the amount or rate of any compensation to be paid to the broker, and the broker shall complete such written agreement before performing any activities described in section 12-10-201(6)(a).' The bill's own summary describes this as codifying principles of the NAR settlement.

The Division's broker advisory of 12 August 2026 puts it in plain terms: 'the notion that a broker could operate without a written agreement is gone', and 'only a Listing Contract is sufficient to establish a relationship in writing'; the Buyer's Broker's Compensation Agreement at the end of the Broker's Disclosure to Buyer 'is not sufficient'. The same advisory states that 'licensed duties do not include showings, holding open houses, or completing Comparative Market Analyses', which is consistent with tasks 4 and 12 on the Position 20 list.

> **One more section of the same act.** Section 89 of Chapter 334 adds C.R.S. 12-10-408.5. Where a principal to the transaction, 'including a home builder, a bank, or a buyer', requires the use of a purchase contract the principal created, the broker 'shall advise the consumer to seek legal advice from a licensed attorney before the consumer enters into the purchase contract', and any unilateral cancellation clause in favour of the broker in a broker contract 'must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed'. On a new construction file that advice is a documented step, and the coordinator is usually the one who documents it.

## The fourteen tasks

The list applies to an unlicensed REAP and to a licensed REAP without a brokerage relationship. Before it, the statement puts a disclosure duty on the broker: to ensure the REAP 'promptly discloses that the REAP does not have a License or is not acting as a Broker in the transaction and disclose the name of the Broker for whom the REAP works', to brokers on the other side, to 'other industry professionals (e.g., loan originators, lenders, appraisers, property inspectors, etc.)', and to consumers.

1. Complete forms prepared for, and as directed by, a Broker and as a scrivener. Unlicensed REAPs cannot independently complete Standard Forms such as Listing Contracts, and cannot offer opinions, advice or interpretations of them.
2. Distribute preprinted, objective information prepared by the Broker about a property listed for sale.
3. Perform clerical duties, including gathering information for a listing.
4. If authorized by the seller or listing Broker, provide access to the property, conduct showings or open houses.
5. Deliver paperwork to other Brokers, buyers or sellers, or other professionals.
6. Complete administrative tasks necessary to help Brokers fulfill their uniform duties.
7. Send out disclosure documents to parties to the transaction.
8. Order title commitments and send contract copies to the lender, title company, and others involved in the transaction.
9. Collect due diligence documents to help Broker comply with the contract.
10. Review the entire transaction file to ensure that documents are not missing and the file itself complies with Rule 6.20 and the Broker's Brokerage Firm's Office Policy Manual.
11. Deliver paperwork that requires signatures in regard to financing documents that are prepared by lending institutions.
12. Prepare market analyses on behalf of the Broker, if approved and submitted by the Broker to the client with a disclosure that the REAP prepared them, and in compliance with Rule 6.12.
13. Collect and receipt for earnest money deposits, security deposits, or rents.
14. Schedule property repairs or services on behalf of the Broker, if an existing agreement authorizes the Broker to complete those tasks.

> **Why item 10 is the one to keep.** Most state lists describe an unlicensed assistant as clerical. Colorado's says in terms that an unlicensed REAP may review the entire transaction file for missing documents and for compliance with the Commission's file rule and the firm's office policy manual. That is a description of transaction coordination as a job, written by a regulator, and it is the sentence a Colorado coordinator can put in front of a broker who wants to know what the Commission expects them to be allowed to do.

## Supervision, and who counts as an employee

The statement's authority for supervision is section 12-10-222, C.R.S., under which a broker is responsible for the actions of an employee where the broker had actual knowledge of the unlawful act or was negligent in supervision, and Rule 6.3.A, under which employing brokers 'are responsible for supervising all unlicensed employees, including those hired by Associate Brokers, and any Brokers licensed with the Brokerage Firm'. The revised text spells out the consequence: 'For purposes of the Real Estate Brokerage Practice Act, an employee includes an independent contractor. A REAP would also fall under the definition of an employee.' An independent coordinator working Colorado files is, for supervision purposes, treated as the broker's employee whatever the contract says.

## What the Commission says about pay

The payment paragraph is unchanged and it is the most direct statement any regulator has made on how a coordinator should be paid. Licensed REAPs with a brokerage relationship 'must be paid by their Brokerage Firm as required by section 12-10-221, C.R.S.' For the unlicensed: 'if the Broker engages the services of an unlicensed REAP, any payments to such unlicensed REAP that are contingent on the closing of a transaction may result in a violation of the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act (RESPA), which precludes the splitting of commissions with unlicensed individuals.' A separate charge to the consumer for REAP services that assist the broker's statutory duties 'may result in a separate violation of RESPA which precludes the charging of duplicate fees for one service rendered'. Payment outside closing 'may' carry tax implications, and brokers 'should seek advice from appropriate tax and/or legal counsel regarding if, when, and how payment may be made to a REAP'.

> **Two states, two directions.** Colorado's Commission states a RESPA concern with closing-contingent pay for unlicensed assistants. Virginia's Real Estate Board, in the rewrite reported on this site today, struck the only line in its regulations that described unlicensed pay as non-contingent, and the state association reads that as opening per-transaction pay. As TC Bulletin reported on 10 August, the CFPB's published RESPA material does not address transaction coordinators by name. Colorado's paragraph is the Commission's stated position, hedged with 'may', and it is not a finding by the federal agency that administers RESPA. A coordinator paid per file on Colorado transactions should read it, and take the question to the broker's counsel rather than to this story.

## Insurance, in the regulator's words

The engagement paragraph says a broker hiring a REAP 'should inquire as to whether any of the REAP's activities are covered by the Broker's errors and omissions insurance policy', and that 'REAPs, whether licensed or not, may need their own separate errors and omissions insurance policy to cover the acts they perform on behalf of the Broker'. That is the same gap three specialist brokers described in this publication's coverage of coordinator liability cover on 10 August, stated this time by a licensing regulator rather than by a company selling the policy.

## The read for a Colorado file

1. Keep the fourteen tasks in the engagement letter by number, and item 10 in particular. Position 20 is where a Colorado broker's own regulator describes the coordinator's work.
2. Make the disclosure routine. Signature blocks and outgoing email from an unlicensed coordinator should say the coordinator is not licensed, or not acting as a broker on the file, and name the broker.
3. From 12 August, no listing-side or buyer-side file should open without a signed listing contract that discloses compensation. A compensation agreement alone does not establish the relationship, per the Division.
4. On new construction and other files where the principal supplies the contract, record that the broker advised the consumer to seek legal advice before signing.
5. If you are paid per file on Colorado transactions, put the payment paragraph in front of the broker's counsel. Do not resolve it from a chart, including this one.
6. Ask the broker whether the firm's errors and omissions policy covers your activities, in writing, and price your own policy if the answer is no or unclear.

> **Scope of this story.** Commission Position Statements are the Colorado Real Estate Commission's stated positions on how the license law and its rules apply. They are not rules; the defined terms they use are codified in 4 CCR 725-1. TC Bulletin read the revised statement from the Division's own PDF and compared it against the archived May 2025 copy. It has not seen minutes of the Commission meeting at which the revision was adopted; the 4 August date is the document's own. The Division's site refuses automated access, so the source directory entry says to browse from the site. This is not legal advice.

### Primary sources for this story

- [Commission Position 20, Licensed and Unlicensed Real Estate Administrative Professionals (REAPs)](https://dre.colorado.gov/sites/dre/files/documents/Commission%20Position%2020%20-%20Licensed%20and%20Unlicensed%20Real%20Estate%20Administrative%20Professionals%20%28REAPs%29_0.pdf): Division of Real Estate. Revised 4 August 2026; file created 6 August 2026
- [Division of Real Estate, Real Estate Manual and Position Statements](https://dre.colorado.gov/real-estate-manual-and-position-statements): Lists all 31 Commission Position Statements. Browse from the site; it refuses automated checks
- [Division of Real Estate, notice of the April 2021 revision of CP-20](https://dre.colorado.gov/division-notifications/cp-20-commission-position-statement-on-licensed-and-unlicensed-real-estate): 12 April 2021. Names transaction coordinators among REAPs
- [Division of Real Estate, broker advisory on signed listing agreements](https://dre.colorado.gov/division-notifications/real-estate-broker-advisory-signed-listing-agreements-required-by-new-law): 12 August 2026
- [HB26-1426, Department of Law Legislative Report](https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb26-1426): Signed 2 June 2026. Session Laws Chapter 334, effective 12 August 2026
- [Session Laws of Colorado 2026, Chapter 334](https://leg.colorado.gov/laws/session-laws/HB26-1426/334/download): Sections 87 to 89 amend 12-10-403 and 12-10-403.5 and add 12-10-408.5
- [Internet Archive capture of the prior CP-20, 24 May 2025](http://web.archive.org/web/20250524093417/https://dre.colorado.gov/sites/dre/files/documents/Commission%20Position%2020%20-%20Licensed%20and%20Unlicensed%20Real%20Estate%20Administrative%20Professionals%20%28REAPs%29.pdf): The comparison text
- [TC Bulletin on Virginia's unlicensed assistant rules](https://tcbulletin.com/compliance/virginia-unlicensed-assistant-pay-clause-removed)
- [TC Bulletin on the RESPA question](https://tcbulletin.com/compliance/coordinator-client-marketing-solicitation-line)
- [TC Bulletin on coordinator liability cover](https://tcbulletin.com/desk/coordinator-eo-coverage-gap)

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## Sources cited

- Colorado Commission Position 20: https://dre.colorado.gov/sites/dre/files/documents/Commission%20Position%2020%20-%20Licensed%20and%20Unlicensed%20Real%20Estate%20Administrative%20Professionals%20%28REAPs%29_0.pdf
- Division of Real Estate broker advisory, 12 August 2026: https://dre.colorado.gov/division-notifications/real-estate-broker-advisory-signed-listing-agreements-required-by-new-law
- HB26-1426: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb26-1426
- Session Laws Chapter 334: https://leg.colorado.gov/laws/session-laws/HB26-1426/334/download

Topics: unlicensed-assistants, colorado, insurance, respa

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