I have a client/Buyer who is buying a house and would like to get out of her lease with no penalties for leaving. She went to the manager who leased her the apartment, and asked her if this would be possible and the manager said that if she would use one of the Real Estate Agents from her company then yes she would be able to get out of her lease with no penalties. If she uses me, then she will have to pay penalties. Isn't this a violation of RESPA Tie-in's or commercial bribery law?

I don't know. Maybe your answer is in here.

http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/ramh/res/respa_st.cfm

Not as far as I'm aware, nope. I give incentives to people for working with me all the time (ever give a closing gift?). Basically all that amounts to is them shuffling numbers around and in exchange for the commission she brings them, they will pay her penalty for her.

What I would do is have her talk to an attorney regarding her lease contract to find out what ELSE she can do to get out of her lease (I would even pay the $75-$100 for her to do it, too). Then, if the attorney says she WILL have to pay the penalty, I'd offer to rebate it out of my commission (which is exactly what the leasing office is doing), in order to gain her business (assuming that the commission is still worth working towards and the penalty doesn't eat it all up).

I'd rather have somethin' than nothin' especially if I already had time/effort/money invested in her...I certainly wouldn't let her jump ship to save a couple bucks.

Again - hopefully the attorney will find a way for her to get out of her lease without paying ANY penalties (in which case you're a hero), and if not, then you offering to pay them for her to assist her with getting into a house again makes you the hero (the hero with a paycheck, to be more precise).

I get the arguments that "her fees are her own to deal with" and "I earned every penny of that commission"... but you only get paid if she closes with you, and if they pay her penalty for her in order to win her business, you get squat. Take the bird in the hand.

This is all assuming that rebates to a principal are legal in your state.

Best of luck!

Thank you for that insight.ManFromTheBand hit the nail on the head, costumer service will bring the best payoff.