Which statement about compensation for a licensed personal assistant is correct?

• A. The salary may be paid by either the sales associate or the broker. The broker must pay the commission.
• B. The salary may be paid by either the sales associate or the broker. The commission is paid by the buyer.
• C. The salary is paid by the assistant from commissions only.
• D. The salary is paid by the seller.

Answer: (A)

The main idea is how a licensed personal assistant gets paid and how commissions are handled in a real estate office. In Florida practice, a licensed personal assistant may receive a salary, and that salary can come from either the broker’s funds or the sales associate’s funds. The commissions, which are tied to transactions, are the broker’s responsibility and are paid to licensees by the broker—not to the assistant. So the correct approach is to allow either the broker or the sales associate to provide the assistant’s salary, while the broker remains the one who pays commissions to licensees. The other options imply payment from buyers or sellers or tying a salary to commissions, which doesn’t reflect how compensation streams are organized in real estate practice.