“The broker is responsible for everything” is the line every TC and every new sales agent hears. It’s close, but it’s not what 22 Tex. Admin. Code §535.2 (Broker Responsibility) actually says — and the gap between the folklore version and the rule’s actual text matters if a deadline gets miscounted or a document goes out wrong.
What Rule 535.2 says, subsection by subsection
22 TAC §535.2 runs from subsection (a) through (m). The pieces that matter most for a broker working with sponsored agents and a transaction coordinator (licensed or not):
- (a) — a broker must notify each sponsored sales agent, in writing, of the scope of that agent’s authorized activities. Unless that scope is limited or revoked in writing, the broker is responsible for the agent’s authorized acts — without being required to supervise the agent directly, day to day.
- (e) — a broker may delegate supervisory responsibility to another license holder in writing, but cannot hand off overall responsibility for supervision. Anyone who leads, supervises, or manages a team must be delegated as a supervisor in writing, and if that delegation runs longer than three consecutive months, the broker must report it to TREC within 30 days.
- (h) — the broker must keep records for at least four years: disclosures, commission agreements, communications, offers, contracts, and sponsorship agreements among them.
- (i) — the broker must maintain current written office policies covering, among other things, how sponsored agents are trained on new activities, how advertising is reviewed, and how trust funds and records are handled.
- (j) and (k) — the broker (or a delegated supervisor) must respond to a sponsored agent within two calendar days, and get Commission correspondence to the relevant agent within three calendar days of receipt.
Two things Rule 535.2 explicitly does not do: it doesn’t require a broker to personally re-check every file (that’s what the delegation language in (e) is for), and per subsection (m), it doesn’t create or require an employer-employee relationship between a broker and a sponsored sales agent. Most Texas sales agents are independent contractors for tax and employment-law purposes even though the broker carries regulatory responsibility for their authorized acts.
The word doing the real work: “authorized”
Subsection (a)’s responsibility is tied to acts the broker put in writing as within the agent’s authorized scope. An agent who does exactly what the brokerage’s written scope of activity allows, and gets a fact wrong or misses a step, is acting within that authorized scope — the broker’s regulatory responsibility under (a) is squarely engaged. An agent who goes outside that written scope entirely is a murkier case that TREC and, separately, Texas agency/tort law would look at on its own facts. That written-scope document (a broker policy manual, an office procedures memo, a delegation letter) is the thing that actually defines the line, and it’s worth having current and specific rather than boilerplate.
Where an unlicensed TC fits — a different rule, not 535.2
Rule 535.2 governs the broker’s responsibility for sponsored sales agents — license holders. An unlicensed transaction coordinator isn’t a sponsored agent, so 535.2 doesn’t directly reach them. The relevant framework is TRELA §1101.002(1)(A) (which defines the activities that require a license), TRELA §1101.351 (which prohibits engaging in brokerage activity without one), and TREC Rules 535.4 and 535.5, which spell out what does and doesn’t require a license.
Per TREC’s own guidance, an unlicensed assistant or TC generally can: schedule showings and inspections, confirm already-advertised property facts, enter data into a contract only as specifically directed by a license holder, track deadlines, distribute copies of executed documents, handle bookkeeping, and communicate purely factual information between parties.
An unlicensed assistant or TC generally cannot: solicit new listings or business, show property or host an open house, independently review or interpret a contract, negotiate any term, or give an opinion on value or on how to handle a contractual decision. Title (“transaction coordinator,” “admin,” “showing assistant”) doesn’t change the analysis — license status does.
Two very different kinds of TC mistake
This is the distinction that actually drives what a broker is on the hook for:
What actually protects a broker
None of this is theoretical risk-avoidance filler — it maps directly onto Rule 535.2’s own requirements:
- Written scope of authority for every sponsored agent (535.2(a)) and a written job description for every unlicensed TC that tracks the Rule 535.5 permitted list, not a vague “handles the file” description.
- Written delegation if a team lead or office manager is doing day-to-day supervision (535.2(e)), with the 30-day TREC notice if that delegation runs past three months.
- Written office policies (535.2(i)) that specifically address how new agents and TCs are trained on deadline tracking, document handling, and advertising review — not a generic manual that hasn’t been touched since the brokerage opened.
- A documented, time-stamped record of who tracked which deadline and when (supports the 535.2(h) four-year retention requirement and is the difference between “the TC’s word against the client’s” and an actual audit trail if a deadline dispute ever comes up).
This is exactly the gap a structured TC workflow closes: instead of a deadline living in one person’s memory or a sticky note, the effective date, option period, and financing deadlines get calculated and logged automatically, with a timestamped record of what was sent to whom and when.
This page is general information about how TREC’s rule is structured, not legal advice about a specific broker-agent-TC situation. If a mistake has already happened and money or a license is on the line, that fact pattern needs review by a licensed Texas attorney — not a guide page.