Ignore the request (as this clown is ignoring the rules of the road). Fools are usually impossible to reason with.

Hold your ground!

Nope.  If you want a referal you'd better make it plain and clear well before this point, and get it in writing too.

No, and no referral fee should be requested by anyone 2 days before closing.

two days before closing? .. I have no problem formulating a response.

"I'm sorry, but since that was not arranged in advance, no referral fee is due and will not be payed."

Too bad so sad and shame upon your descendants. They can be as adamant as they want but there is no agreement. So they should just take their bossy butt back to wherever they came from. And they know damn well that's the case or they wouldn't have come in and waited till the last minute. No leg to stand on.

Yes I did and I thought it was a joke.  6 months or so after the closing (and a heck of a lot of extra work as it was a probate sale) some agent calls me and says she was the reason these folks called me in the first place.  So why did you not call me and send me a referral agreement and now after all this time you're asking for a referral fee.  Sorry it doesn't work that way and my guess is you already now that.  What I learned is the seller told her to call me and ask for it.....seller was pushy to boot.  Again, sorry it doesn't work that way. 

Alan May and Jeff Pearl summed it up. Here's my 2 cents:

     Not two days before closing, but yes, I have had Agents interject themselves into the story.  Day after I wrote an offer on my listing, an agent called me, "I told them about the house, they were supposed to let me show it to them".   I asked the Buyer  if they knew the Agent.

     "Yes, we know her, she showed us some houses... but she didn't return our calls so we just went on our own."  They had no idea what an Agency agreement or a Buyer Brokerage agreement was. 

     The Agent was adamant that they were her Buyers.  I talked to her Broker, he admitted that his agent had let the Buyers get away.   Out of the goodness of my heart I paid 20% referral on the selling side.  

I'm sorry, I do/did not receive any referral paperwork for this client. It does not appear this is feasible at this point in the transaction.

or

What email...let me check my spam/junk folder, oops looks like it was forwarded to the junk, and I never got that message/request & everything is settled out at this point (of course that would be in three weeks or so).

I AGREE WITH ALAN MAY!  

Have not had that happen.  

Buy a nice bag of sand, and mail it to them with your best wishes that they enjoy pounding it

This particular scenario has not happened to me.

I have never had that happen and it seems extremely odd.  I wouldn't pay a referral fee to someone that I am hearing about or hearing from for the first time 2 days before closing.

I have not had that happen but I know how I would respond.

Sorry, my "friend", what you are asking (demanding) is neither friendly nor appropriate. Asking me to pay a third party at this late date is totally out of line and I am very sorry that you are trying a cash grab at this late date.

1. With only 2 days before closing, I hope you have a buyers agency in place to protect your interests.

2. If the lender friend is part of this extortion attempt they can expect a heap of trouble with their employer, the govt. and their license.

3. Make sure that your client knows of the parasites that are trying to extort money from you and how unethical they are.

What referral? It appears there was no referral. Not nice. Jeff

Send them $100...

Have you heard the term "no tickie, no washee!"

I have on more than one occasion had a relo company call me about a buyer we were working (NOT referred by them).

They claimed that they buyer would not get relo benefits if we did not pay. 

I told them to take a hike or I would send a complaint to the buyers new company of the shakedown. 

(REMEMBER...the relo company does not pay the benefits to the buyer,...the buyers new employer/company does...don't think they would want the relo company to lie like that)

Personally, I would not pay that referral...

Eve

I would have an agreement in place for the referral BEFORE I even take the buyers out.  So in this case, no referral fee.  Even if I'm on the referring side, I won't give the name and contact out until the other agent signs the agreement.  The agent should have called and sent you a referral agreement before any of these even started.

I was once in escrow when the buyer said she promised her sister a referral fee.  I search my conscience and ponder future relationship with these clients and relented.  I did about six more deals with them afterwords with no referral fees.  Worked out to be a wise decision.

Cha Ching sound of Law and Order trailer Loan Officer goes to jai;, do not pass go. My guess is the "friend" is no longer licensed for a reason.

Rough situation, tricky to handle but NO, ain't gonna happen.   I would explain the situation to your client and move on.  

I will happily pay a referral fee- but it must be agreed early in the process.

No but once had a national relocation company try to get a referral commission after I had a Buyer in contract, and the Buyer had not signed or agreed to use any of their services.

Too late. Move on.

Nothing in writing? 

No way! No refrerral fee!

NO.  And I'd explain to the buyer they need to call an attorney to discuss it.

If there was no call, no email and no referal contract. There would be no referral fee. I ask all my would be new clients how they got to me. Of course i change the wording up, most alrwady say i aw your ad, saw your Active rain blog or will say xxx referred me.