Not legal advice. This checklist gathers the book's working positions into one place so you can run through them before each deal. It doesn't replace a lawyer. Where it says "ask a lawyer," it means a lawyer licensed in your state who knows the field you're working in. It's written for readers in the United States. If you're somewhere else, the questions still apply, but the answers may not.

Run it at each stage. If the answer to any question is "no" or "I'm not sure," stop until you've sorted it out.

Fields to stay out of

The book's working positions sort these fields into the same four groups as the scorecard in Chapter 17.

Off-limits. Don't take a finder's fee for introductions in any of these. In healthcare and government purchasing, no one may take one, licensed or not.

• Securities, investors, or raising money. Getting paid based on the deal for bringing in investors is a well-known enforcement area. This also rules out finding loans for borrowers who promise to pay you out of the proceeds.
• Mortgage and lending brokering. These are licensed fields.
• Healthcare referrals. Referral fees tied to federally funded healthcare can be a crime. Never take a fee for sending patients anywhere.
• Real-estate settlement services (title, mortgage, closing). Federal law restricts referral fees here.
• Government purchasing. Kickbacks on public contracts are illegal.

Get licensed. Unless you hold the license, don't take a fee:

• Real estate. Get licensed, or refer the deal to someone who is licensed. Don't use "advertising contract" workarounds.
• Insurance. It requires a license, and many states restrict referral payments to people who don't have one.

It depends. Ask a lawyer before any fee:

• Business brokerage and M&A. Some states license business brokers, and selling stock raises the securities question.
• Staffing and job placement. Some states license employment agencies.

Insiders only.

• Bulk commodities, metals, oil, aircraft, currencies, letters of credit. Straw called these the exotics. They're for career professionals in those fields, and they're full of fake principals and advance-fee fraud.

Before outreach

• Is this a field where an unlicensed person can legally be paid for an introduction? If you can't answer with confidence, ask a lawyer.
• Do I owe a duty to anyone involved? That includes being an employee, officer, director, adviser, agent, or public official. If you do, no fee unless everyone you owe the duty to has approved it in writing, and for an employer that almost never happens.
• Am I gathering leads from sources I'm allowed to use? That means official APIs, RSS, public data, and my own subscriptions, while respecting each site's terms and robots rules. No scraping behind logins, no getting around blocks, no bulk collection of personal data.
• Is every message specific to one deal and one recipient? No mass outreach, AI-generated or otherwise.
• Is every claim in the message true? I don't say or imply that I'm the buyer, the principal, or a company I don't represent. If someone asks, I tell them straight what my role is.
• If a machine drafted it, did I read it line by line before it went out? No synthetic personas, and no AI voice presented as a human.
• Have I kept confidential material (a client's letter, a seller's inventory under NDA, a buyer's specs) out of AI tools that might keep or train on it?

Before disclosing a name

• Have I found what the other side needs, not just something close to it?
• Have I qualified both principals? That means the buyer really buys, the seller owns what they're offering and has the right to sell it, the specs match, and nobody on either end is another intermediary.
• Have I asked, plainly, "Are you the principal, or are you acting for someone else?"
• Do I have a written fee agreement that names the amount or formula, the trigger, the party being introduced, the time period, how repeat purchases are handled, and when payment is due?
• Have I rejected vague terms like "we'll take care of you," "your fee will be protected," or "customary fee"?
• For a large fee, or any wording I don't fully understand, has a lawyer read the agreement?
• Some states require certain finder agreements to be in writing to be enforceable. Do I know whether mine is one of them? If not, ask a lawyer.
• Is anything I'm sending as proof redacted properly? Could someone identify the party from what's left?

Before the introduction

• Does the non-paying side know, in writing, that I'm being paid and by whom?
• If both sides are paying me, do both know in writing, before the introduction? The default is to be paid by one side only.
• Am I introducing two principals, and not handing another finder to my client or my client to another finder?
• Is my introduction dated, copied, and sent in a way I can prove later?
• Am I ready to step back completely? That means no negotiating, no carrying offers between the parties, no asking for anyone's financials, and no running the closing.

Before accepting a fee

• Did the deal close with the party I introduced, within the terms of the agreement?
• Is the fee coming from the party the agreement names, and does the other side know about it?
• Am I sure this isn't a secret commission on a decision I influenced for someone who trusts me?
• If the check is late, have I started with a phone call and then a polite letter before thinking about a lawyer? And am I sure of the facts before I escalate?

Before a snooper or option deal

• Have I stayed off the property, physical or digital, until the owner gave permission? That means no trespassing, no unauthorized logins, no password guessing, and no "abandoned account" recovery tricks.
• Have I checked title first? Does the seller actually own the asset and have the right to transfer it? For digital assets, that means checking the domain registrant, trademark and copyright ownership, content licenses, and whether any liens, heirs, or partners are involved.
• Do the platform's terms allow the transfer? If moving the account breaks the platform's rules, the deal is off.
• Am I treating an email list as people to ask for permission again, and not as an asset to blast? Subscribers agreed to hear from one sender. Mail only the people who choose to stay. No list ever changes hands.
• Is my option or letter of intent in writing, with a price, a term, and extension rights? If I plan to assign it, does it allow assignment? Has a lawyer reviewed it?
• Am I marketing only the opportunity, and not presenting the asset as mine before I own it?
• Is the closing going through escrow?
• Is the funding clean? That means my own money, a partner under a lawyer-drafted agreement, or seller financing. No ads soliciting investors with a promised return.

Ongoing

• Do I have a complete, dated file for every deal: the source listing, every letter in and out, the fee agreement, the introduction, and proof of delivery?
• Am I keeping only the personal data I need, storing it securely, and deleting it when asked? If I deal with people in the EU, the UK, or California, have I checked which privacy rules apply?
• Is my commercial email compliant with anti-spam rules? One-to-one, specific, and truthful is the method anyway.
• When I publicly recommend something I'm paid to recommend, such as a tracked link or a referral code, do I disclose the payment clearly?
• Am I reporting fees as income? Businesses may send me a 1099. Talk to a tax adviser.
• Have I reread this list since my last deal?

From The Un-Broker: A Finder's Playbook for the Age of AI by Bill Eisenhauer · Toll Stack Press · tollstack.dev/books/the-un-broker/