A practitioner who refers a client of his company, without the knowledge or consent of his employer, to another company in order to obtain undue advantage, or who induces an employee of another company to refer that other company's clients to him with the promise of advantage, is acting inappropriately. His action may also be prejudicial to the interests of the client concerned.

A practitioner or company practising such an act may have infringed the EAA's Code of Ethics for the unfair advantage he has obtained. It may even be a corrupt transaction under the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance and, that being the case, the parties to the corrupt transaction may have committed a criminal offence. Practitioners are therefore strongly warned against illegitimate referral of business.

On the other hand, if a prospective purchaser has already signed an estate agency agreement with the original company, then he may be pursued for commission by the original company and hence suffer loss.