Realtor Investor Conflict Question

[Mallory W.]

Hi all.

Brief history:

I've been a Realtor for over a year with the same company, however I became interested by first being a real estate investor.  I was the first agent with this RE company and joined because the owner is a friend of the family and also an investor.  It was with understanding my goal was to park my license, network, work deals, learn the Realtor side of this business and market myself but with the end result of me getting my brokers license in two years and doing strictly investment deals on my own.  Then the company hired a new broker after 6 months, and everything changed. 

Current situation:

Through my networking, another Realtor told me and my husband about a trailer park listing she has with an investor.  We became very interested when we ran numbers and found it to be a good deal.  We met with our accountant, attorney, the listing broker and eventually the seller to ensure we were going to make a sound investment.  I disclosed I was a Realtor with a vested interest as my husband is a general contractor/home builder and basically knows how to find missing information whether through the city or county, and another family is funding the deal.  In short, a lot of research has been put into our first big deal.  

Before we started any of this I called our states real estate commission to see if I had to run the deal through my company.  They said "no."  And nowhere in my contract does it state that I have to run my families deals through the broker.  However, because the owner is a family friend and the company is still small, my husband asked him if he'd rather us purchase it as me being the buyers agent which would benefit the image of his company (minus the 40/60 commission split)  He said "no no. Don't go through the company, save the commission off the deal and buy through listing broker" which is what we were originally planning on doing (save from the top and taxes).  But, I wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing.

Well, owner told the company's managing broker who said I had no right to be doing this deal without running it through the company.  The broker said essentially I was dipping into the companies pocket and that the company will get its 40% commission whether I waive my 60% off the purchase price or not.  Broker said she will not support this transaction if it is not run through the company.  

Is that legal?  This is a family deal and we did all the research and my husband and his mom have been doing ALL the negotiating.  Nothing in my contract states that I have to go through the company. 

Advice?  Thoughts?  Suggestions? 

Thanks!