Referral Payout Non-Licensed Individual

[Brian Ortiz]

I have been referring real estate leads (these are overflow internet based leads that I generate for my own properties) over to landlords who are renting out apartments.  Some of these landlords have offered me referral fees for each new tenant that would sign a lease - In CONNECTICUT, would accepting a referral fee for lead generation as an unlicensed individual be considered operating without a real estate license - 

follow up question - if this practice of accepting a referral fee is considered illegal, how is airbnb allowed to accept a commission every time they broker a buyer/seller rental deal?