Howard Hanna offers pandemic-impacted agents advance pay on future earnings

Getting paid based on commission rather than salary, whether it is selling cars, insurance, or houses, can be tough — especially when the state closes a worker’s business as part of a sweeping effort to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Howard Hanna Real Estate Service, the largest real estate firm in Western Pennsylvania, is offering its agents the opportunity to participate in a program that allows them to receive a steady monthly income during the state-ordered shutdown.

Real estate activities did not qualify under Gov. Tom Wolf’s March 19 order closing all businesses expect those determined to be life-sustaining. The Pennsylvania Association of Realtors has challenged the state’s determination and has sought a waiver to the rule. It also has joined a lawsuit some businesses filed against the state.

Under Howard Hanna’s Income Advantage program, employees can get a paycheck based on the commission they earned the previous year, said Jasmine Davis, a company spokeswoman. The advance payment made to the agents, on the 15th of the month, is deducted from future earnings on real estate deals, Davis said.

The company said Wednesday it extended the deadline to give agents impacted by the stay-at-home order an opportunity to enroll in the program.

The interest-free advance in their income, “provides a way for agents to ‘smooth out’ their income over a year, so that they still receive income during times when they may not be able to close deals,” Davis stated.

Of Howard Hanna’s 1,463 agents in Pennsylvania, 267 of the 538 agents eligible for the program have enrolled, Davis said.