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Contact Roles

When you add a contact to a transaction, you assign a role that describes their part in that deal. The same contact can have different roles on different transactions.

Transaction Contacts tab grouped by role category with primary role labels and contact actions

Role categories​

Transaction contacts are grouped by role category on the transaction Contacts tab.

Primary (Clients)

  • Buyer, Seller

Professional (Agents)

  • Listing Agent, Buyer Agent, cooperating agent roles

Legal & Title

  • Title Company, Closing Attorney, Escrow Officer

Lending

  • Lender, Loan Officer

Service Providers

  • Home Inspector, Appraiser, Surveyor, Contractor, Insurance Agent

Other

  • Property Manager, HOA Contact, and custom roles

Why roles matter​

Roles do more than label contacts:

  • Transaction organization — The Contacts tab groups contacts by role category, such as primary parties, professional services, and service providers.
  • Expected roles — If a transaction expects certain roles, empty role slots appear until you assign a contact.
  • Communication — Email compose and templates can target recipients by role.
  • Reports — Transaction reports can show participants with their role labels.
  • Merge display names — Each transaction contact can have a merge name for emails, such as "Celia and Bill."
  • Portal links — Transaction contacts can receive portal links by email or SMS. Portal access is managed per transaction contact.

Transaction Contacts tab​

Open a transaction and go to Contacts to manage the contacts for that deal.

Add a contact to a transaction​

To add another contact — for example an escrow, title, or lender contact — to an existing deal:

  1. Open the transaction and click the Contacts tab in the row of tabs across the top.
  2. Click the Add Contact button in the top-right corner of the tab. (This is the "add another contact" button — it is labeled Add Contact.)
  3. In the drawer that slides out, search for the person or company. If they are already in your contacts they appear as you type; if not, click Create New Contact to add them.
  4. Choose their role (such as Escrow Officer, Title Company, or Lender) from the party-grouped list.
  5. Click Add Contact to save them onto the transaction.

You can also add a contact from an empty expected role slot by clicking Assign on that role card, which opens the same drawer with the role pre-selected.

Don't see the Contacts tab or the Add Contact button?

The Add Contact button lives only on the transaction's Contacts tab, not on the Overview. If the Contacts tab itself is missing, it has likely been hidden for your view — open the transaction's Overview, click Customize View, and turn Contacts back on. The tab (and the Add Contact button) will reappear.

From this tab you can:

  • Fill expected role slots
  • Add an existing contact or quick-create a new one
  • Filter the contact picker by organization
  • Choose a role from party-grouped role lists
  • Mark a transaction contact as primary
  • Edit the merge display name used in email templates
  • Send email or SMS from a contact card when the contact has the needed details
  • Create, copy, regenerate, or revoke a portal link for that transaction contact
  • Remove the contact from the transaction without deleting the contact from the directory

The same person can appear on multiple transactions with different roles. The transaction role and merge display name live on the transaction relationship, not on the global contact record.

Custom roles​

If the built-in roles do not cover your workflow, create or edit roles in Settings > Transaction Roles. Roles can be grouped by party so the Add Contact drawer stays organized.

Primary contacts​

A transaction contact can also be marked Primary. Use this when one buyer, seller, agent, or service contact should be treated as the main contact for that role.