Franchise brands are the individual brand names that brokerages license and use. One or more individual franchise brands can be owned by a franchisor, the company with the legal setup to oversee franchising operations. Franchisors and the brand or brands they operate own trademarks, products, intellectual property and business systems and license them to brokerage companies, but do not provide brokerage services directly to consumers. This section ranks the nation’s 20 largest franchise brands by total agent count as of December 31, 2021, of the brokerages that operated under each brand.