Important MLS Rules
(Italics, bold and underline have been added here for clarification.)
Section 7.1 SECURITY OF INTERNET BASED MLS: With our new Internet based MLS system, an agent may access the system through any computer. To avoid security risks and maintain the integrity of our MLS, the following fines will be placed on any agent or broker who gives their private ID (password) and/or access to any other person:
Fines for an MLS Member sharing their Private ID and/or access to the MLS:
First Offense: $1,000.00 Fine to Agent’s Broker $2,000.00 Fine to Agent
Six (6) Month agent suspension from MLS. SecondOffense: TobedeterminedoneachcasebytheBoardofDirectors
Section 7.2. Any violation of the Supra Lockbox Keyholder Agreement or Rules and Regulations in the Supra User’s Guide, to include lending the key to any other person, will result in sanction and/or fine of a minimum of $500 to agent and/or broker. Broker discretion is authorized to lend the Broker’s Key in an emergency situation and may be lent to that Broker’s licensed MLS Member Agent on a case by case basis.
FINES & TIME FRAMES: New Listings
Pending Listings
Sold Listings
- 7 calendar days … $10 Fine on 8th day – 7 calendar days … $25 Fine on 8th day – 7 calendar days … $25 Fine on 8th day
If the listing is not changed to Sold status within an additional seven (7) calendar days, an additional $25 fine will be charged on the 15th day.
First Right of Refusal – 7 calendar days of acceptance – $25 Fine on 8th day.
“Section 2.17. FIRST RIGHT OF REFUSAL LISTINGS: Listings of property that are sold subject to a first right of refusal may remain as active listings if the Agent Notes section of the listings is amended so that the first words of the comments read similar to: THERE IS AN ACCEPTED OFFER ON THIS PROPERTY SUBJECT TO A FIRST RIGHT OF REFUSAL. The comments must be amended within seven (7) calendar days of the date of the accepted offer by the listing broker or a $25 fine will be charged.”
When finally placed into the Pending status, email edith@gcmls.com with “DO NOT FINE – MLS# 000000 – LISTING ADDRESS.” In the body of the email explain this had been a FROR and is now being place in Pending. Otherwise, you could be fined due to the pending date now being late.
Except for the “First Right of Refusal” no contingencies of any kind shall prevent the listing from being placed into the Pending status. The Pending Date/Contract Date is the same date when the ‘Offer To Purchase’ has been signed by both the Seller and Buyer.
Photo–Res & MFam (at least 1) – 7 calendar days … $25 Fine on 8th day after list date and for each additional or partial seven (7) calendar day period thereafter.
OneTimeShow&Sell or FSBO properties are included in this rule. These photos MUST be of the property only. “The first photo must be an exterior view of the actual residence…. There should not be any agent’s personal information or Broker information, photo, logo or website address placed on the listing photos or virtual tours nor in the remarks under the listing photos or virtual tours. There should be no Broker information or signage visible in the listing photos or virtual tours.”
COMPLETE PHOTO RULE:
Section 2.19. MLS PHOTOS and VIRTUAL TOURS: Beginning March 1, 2005 all Active Residential and Multi-Family listings put into the Multiple Listing Service (to include One Time Show & Sell or FSBO) will be required to have at least one photo. From this date forward there will be seven (7) calendar days from the list date to submit a photo. There will be a $25 fine imposed per listing on the 8th day after the list date and for each seven (7) calendar day period thereafter. The first photo must be an exterior view of the actual residence. If new construction, you may use an elevation drawing, a floor plan or the MLS generic house photo. Once the house is complete and/or is comped to the Sold status, there will be seven (7) calendar days from the sold date to submit at least one photo of the actual house in place of the elevation drawing or generic photo. A fine of $25 per month will be assessed until a photo of the actual house is submitted. Listings may have one to twenty-four photos placed in the MLS system. There should not be any agent’s personal information or Broker information, photo, logo or website address placed on the listing photos or virtual tours nor in the remarks under the listing photos or virtual tours. There should be no Broker information or signage visible in the listing photos or virtual tours. Also see MLS Rule Section 18.3.1. concerning IDX rules for virtual tours.
Pictures that appear on a Broker’s listings are considered proprietary property of the Broker or Seller who provided the pictures and may not be used by any other Broker without their express written permission. Absent this written permission, should a Broker, or their agents, use a listing photograph that was published on the MLS by another broker, a fine of up to $100 per occurrence may be imposed.
Important MLS Rules Page 1 of 3 June 28, 2010
ALL REQUIRED FIELDS MUST BE ACCURATE
TAX ID NUMBER REQUIRED:
All Residential listings are required to have a tax/parcel ID number. If the property is “New UnRecorded” (NUR) or “Under Construction” (UC), and you choose either of these in the Yr Desc field, then the number will not be required. DO NOT use this feature to circumvent the requirement for any other listings. ALL property is taxed and therefore, does have an identifying tax/parcel number. Ask the Seller for a copy of the tax bill. Use the “Auto Tax Fill” button when first inputting a listing or when editing an existing listing.
CATEGORIES:
The Multiple Listing Service is for the sale of real estate, not businesses nor personal property. Mobile homes may be listed if they are being sold with real property (land). If the real property is not for sale, then the mobile home is considered personal property and may not be listed within the MLS.
Residential is a singular residence; a house, a patio home or a condo on real property being sold as a singular unit.
Multi Family is a complex of two or more residential units being sold as one piece of real property.
Land is land, whether for residential or commercial purposes, if there is no building of any value. In the “Class Category” field you will select “ComLots/Land” for Commercial Lot/Land or “LND” for Land. “Lot” if a just a lot, not a large piece of land.
Commercial must have a building of value on it, not just land. When sold, you will need a square footage figure to comp it into the Sold status. It is Commercial whether it is for Sale or for Lease. You will choose “For Sale” or “For Lease” when inputting the listing. A Commercial property can be for sale and for lease on the same listing.
Rental is when any other category is to be rented, except Commercial (see above statement.)
Required Fields such as Car Shelter, Fireplace, Porch require a “Y/N.” If “Y” please do give a description. Also state if attached or detached parking. This is most beneficial when searching the specific needs for your buyer.
Square Footage – Is it important? – It is not required on Active listings, however, in order to comp a listing into the Sold status, the accurate square footage is “Required” for Residential, Multi-Family, Commercial and Rental. This should be accurately measured since erroneous and incomplete information will cause comparable sold information to be less dependable as a gauge for the CMA that you and all users depend on to calculate a price per sq. ft. Appraisers depend on square footage to help you with accurate appraisals. Everything works together – but the input must be accurate if we are to be able to depend on these figures.
Represent your sellers’ best interest and do yourself a huge favor ….. MEASURE ACCURATELY AND ADD THE SQUARE FOOTAGE TO THE ACTIVE LISTING AT INPUT TIME. This helps your listing sell more quickly and then we finally can depend on that CMA for accurate square footage and price per square foot.
MEASURE, GRAPH THE BUILDING, CHECK YOUR FIGURES AND USE SQUARE FOOTAGE WITH CONFIDENCE IN YOUR MARKETING EFFORTS.
Section 2.2. DETAIL ON LISTINGS FILED WITH THE SERVICE: A Listing Agreement or Profile Sheet, when filed with the Multiple Listing Service by the listing broker, shall be complete and legible in every detail that is ascertainable as specified on the Profile Sheet. All listings submitted must have signatures of owner or owners. Required items (R) on the Profile Sheet must be entered into the Multiple Listing System. Living area square footage is optional so long as the listing remains active. When the listing is sold and transferred to comparables, the living area square footage must be entered into space provided. (Mobile Homes are excluded from this requirement.) Square footage of the living area should be determined by measuring the exterior perimeter of the heated area of the building. Each listing agreement shall provide authorization for MLS to use, publish, advertise and market the listing via the Internet. If the Seller does not want the listing to appear on the Internet, it will not be submitted to the Internet.
STATUS CHANGE – EXPIRATION, EXTENSION, RENEWAL:
Section 2.4. CHANGE STATUS OF LISTING: Any change in the original listing agreement shall be made only when authorized in writing by the seller.
Section 2.7. LISTING PRICE SPECIFIED: The full gross listing price shall be stated in the contract. It is a violation to change the list price once the property has been placed in Pending status with a resulting fine of up to $100 per violation and membership review by the MLS Committee.
(Note – Changing MLS List Price for mortgage purposes may be fraud and will be fined and/or MLS membership revoked.)
Important MLS Rules Page 2 of 3 June 28, 2010
Section 2.10. EXPIRATION, EXTENSION AND RENEWAL OF LISTINGS: Any listing filed with the Multiple Listing Service automatically expires on the dates specified in the agreement unless renewed by the listing broker and notice of renewal or extension is filed with the Service prior to expiration. A legally executed sales authority is required to extend or renew a listing in MLS.
If a listing contract is withdrawn, it may be brought back on market and/or extended. DOM will pick back up and continue
counting. If desired, a legally executed sales authority may be obtained and a new listing with a new MLS number may be entered.
Days on market (DOM) starts new for any new list date. DOM will show on agent reports only.
If same address match has expired or been withdrawn 30 days or less, the system will add DOM from the previous listing and create cumulative days on market (CDOM). CDOM will show on agent reports and statistical data only.
If same address match has expired or been withdrawn 31 days or more, the system will not create CDOM.
Section 2.11. TERMINATION DATE ON LISTINGS: Listings filed with the Service shall bear a definite and final termination date as negotiated between the listing broker and the seller.
PERSONAL INFORMATION IN REMARKS:
Section 4.3. PERSONAL INFORMATION IN PUBLIC REMARKS AND DIRECTIONS:
No personal agent or office information; i.e., such as name, phone numbers, email addresses or web sites, may be placed in the public “Remarks” or “Directions” spaces.
DIVISION OF COMMISSIONS
Section 5. COMPENSATION SPECIFIED ON EACH LISTING: The listing broker shall specify, on each listing filed with the Multiple Listing Service, the compensation offered to other Multiple Listing Service Participants for their services in the sale of such listing. …….
Note 1: In filing …….. The compensation specified on listings published by the MLS shall be shown in one of the following forms:
- By showing a percentage of the gross selling price.
- By showing a definite dollar amount.
- It is the obligation of the listing broker to compensate the selling broker according to the specific commission (percentage or dollar value) that is indicated in the commission split fields within the MLS listing information. Commission may not be addressed in any other manner or location within the MLS listing.
Note 2: The listing broker may, from time to time, adjust the compensation offered to other Multiple Listing Service Participants for their services with respect to any listing by advance published notice to the Service so that all Participants will be advised.
Note 3: The Multiple Listing Service shall make no rule on the division of commissions between Participants and non-Participants. This should remain solely the responsibility of the listing broker.
TEAM ID’S:
We do not use team ID’s in Mobile any longer. They can co-list if the agent is in the same office. At input time for the listing, select the co- list agent’s ID, and in the Contact Order, select “Other” from one of the drop down lists. In the “Other Desc” box type in the co-list agent’s name such as “Susie Cell” and in the “Other” box type in the actual number as 251-000-000. This will display on reports depending the contact order number that you selected.
