As you have hopefully heard by now from all of our communications about it (and outside communications), the National Association of REALTORS® entered into a settlement regarding the various class actions lawsuits that had been filed across the country. As a result of the terms of that settlement, we are now required to make some MLS rule changes and process changes.
The primary rule changes are:
- A written agreement, such as a Residential Buyer’s Representation Agreement, must be signed before you conduct a showing, in person or virtually, of a property that is for sale. (There are specific items that must be included in the agreement, which is why we are recommending you use an updated Buyer’s Rep Agreement.)
- Any offer of compensation to the Buyer’s Agent must be communicated outside the MLS. (We will be required to remove all Compensation fields in the MLS and cannot allow any offers to be made in any other way using the MLS or any platform we operate.) On August 16, all compensation fields will be removed from the MLS.
- We have added a new field to the MLS: “Seller May Contribute to Buyer Expenses Up To: $___________.” This field is to communicate the possibility of the seller making a contribution or concession toward buyer expenses, but the contribution may not be conditioned on paying broker fees. It is up to the buyer to determine how the contribution is applied.
- Download the “Quick Review of Industry Changes REALTORS® Need to Know” (PDF).
The best place to always have access to the latest information is www.har.com/settlement. This is updated regularly with FAQs and other materials.
