Two New MLS® Policies
A joint RAHB/NAR MLS® committee reviewed the Access Agreement which existed prior to the shared MLS® database. The Access Agreement was no longer necessary with the shared database, but there was a provision in the Agreement which was not covered by either association’s MLS® Rules and Regulations or Policies, namely which association’s rules and regulations or policies were to be followed when a member takes a listing in the other association’s market area.
To address the situation, the following policy has been adopted by both RAHB and NAR and is now in effect:
1. When a member from either RAHB or the Niagara Association places a listing located in the other association’s jurisdictional boundary, the member must adhere to that association’s MLS® Rules & Regulations and MLS® policies including, but not limited to, completion of all mandatory areas on the property information form (PIF), the reporting of conditional and firm sales, etc.
[MLS® Rules and Regulations and Policies for each association can be found on MLXchange and Fusion under “Resources”.]
A new situation also arose with the shared database that needed to be addressed: whether members who have been suspended from one Association’s MLS® system through Scout remediation would be able to access the MLS® system through the other association.
The following policy was also adopted by both associations and is now in effect:
2. If a RAHB or Niagara member/user is disabled through remediation, the said member/user will not be permitted to join either Association for the purpose of obtaining access to the MLS® system.
MLS® Fines – Increases and New Fines
The RAHB Board of Directors recently approved the following amended fines to take effect November 1, 2012. The fines are assessed to either the Brokerage or Member.
MLS® Marketing Options
11. Multiple Contracts and PIF’s Single Property: When a Pending Sale is being reported on a listing, all additional listings must be cancelled by way of a Cancellation of Listing Agreement signed by the Seller and Broker. The cancellation must be received by RAHB the same day as the report of sale or a $100 fine will be levied to the member for each listing.
Photos
3. A fine of $100 for all members, in addition to the standard $50 no photo fee, if the member does not submit a photo for listings outside of our photographers’ area after the initial fine has been levied.
The following MLS® policies have been amended to include a fine:
Miscellaneous
12. If any audited listing is found to be in contravention of the basic MLS® standards such that if said Listing would have initially been submitted to RAHB for processing, and RAHB would not have processed it, will be immediately removed from the active and historical MLS® database. ($200 fine added)
Taxes
1. If taxes have not been set for the current year, the listing may only display the previous year’s taxes. Thirty (30) days after the tax rate has been set, taxes on all new MLS® listings must be for the current year. ($100 fine added)
Reminder: “Pending Sale” status changed to “Sold” status
With the introduction of Fusion and the joint MLS® database for RAHB and Niagara, and in an effort to offer consistent reporting methods for both association, “pending sale” status was removed effective August 1, 2012. All sales are now to be reported as “SO”.