The Rules Roundup provides a monthly accounting of RMLS rules violations and courtesy notifications. Our Data Accuracy team manages all reports of property listing errors, tracking 34 specific issues outlined in the RMLS Rules and Regulations, and is responsible for addressing subscriber questions and concerns regarding listing accuracy.
HIGHLIGHTS
Floor Plans & Photo Uploads: Recently RMLS implemented the use of AI technology to help detect listing violations. One violation (of Rule 3.8) we’ve seen an uptick for involves photos that have added text, additional graphics, or alterations that misrepresent the property.
To be clear, floor plans are still perfectly fine to upload but by rule they cannot contain additional text (beyond the room names) or any personal promotion. Rule 3.8 is in place to protect against potential instances of HUD violations, problematic photo alterations, prohibited copyrighted image use, or personal promotion.
As a reminder, maps and graphics can be added as additional documents and referenced in the private comments of a listing. If you have any questions about rule compliance for photos, please feel free to contact our Data Accuracy team at dataaccuracy@rmls.com or 503.395.1916.
FORMAL VIOLATIONS
The RMLS Rules and Regulations Committee reviews all formal complaints which allege a violation of the RMLS Rules and Regulations. The committee has the power to impose sanctions.
The committee did not review any cases in December of 2022.
INFORMAL VIOLATIONS
Listings missing Tax ID information are consistently the top informal violation within RMLSweb. Sometimes the missing tax information is due to an error of omission. Other times, it may be because the listing is a new construction property that does not yet have a tax ID number available. Data Accuracy sends courtesy notices out to remind agents of the need to provide the tax information (when available).
The chart below shows the next three most frequent informal violations from December 2022. This month we saw a dramatic spike for the property condition verification violation, making it the fourth most violated category.
This pie chart shows the remainder of the informal violations last month.
Data Accuracy Department Statistics
- Listings Reviewed: 17,818
- Notices Sent: 2,010
- Violation Notices Received: 220
- Courtesy Notices Sent: 569
- Phone Calls Received: 262
How to Report Violations
Subscribers have multiple options to report violations, including a Report Issue button on every RMLSweb listing. Subscribers can email our Data Accuracy team at dataaccuracy@rmls.com or call them at 503.395.1916. When there are increases in specific violation types, we sometimes place notifications on RMLSweb.