Rules Roundup: Photograph Rules Changes (Jan 2023)

Rules Roundup: Photograph Rules Changes (Jan 2023)

by | Feb 22, 2023

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

Recently the RMLS Board of Directors voted to approve recommended changes from the Rules Committee. These changes will officially go into effect on March 13, 2023. Regarding the changes effecting Rules and Regulations section 3.8, current violations that will be officially allowed as of March 13 will not generate notifications between now and the date of implementation. The specific redline and changes to this rule are as follows:

3.8 Photographs. Listing Brokers may submit photographs for all listings to be Published in the RMLS System. The photographs are to be submitted without any added text or graphics, or any alterations that misrepresent the property.  Photographs shall not include people, copyrighted material, identifying or promotional information, names or locations of private entities and/or businesses, Fair Housing violations or alterations that misrepresent the property. Alterations to photographs to reflect lot lines, road names, arrows identifying the property and the names of public amenities shall be allowed so long as they are not misleading or otherwise in violation of this Rule. RMLS expressly reserves the right to deny usage of photographs that do not conform to RMLS Rules and Regulations. If there is virtual staging in any of the photographs it must be disclosed on the photograph with the “Virtually Staged” watermark. If Residential new construction has a photograph of a similar home it must be disclosed on the photograph with the “Sample Image” watermark. The first photograph of a listing in Coming Soon-No Showing status will be watermarked as “Coming Soon-No Showings”.

    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 January of 2023.

    INFORMAL VIOLATIONS

    Listings missing Tax ID information are typically the top informal violation within RMLSweb. Recently this rule has been edited to exclude Proposed and Under Construction property types. Because of this, there was a drop in the number of violations and now we are seeing Listings Set to Expire as the top violation for January 2023.

    The chart below shows the next three most frequent informal violations from January 2023. This month we saw a dramatic spike for Unauthorized Text in Photos, 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: 21,750
    • Notices Sent: 1,807
    • Violation Notices Received: 323
    • Courtesy Notices Sent: 829
    • Phone Calls Received: 359

    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.

    Market Action Report: New Design and Content

    Market Action Report: New Design and Content

    by | Feb 10, 2023

    Your Market Action report has a brand-new look starting with the January 2023 edition. We’re excited to present you with a fully refreshed design, along with new content and resources.

    We prioritized creating a clean design that is easy to navigate, orderly, and delivers an improved reading experience.

    Additionally, we added more statistical value by adding five new data charts, explanations for key definitions and formulas, and convenient links to other statistical content that RMLS provides.

    Here’s a breakdown of what’s new for each area:

    • NEW DATA CHARTS
      • Residential Trends: This chart will show the percentage change between the current month / year vs the corresponding month of the previous year.
      • Residential Sales by Price Range: This ‘heat map’ chart shows the number of sold residences broken down by $100K sale price tiers.
      • Average Sold Price Change: The percentage change for the average sold price by month is displayed.
      • Average Square Footage: The average square footage total for sold properties is given.
      • Average Price Per Square Footage: This chart shows a monthly comparison of average price per square foot for sold properties.
    • ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
      • Definitions and Formulas: This page explains some of the key terminology and formulas in use for the Market Action.
      • Resource Links: RMLS subscribers will have the benefit of linking directly to other statistical content that we offer, including our monthly state and regional infographics folders, the Real Talk with RMLS podcast, statistical reports, statistical summaries, and market trends.

    If you’re using the All Areas report, which includes all of the regions that RMLS covers, you can now navigate from area to area more easily with a linked Table of Contents.

    In the coming months, we’re planning to release additional infographics and content to support your use of the Market Action data. We hope you enjoy the new look and benefit from the new market data we’ve put together for you.

    If you have questions or feedback, please contact communications@rmls.com. We look forward to hearing from you!

    Rules Roundup: Floor Plans and Photo Uploads (Dec 2022)

    Rules Roundup: Floor Plans and Photo Uploads (Dec 2022)

    by | Jan 16, 2023

    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.

      RMLS By the Numbers 2022

      RMLS By the Numbers 2022

      by | Jan 9, 2023

      Our annual tradition is to start the new year by looking back at the previous year. These numbers below demonstrate how RMLS supported real estate activity in 2022 and the number in parentheses indicates the difference from the 2021 figures.

      RMLS regularly compiles plenty of other statistics, including our monthly Market Action report and Statistical Summaries with information dating back several years.

      Rules Roundup: Floor Plans and Photo Uploads (Dec 2022)

      Rules Roundup: Violation Changes (Nov 2022)

      by | Dec 20, 2022

      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

      Our listing checker and violation software have received technological upgrades as part of our data feed move to a RESO-compliant Web API. As a result, a few changes have been made to the system and settings.

      Missing Tax ID Violations: This type of violation will now exclude “proposed” and “Under Construction” property conditions, meaning that these property conditions will no longer receive a Missing Tax ID violation unnecessarily. This will also cause the stats for that violation to decrease significantly, as reflected in the November statistical data.

      Artificial Intelligence: We’ve recently incorporated Restb.ai, which uses artificial intelligence to evaluate the metadata in property photos, into our process to check all uploaded photos for violations. This will add new statistical data on violations and greatly improve our reach and accuracy regarding photo violations.

      The software is set up to look for violations regarding the first photo, personal promotion, people, unauthorized text, and unauthorized watermarks. This data will begin to be reflected in the December statistics.

        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.

        There were two formal violation cases in November. Both cases concerned the unauthorized use of a lockbox (rule 3.22 from the RMLS Rules and Regulations), with one case resulting in a fine of $250 and other resulting in a $500 fine with a mandatory SentriLock rules class.

        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 November 2022.

        This pie chart shows the remainder of the informal violations last month.

        Data Accuracy Department Statistics 

        • Listings Reviewed: 9,969
        • Notices Sent: 1,853
        • Violation Notices Received: 280
        • Courtesy Notices Sent: 1,327
        • Phone Calls Received: 380

        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.