RMLS™ Rules Roundup for April 2019

by RMLS Communication Department | May 9, 2019

The RMLS™ Rules and Regulations Committee has requested that periodic reports are given to subscribers about the number and types of formal rules violations, along with information about informal violations and courtesy notifications by type. Read “If a RMLS™ Rule is Broken, What Happens?” for a deeper explanation.

Have you ever spotted something wrong in a property listing on RMLSweb? The Data Accuracy team is responsible for sorting things out whenever a RMLS™ subscriber contacts us—whether that is via the “Report Issue” button on a listing, by email, or contacting us directly by phone. In April 2019 our team handled 275 phone calls.

We track 30 specific issues in Listing Data Checker (LDC), the software that helps us spot and correct issues proactively. Six of these are courtesy notifications, but the other 24 are informal violations of the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations. In addition to our focus on education we also process formal violations throughout the year.

HOT TOPICS

In April we received several inquiries regarding recent marketing of Coming Soon-No Showing (CSN) listings. In December of 2018 a change was made to Rule 3.28 to clarify what types of marketing are allowed on CSN listings. A Broker may share CSN listings with their clients, current customers, and other active RMLS™ subscribers. They may not share them publicly.

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.

In April 2019, two formal rules violation were filed for a total of three [one was received in late March 2019] that were referred to the Rules Committee during their May 2019 meeting.

INFORMAL VIOLATIONS

In April 2019, RMLS™ Data Accuracy staff reviewed 21,778 listings in addition to the 622 notices sent through Report Issue button on RMLSweb. Of the items reviewed, 1,474 violation notices and 1,943 courtesy notices were sent out.

Following are the courtesy notifications sent to RMLS™ subscribers in April 2019:

When we notice an uptick in a specific type of violation (perhaps a rule recently changed or market conditions lead to an increase in a certain type of issue) we may also put a notification up on RMLSweb, educating subscribers before one of their listings gets flagged and we need to contact them.

RMLS™ Data Accuracy can be reached via email or by phone at (503) 236-7657 if you ever have questions about the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations, if you wonder whether a specific listing has inaccurate data, or if you want to chat with us more about the above information.