Open House Info Coming to RMLS.com & IDX Feeds Soon

Look for it on October 1

Effective October 1, open house data will be available on RMLS.com and in IDX feeds to your personal websites. What does this mean?

IDX feeds: your IDX provider now has access to these fields. They may be able to set up an open house search feature for you – ask your IDX provider about what they can do with the new data.

On RMLS.com: users will not be able to search exclusively for open houses, but if there is open house information for a listing, it will be displayed in the listing information. So, if someone sees a house they like, they can look to see if there are any open houses coming up for it.

Benefits? Get more exposure for your open houses! Make sure to enter specific open house data on RMLSweb – here’s how:
1. Go to Listing Load on RMLSweb.
2. Find the listing you want to enter an Open House for and click on the OH/BT button (Open House/Broker Tour).
3. Click “New Open House”.
4. Enter all of your Open House details & click Save.

New Terms of Service for RMLSweb, RMLS.com & RMLSweb Mobile Coming Soon

New Process for Reporting Copyright Infringement

Starting on October 1, you’ll notice that you have to accept new Terms of Service (TOS) for RMLSweb, RMLS.com and RMLSweb Mobile.

Note to RMLSweb Mobile users: you will need to login to RMLSweb first to accept the TOS, otherwise; you will not be able to use RMLSweb Mobile until the new TOS are accepted.

The changes to the TOS are in accordance with Title 17, United States Code, Section 512(c)(2) Digital Millenium Copyright Act. As part of the new TOS, if you feel a photo or other content acquired by another subscriber is in violation of copyright, you can now e-mail copyrightagent@rmls.com.

By e-mailing us we can start an investigation, but before we take any action, we need to receive a signed statement with specific information about the infringement by mail or as an attachment to your e-mail. For more details, you can preview a copy of the Claims of Copy Right Infringement instructions.

As a reminder, section 10.3 of the RMLS™ Rules & Regulations states:

“By the act of submitting any property listing content to RMLS™, the Participant represents that Participant has been authorized and also thereby does grant authority for the MLS to include the property listing content in its copyrighted MLS compilation and also in any statistical report on comparables. Listing content includes, but is not limited to, photographs, images, graphics, audio and video recordings, virtual tours, drawings, descriptions, remarks, narratives, pricing information, and other details or information related to listed property.”

Alert: Listings on Craigslist Being Re-Listed as Rentals in Possible Wire Scam

Tip: Use RSS Feeds or Google Alerts to monitor your listings on Craigslist

We’ve received reports of homes that were listed for sale on Craigslist being fraudulently re-posted as a low-rate rental listings. These types of scams may be aimed at getting prospective renters to wire or send first and last month’s rent. For example, a case was reported where a home listed at over $400,000 was fraudulently offered for just $700 a month.

Suggestion: If you’re concerned that listings you have posted on Craigslist may be at risk, you can setup an alert using RSS feeds – here’s how:

1. If you don’t use an RSS Reader currently, sign up for an RSS Reader, such as Google Reader or Bloglines (these are just a couple examples of free programs you can use).
2. Visit craigslist.org and find your region’s Craigslist page.
3. Click on the “Housing” section and type your property address or a unique phrase from your property description into the search field and click search.
4. At the bottom of the page, there is a button that reads “RSS” – click on this.
5. Copy the link of the page that opens and add it to your RSS Reader.

By doing this, you would be notified when you check your RSS Reader if someone has copied information from your listing & re-posted it on Craigslist in the housing section.

Another option would be to use Google Alerts:

1. Visit google.com/alerts.
2. In the search terms field, enter the property address or a unique phrase from your listing.
3. Select “Comprehensive” as the type of search.
4. Select how often you want to be notified if it returns search results.
5. Enter the e-mail address you want notification sent to.

Google Alerts searches the web, news articles, etc. and will return any results that match your search criteria.

If you see any fraudulent listings on Craigslist, report it to Craigslist.

Please also notify RMLS™ of any similar activity by e-mailing Kelly McKenna at Kelly.m (at) rmls (dot) com.