RMLS™ Rules Roundup for October 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 October 2019 our team handled 205 phone calls.
We track 32 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
October saw an increase of accidental status changes on listings. In some cases, the Seller’s Agent accidentally changed the status to Bumpable Buyer (BMP) shortly after publishing the listing in RMLSweb. Each status change results in a history record being created, and when a status change occurs accidentally, this can potentially cause confusion for other subscribers. If you navigate to the status change module in Listing Load by accident and do not wish to change the status of your listing, simply press the “Cancel” button.
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 formal violations in October as they did not meet.
INFORMAL VIOLATIONS
In October 2019, RMLS™ Data Accuracy staff reviewed 17,579 listings in addition to the 406 notices sent through “Report Issue” button on RMLSweb. Of the items reviewed, 1,098 violation notices and 1,282 courtesy notices were sent out.
| Category | October |
| Missing Tax ID | 405 |
| Personal Promotion | 106 |
| Incorrect or Missing Information | 105 |
| Missing Owner Name | 86 |
| Missing Condo Unit Number | 84 |
| Missing School | 74 |
| Year Built Description | 65 |
| No Showings | 38 |
| Missing or Incorrect 1st Photo | 37 |
| Listing Input in Incorrect MLS area | 29 |
| Duplicate Listing | 19 |
| Conditions to Compensation | 18 |
| Is Property a Condo | 15 |
| Inaccurate Lot Size | 6 |
| Duplicate Listing in Different Categories | 6 |
| City Unknown | 3 |
| HUD | 2 |
Following are the courtesy notifications sent to RMLS™ subscribers in October 2019:
| Category | October |
| Listing is Set to Expire | 457 |
| Multiple Owner Names in First Field | 365 |
| Listing Still Pending | 353 |
| New Listing Input Over 24 Hours | 107 |
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.