RMLS™ Rules Roundup for November 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 November 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
This fall we have heard some concerns regarding buyers agents potentially giving out SentriLock codes when they are unable to be present at a showing. As a reminder this is a violation and it is never okay for a buyers agent to give a lockbox code to anyone for any reason. If you are unable to be present with your buyer please arrange for someone else to show the property or reschedule the showing.
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 November as they did not meet.
INFORMAL VIOLATIONS
In November 2019, RMLS™ Data Accuracy staff reviewed 27,010 listings in addition to the 405 notices sent through “Report Issue” button on RMLSweb. Of the items reviewed, 1,029 violation notices and 1,774 courtesy notices were sent out.
| Category | November |
| Missing Tax ID | 416 |
| Personal Promotion | 127 |
| Incorrect or Missing Information | 82 |
| Year Built Description | 77 |
| Duplicate Listing | 63 |
| Missing School | 57 |
| Missing Owner Name | 56 |
| No Showings | 35 |
| Missing Condo Unit Number | 26 |
| Is Property a Condo | 19 |
| Missing or Incorrect 1st Photo | 17 |
| Listing Input in Incorrect MLS area | 15 |
| Conditions to Compensation | 12 |
| Duplicate Listing in Different Categories | 9 |
| Inaccurate Lot Size | 7 |
| HUD | 3 |
| City Unknown | 2 |
| Duplicate Listing Different Agent | 1 |
| Is Listing a Short Sale | 1 |
Following are the courtesy notifications sent to RMLS™ subscribers in November 2019:
| Category | November |
| Listing is Set to Expire | 1,066 |
| Listing Still Pending | 336 |
| Multiple Owner Names in First Field | 282 |
| New Listing Input Over 24 Hours | 90 |
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.