RMLS™ Rules Roundup for January 2020
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 January 2020 our team handled 214 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
A new year brings with it a new sequence for MLS numbers. Listings published in 2020 begin with ’20######’, where listings published in 2019 began with ’19######’. While it is not against the RMLS™ rules to refresh a listing, there are a few points to keep in mind. Refreshing a listing should be done at the request of the seller(s). If the seller(s) elects to refresh their listing in the MLS, the old listing should be changed to canceled (CAN) status not withdrawn (WTH). The Data Accuracy Department has received reports where the original listing was changed to withdrawn (WTH) status instead of canceled, and forgotten until the listing expires at some future date. This causes not only confusion for RMLS™ subscribers, it can be confusing to the property owner who may or may not have been the original seller(s) who receive inquiries on the status of their property.
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 January 2020.
INFORMAL VIOLATIONS
In January 2020, RMLS™ Data Accuracy staff reviewed 22,529 listings in addition to the 493 notices sent through “Report Issue” button on RMLSweb. Of the items reviewed, 1,221 violation notices and 1,953 courtesy notices were sent out.
| Category | January |
| Missing Tax ID | 471 |
| Incorrect or Missing Information | 129 |
| Duplicate Listing | 119 |
| Missing Owner Name | 94 |
| Personal Promotion | 85 |
| Missing School | 58 |
| Incorrect Status | 50 |
| Year Built Description | 46 |
| Is Property a Condo | 37 |
| No Showings | 22 |
| Missing or Incorrect 1st Photo | 18 |
| Duplicate Listing in Different Categories | 17 |
| Conditions to Compensation | 15 |
| Duplicate Listing in Different Categories | 13 |
| Incorrect Property Type | 15 |
| Missing Condo Unit Number | 8 |
| Inaccurate Lot Size | 8 |
| Listing Input in Incorrect MLS area | 7 |
| Address Issues | 7 |
| Partial Bathrooms 5+ | 4 |
| HUD | 2 |
| City Unknown | 1 |
| Is Listing a Short Sale | 1 |
Following are the courtesy notifications sent to RMLS™ subscribers in January 2020:
| Category | January |
| Listing is Set to Expire | 1,015 |
| Multiple Owner Names in First Field | 405 |
| Listing Still Pending | 377 |
| New Listing Input Over 24 Hours | 156 |
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.