RMLS™ Rules Roundup for July 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.
We tracked 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 26 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
We have been looking at ways to help improve the database of listings and one thing that we noticed is that there are quite a few listings that were not updated from pending (PEN) status to sold (SLD) status within the required time frame. As a reminder, all status changes must be made within 24 hours, excepting weekends and postal holidays, of the actual change in status. We are working on a mechanism to send out courtesy reminders to people who have gone beyond this time frame.
This month we want to continue to remind everyone that prior to scheduling a showing, it’s important to double check the listing for any special showing accommodation requests or notes from the seller(s) and/or Seller’s Agent. Be safe out there!
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 meet in July 2020 as there were no cases to review.
INFORMAL VIOLATIONS
In July 2020, RMLS™ Data Accuracy staff reviewed 34,253 listings in addition to the 493 notices sent through “Report Issue” button on RMLSweb. Of the items reviewed, 1,375 violation notices and 1,940 courtesy notices were sent out. In addition our team handled 457 phone calls.
| Category | July |
| Missing Tax ID | 474 |
| Incorrect or Missing Information | 157 |
| Personal Promotion | 116 |
| Missing School | 100 |
| Missing Owner Name | 82 |
| Duplicate Listing | 67 |
| No Showings | 60 |
| Incorrect First Photo | 50 |
| Incorrect Status | 44 |
| Conditions to Compensation | 41 |
| Is Property a Condo | 39 |
| Incorrect Property Type | 28 |
| Missing Condo Unit Number | 24 |
| Listing Input in Incorrect MLS area | 20 |
| Inaccurate Lot Size | 18 |
| Partial Bathrooms 5+ | 15 |
| Address Issues | 14 |
| Duplicate Listing in Different Categories | 11 |
| Property Condition | 9 |
| City Unknown | 4 |
| HUD | 2 |
The following are the courtesy notifications sent to RMLS™ subscribers in July 2020:
| Category | July |
| Listing is Set to Expire | 795 |
| Multiple Owner Names in First Field | 677 |
| Listing Still Pending | 286 |
| New Listing Input Over 24 Hours | 129 |
| Listing Status Change over 24 Hours | 17 |
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 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.