Not all REALTORS® who subscribe to RMLS™ have an intimate familiarity of the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations. This is why the Data Accuracy staff work hard each day to reach out to subscribers and correct issues that have been spotted in listings or address other concerns called in by fellow REALTORS®.

As Data Compliance Manager I’m relatively new to RMLS™ but one of my roles is to educate subscribers about the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations in our ongoing effort to ensure data accuracy on RMLSweb.

One of the most basic questions our subscribers may ask themselves is this: what happens when a RMLS™ subscriber breaks one of the RMLS™ Rules?

The answer depends on the rule, and whether a formal complaint was received. There are two types of issues that get sent to us. The most common of these is done using the report issue button that is found on the listing in RMLSweb, calling the RMLS™ Help Desk, or sending an email to rules@rmls.com. This is an anonymous process and is helpful to us in identifying errors on listings as well as rules violations.

The second type is the formal violation. A formal violation is not an anonymous process and involves accusations of rule breaking that could carry a sanction. These are far less common but we take them very seriously when they happen. Between January and July 2017 RMLS™ had received six formal violations. All of them were regarding various misuses of a lockbox (Section 5.1.l. Lockbox Access). Of those, three were for not following showing instructions, two were for entering a property while it was in pending (PEN) status and the last was for using it, the lockbox, for something other than real estate business. The six violations were reviewed by the Rules Committee and a total of $1,350.00 in fines were sanctioned. In one case, lockbox privileges were suspended.

The RMLS™ Rules and Regulations Committee has requested that reports about the number of formal violations, the type of violation, and the result get shared periodically with subscribers. RMLS™ will be reporting updates throughout the year, so keep watching for these reports throughout the year!

Over the last few years the RMLS™ Board of Directors and staff have received numerous questions, concerns, and comments regarding property that is being marketed as “coming soon.” In light of so many inquiries the RMLS™ Board of Directors formed a task force earlier this year to evaluate the concerns and identify potential solutions. The result is a new status called CSN – Coming Soon-No Showing. This new status indicates that there is a valid listing agreement between the seller(s) and the listing agent/firm, but that the listing is not ready to be shown. This listing is in the MLS, but not on market. This status tells other subscribers when the property will become available for showings.

Highlights of the new Coming Soon-No Showing (CSN) status:

• CSN listings are considered an off-market status, like Withdrawn (WTH).
• CSN listings are only viewable within RMLSweb.com.
• CSN listings are not included on RMLS.com, Realtor.com, IDX, or syndicated feeds.
• CSN listings are not included in open house or broker tours.
• A property may be in CSN status for up to 21 days. After 21 days is reached the system will automatically change the status to Active (ACT) unless the listing agent changes it sooner.
• CSN listings cannot be shown—by anyone. If a showing is to occur, the rules will state that the status of the listing must first be changed to Active (ACT) to allow everyone an opportunity to show the property.
• Days on Market (DOM)/Cumulative Days on Market (CDOM) counts do not accrue while in CSN status
• The first photograph will contain a “Coming Soon-No Showing” watermark. When the listing is no longer in CSN status, the system will automatically remove the watermark from the first photograph.
• CSN listings can be searched and viewed within RMLSweb.
• CSN listings will be excluded from client prospecting auto-email notifications.
• CSN listings are excluded from statistical reports.
• Agent reports within RMLSweb will only display “No Showings Permitted” in the showing notification section.

Here are a few examples of how you could benefit from the Coming Soon-No Showing listing status:

• It allows time to prepare a listing so that it is fully marketable the moment it goes active. With this new status, you can prepare all marketing around the date the listing will move to Active status. Listings under the new status are submitted to the MLS and have an MLS number.
• This new status allows agents to market their listings in the MLS to other subscribers while finishing touches (such as new paint, flooring, etc.) are being completed.
• A listing will not needlessly accrue Days on Market/Cumulative Days on Market. DOM/CDOM accrual does not begin until it moves to Active status.
• It provides subscribers with the date of when the listing is expected to be active. By providing this date, the most interested buyers can get prepared to see the property when the listing switches to Active status.
• It helps keep other subscribers informed of upcoming inventory. By including CSN listings in RMLSweb, subscribers will not be caught off guard by “coming soon” yard signs when driving through a community with a buyer.

We will be adding the new status in early 2018. Changes to the RMLS^™ Rules and Regulations, listings contracts, and the Authorization to Exclude from MLS Addendum will be required as well as programming changes for RMLSweb. Watch the RMLSweb desktop for more information as we get closer to implementing this new status.

Real estate professionals: you are invited to save the date for the 2017 RMLS™ Education Summit and Trade Fair! This year’s trade fair will be taking place on March 3, 2017, at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel in the heart of the Lloyd District of Portland, OR.

Join Us!

RMLS™ members and non-members are welcome to attend the event, and class registration will be open by early February. Monitor RMLSweb, RMLS™ on Facebook, or RMLS™ on Twitter for the latest updates.

Whether you’ll be attending classes, reaching out to REALTORS®, or window shopping around the trade fair floor, RMLS™ looks forward to seeing you at our annual trade fair this spring!

Thanks, Sponsors!

Special thanks to our sponsors for making this event possible…

Diamond

Silver

Did you know that 2016 marks the 25th anniversary of RMLS™?

RMLS™ staff members have been visiting association meetings this year to deliver thank yous and anniversary-themed goodies, as our partners around the region have been absolutely vital to the success of RMLS™ since 1991.

Attendees of both the RMLS™ Spring Education Summit and Trade Fair in Portland and the RMLS™ Fall Trade Fair in Pendleton enjoyed an anniversary-themed event, complete with balloons and cupcakes. RMLS™ would not be the member-driven multiple listing service it is today without the passion and involvement of our subscribers!

Perhaps you enjoyed our anniversary-related blog posts or noticed the anniversary logo this year on RMLSweb or elsewhere online.

Now it’s time to close out the year with a bang!

First, we’re pleased to present a video about RMLS™…

Help RMLS™ celebrate by showing the video in your office meeting—perhaps your principal broker can remember the days of listing books or the STELLAR system. You may even share the video with clients to explain the role RMLS™ plays in their property transaction! A shorter (1:19) version of the video is available here.

EVERYONE WINS WITH RMLS™

RMLS™ will close out this silver anniversary with a month of giveaways. We’ll be giving away 25 prizes in December, one for each year RMLS™ has been serving REALTORS® in the Pacific northwest.

Each week in December, we’ll spotlight a couple of RMLS™ departments who will choose a couple of lucky subscribers to receive a $50 gift card from Amazon, Home Depot, or Best Buy. If you’ve had an interaction with the RMLS™ Help Desk, Account Services, Training, Data Accuracy, Distribution Services, or the Front Desk in 2016, you’ll be automatically entered for these giveaways.

We have more to give away! Tell us how RMLS™ has impacted your real estate career in an email to communications@rmls.com—and you’ll be entered to win a cookie basket to share with your office or an iPad Air 2!

GIFT CARD WINNERS!

Data Accuracy:
Cy Vandermeer, Blue Pacific Realty (Brookings)
Cindy Whipple, Berkshire Hathaway Home Services NW Real Estate (Eugene)
Beth Earnest, Earnest and Associates Real Estate (Portland)

Distribution Services:
Andy Harris, Home Team Realty (Portland)
Ray Penny, NextHome All State Real Estate (Coos Bay)
Hunter Finch, Bandon Property (Bandon)

Front Desk:
Sherri Brown, Century 21 The Neil Company (Roseburg)
Steve Betts, Coldwell Banker Seal (Vancouver)
Nadia Mulyar, Premiere Property Group (Vancouver)

Payment Assistance (formerly Accounting):
Myra Pfenning, Investors Choice, Inc (Oregon City)
Rocky Mikesell, Blue Jeans Realty (Pendleton)
Sherri Adams, Coldwell Banker Seal (Vancouver)

Training:
Emily Siskin, Premiere Property Group (Clackamas)
Cristina Tran, Better Homes and Gardens (Portland)
Sondra McFeters, Portland Digs (Portland)

Help Desk:
Sally Haskin, Ross Pacific Realty (Vancouver)
Zoe Brady, Equinox Real Estate (Eugene)
Richard Compton, Keller Williams Realty Professionals (Portland)

Check back with this post throughout December for a list of winners.

This post was last updated December 22, 2016.

Our subscribers have spoken, and RMLS™ will be poring over every comment in the coming weeks. Over 2,700 subscribers took the 2016 RMLS™ Subscriber Satisfaction Survey, doing their part to voice their opinions and help us guide the organization into 2017.

This annual survey is crucial in the RMLSweb development process, as subscriber feedback can lead to RMLSweb improvements the following year. Data from the survey also helps set priorities for the organization as a whole, identifies areas of improvement in each department, and acts as an overall indicator of how the organization is performing.

Detail-oriented subscribers may have noticed the rating system change from a five-point to a ten-point scale this year. This was at the request of the RMLS™ Board of Directors. While this change eliminated the safety of a “neutral” option, doubling the number on a past survey response offered an easy way to compare results from previous years.

How did RMLS™ fare in this challenging year? Let’s have a look at a couple of key questions.

OVERALL SATISFACTION

RMLS™ subscribers rated their overall satisfaction as an 8.4. Adjusted for the new rating system, the overall score on this same question in 2015 was 7.6.

Opinions about every single survey question varied wildly, and this big question was no different.

Comments:
“RMLS™ always does a great job responding to my questions or problems.”
“Better than it’s ever been, but still not rockin’ it.”
“Very friendly staff, just a bit costly to me, being a new agent.”
“If I was more familiar, it would be more valuable.”
“I would like to see more ‘appraiser friendly’ search options.”
“Perfect service.”
“I am a member of three other MLS services and RMLS™ is head and shoulders above them all.”
“Darn close to invaluable.”

RMLSWEB PROJECTS THAT HELPED YOUR BUSINESS

RMLS™ released several improvements to RMLSweb since the previous survey. Few of these changes impacted all 13,000 subscribers the same way, but taking metrics gives us information on where RMLS™ got the most bang for its development buck.

Ten projects were listed, with the scores ranging from 7.1 to 8.9. Topping the list at 8.9, the clear winner was the new RMLSweb photo loader, capable of loading up to 36 images for each listing. Listing View Counts Emails followed with an overall score of 8.4. Increasing the frequency of auto-emails placed next on the list at 8.2, with prospecting notification frequency and roster improvements both landing at 8.0.

OREF/zipForm integration showed up at 7.8 and RPR single sign-on at 7.7. Next, RPR flyer integration and the new RMLSweb mapping system tied at 7.3, with the new photo watermarks closing the list at 7.1.

In 2015, RMLS™ listed four system improvements, with ratings (adjusted) ranging from 6.6 to 7.0.

Comments:
“I hate to admit that I didn’t know about most of these, but am looking forward to learning more about them!”
“The new mapping system is nice!”
“The new mapping tool is okay.”
“Not a fan of the new maps.”
“Anything new in regards to photos/logos/editing is always helpful.”
“I love the increase in photo count!”
“The photo watermarks are great, the virtually staged is helpful too.”
“These questions make me think I need a class as I am not using half of the improvements.”
“While these features sound good, the implementation of them is often clunky.”
“Almost none of this has anything to do with appraisers.”
“LOVE the watermarks – super handy for new construction/purposed homes!!!!!”
“RPR is fabulous! So glad to have it as an additional tool for my use!”
“I think RMLS™ has done a good job, and I appreciate the changes.”
“Thank you!”

THIRSTING FOR MORE?

Respondents were sometimes open about their lack of knowledge about RMLSweb. Perhaps they were unfamiliar with the full suite of features or had no idea an improvement had been made that might make their day go easier.

If you’re wanting more education about RMLSweb, our trainers can help! RMLS™ trainers are constantly teaching subscribers the finer points of RMLSweb in one of the RMLS™ offices, online, and even on the road! Contact the RMLS™ trainers at (503) 236-7657 to discuss your needs and set up an appointment.

Now that the big picture is taken care of, each department at RMLS™ will start digging deep into individual responses over the coming weeks. If you completed the survey, you might hear from us! We frequently contact subscribers to answer a question or clarify a comment before moving forward.

Subscribers who helped us out with this crucial survey by giving us your thoughts, thanks again! We hope the results will help us shape RMLSweb over the next year to make it even better.

The RMLS™ Rules Committee has finalized revisions to the Office Exclusive/Authorization to Exclude Addendum. These changes—which will impact the form itself and the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations—were approved by the RMLS™ Board of Directors and will start rolling out next week.

Most notably, the form will have a new title: Authorization to Exclude from MLS Addendum. Clients listing a property who wish to exclude their property from RMLS™ will now need to initial their understanding of specific components.  These components remind sellers about the value of listing their property on a multiple listing service.

The RMLS™ Rules and Regulations will see some slight adjustments due to this rollout, mostly related to the form’s title change.

View associated documents below:

• Authorization to Exclude from MLS Addendum
• Authorization to Exclude from MLS Addendum E-Form
• Authorization to Exclude from MLS Addendum REDLINE
• Rules and Regulations REDLINE
• Rules and Regulations
• Washington Listing Contract REDLINE
• Oregon Listing Contract REDLINE

Subscribers are advised to switch to using the new forms immediately. It will take some time for the changes to be reflected outside the RMLS™ system (for example, OREF zipForms), but RMLS™ is working hard to get changes reflected across all platforms as quickly as possible.

Questions about the revised Authorization to Exclude from MLS Addendum? Contact RMLS™ Data Accuracy at (503) 236-7657.

This will be the final entry in the series MLS Insight, about how things work at RMLS™. 

Just over 24 years ago, I joined the RMLS™ staff as its seventh employee. I came on board when RMLS™ was just one year old! Today, RMLS™ is a vibrant organization celebrating its 25th anniversary, but I will no longer have a front row seat as I am retiring at the end of this month.

In 1992, I answered an ad for a part-time Administrative Secretary. My job was to staff the board meetings (take minutes, etc.) and to produce Market Action, which had just started publication. It was prepared much differently then. Reports were run from the old Stellar system and then the results were retyped into a Pagemaker file for publication. There was a lot of proofreading needed! Two people would sit and read numbers back and forth for a few hours each month.

I have not missed but maybe two or three board meetings in the last 24 years, and, if you know a current or former RMLS™ Director, I think you should say “Thank you!” I don’t think you could find a steadier, more thoughtful or dedicated group of volunteer leaders.

I will miss my workmates. The RMLS™ staff is a wonderful group. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to connect with many of our subscribers, and it has been my pleasure to serve the REALTOR® community. Best wishes to you all.

MLS Insight is a series about how things work at RMLS™.

As we celebrate 25 years of service to the real estate community in the northwest, it is interesting to look at some of the high-level numbers that describe the business and economics of the multiple listing service.

Let’s start with the number of subscribers. In March 1991, before service had even begun, there were over 3,400 Portland-area REALTORS® committed to participating in the new multiple listing service. This March, we had 12,472 subscribers from all over Oregon and southern Washington. The March with the most subscribers was 2007 with 14,178 active REALTORS®.

The chart below shows the rise and fall of subscriber numbers (as of March of each year) plotted against total numbers of closed residential sales for the year across the entire MLS. Sales peaked in 2005 with a total of 57,745, two years prior to the peak in subscriber numbers. The number of sales has been steadily rising since the recession low of 31,028 in 2008. The 55,979 sales in 2015 were the second highest number recorded in a year at RMLS™.

Due to a much higher overall average sales price, the total dollar volume of residential sales posted in RMLS™, 2015 achieved a new high water mark of $17,567,003,000 despite fewer total sales than 2005. The average sales price across all RMLS™ sales in 2005 was $268,300 compared to $313,800 in 2015.

If you have questions on any RMLS™-related topic that you would like to have answered, I encourage you to post a comment.

UPDATE: May 5, 2016

By subscriber request, here are the same graphs broken down by state:

MLS Insight is a series about how things work at RMLS™.

At their annual leadership retreat, the RMLS™ Board of Directors reviewed a list of potential projects and prioritized those they believe will have the best benefit for RMLS™ subscribers. Following is a brief description of the three projects that will get the attention of our software development team this year along with a fourth that will be scheduled if possible. The forms changes approved in 2015 are also in the works.

Watch List: This project will create a new feature on RMLSweb enabling subscribers to add individual listings to a “shopping cart” and receive push notifications when the status or a price change occurs. Potential scope includes ability to tag tax parcel records for notification when a listing is published.

Mobile Innovation Project: This project will utilize information available in a mobile device – photos, GPS, etc. – to create a property profile for use in creating CMAs, running reverse prospecting searches, and starting an in-progress listing in RMLSweb.

Frequency of Auto-Emails: This project will re-engineer auto-emails to reliably run the entire process within an hour. As part of this project, subscribers should be able to refine the frequency at which auto-emails are sent to individual clients.

Facebook Integration: This project will allow subscribers to easily post their own listings to Facebook, and will also fix formatting problems for mobile devices when RMLS.com listings are shared to Facebook.

If you have questions on any RMLS™-related topic that you would like to have answered, I encourage you to post a comment.

MLS Insight is a series about how things work at RMLS™.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was signed into law in 1998 with the intent to bring US copyright laws into the digital age. MLS listings normally contain several items subject to copyright, most prominently the photos and remarks. When a listing is loaded into RMLSweb, the understanding is that the listing content is authorized or legitimate, and there is no copyright issue.

This understanding is stipulated in the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations under Section 10.3 – Authority to Publish: By the act of submitting any property listing content to RMLS™, the Participant represents that the 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.

In addition to the responsibility of the listing broker to ensure that there is no copyright infringement in the listing content they provide, RMLS™ also has responsibilities as a publisher under the DMCA. In order to limit liability for copyright infringement we may unknowingly include on our site, we have followed the safe harbor provisions of the DMCA since 2009. These provisions include appointing a copyright agent and making it easy for someone who spots a copyright infringement to contact us.  RMLSweb and RMLS.com have a link on every listing to report any claims of copyright infringement, and there are specific steps we follow to meet the requirements of the safe harbor when we are notified of a problem.

That covers the responsibility of the listing broker and RMLS™.

Does it end there? NO!! It does not.

Each website posting listing data is individually responsible for copyright infringement that might appear on that site. That means that every IDX website needs to protect itself under the DMCA safe harbor provisions.

The National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) became concerned about potential liability for brokers, and in their model rules for 2016 they have required the addition of a section about copyright and the DMCA. The RMLS™ Board of Directors adopted this language and it has now been added to Section 10.3 of the RMLS^™ Rules and Regulations. This is an important advisory recommendation from NAR. If you have a website that displays listing content, make sure you ask your website provider about their compliance with the DMCA. Here is the new RMLS™ Rules and Regulations language in full.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a federal copyright law that enhances the penalties for copyright infringement occurring on the Internet. The law provides exemptions or “safe harbors” from copyright infringement liability for online service providers (OSP) that satisfy certain criteria. Courts construe the definition of “online service provider” broadly, which would likely include MLSs as well as participants and subscribers hosting an IDX display.

One safe harbor limits the liability of an OSP that hosts a system, network or website on which Internet users may post user-generated content. If an OSP complies with the provisions of this DMCA safe harbor, it cannot be liable for copyright infringement if a user posts infringing material on its website. This protects an OSP from incurring significant sums in copyright infringement damages, as statutory damages are as high as $150,000 per work. For this reason, it is highly recommended that MLSs, participants and subscribers comply with the DMCA safe harbor provisions discussed herein.

To qualify for this safe harbor, the OSP must:

• Designate on its website and register with the Copyright Office an agent to receive takedown requests. The agent could be the MLS, participant, subscriber, or other individual or entity.
• Develop and post a DMCA-compliant website policy that addresses repeat offenders.
• Comply with the DMCA takedown procedure. If a copyright owner submits a takedown notice to the OSP, which alleges infringement of its copyright at a certain location, then the OSP must promptly remove allegedly infringing material. The alleged infringer may submit a counter-notice that the OSP must share with the copyright owner. If the copyright owner fails to initiate a copyright lawsuit within ten (10) days, then the OSP may restore the removed material.
• Have no actual knowledge of any complained-of infringing activity.
• Not be aware of facts or circumstances from which complained-of infringing activity is apparent.
• Not receive a financial benefit attributable to complained-of infringing activity when the OSP is capable of controlling such activity.

Full compliance with these DMCA safe harbor criteria will mitigate an OSP’s copyright infringement liability. For more information see 17 USC §512.

NAR has additional information on its website, including a recent video on photo copyright. In the case of copyright infringement, the old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” surely applies.

If you have questions on any RMLS™-related topic that you would like to have answered, I encourage you to post a comment.