In Part 1 of this series, we covered how to report issues and inaccuracies to our Data Accuracy department. In Part 2, we discussed how issues are reviewed and processed. In this edition, we’ll cover how issues are resolved and how to check on the status of a specific matter.

Step 3: Status & Resolution

Our subscribers are able to check the progress of the issue at any time through the RMLSweb dashboard.

Under ‘Back Office,’ look at the options below ‘Listing Issue.’ ‘Reported by Me’ provides status information on listings you reported, the current status of the report, and any available notes.

‘My Violations’ displays resolved violations for your listings, while ‘My Open Violations’ displays violations with your listings that are currently open. Both screens list the violation notes that have been reported. Principal Brokers can view this information for their agents as well.

The ‘My Notifications’ section tracks notices about your listing violations. You can see when the notifications were sent and to whom they were sent. If you click the link under ‘Sent Date’ you can read the notice that was sent.

Any issues that were discovered by our data checking software or staff will also appear in ‘My Notifications.’ The data is available for 18 months from the date the issue was closed. This does not mean that you cannot report an issue on a listing older than 18 months.

One factor that could affect whether an issue can be reported is if the Seller’s Agent or firm are no longer RMLS subscribers. In that event you would receive an error and to report the issue you would need to use one of the previously mentioned alternative methods.

Should you ever have a question about an issue that you submit or about a notice that you received on one of your own listings please reach out to us and we will be happy to answer any questions.

The Rules Roundup provides a monthly accounting of RMLS rules violations and courtesy notifications. Our Data Accuracy team manages all reports of property listing errors, tracking 34 specific issues outlined in the RMLS Rules and Regulations, and is responsible for addressing subscriber questions and concerns regarding listing accuracy whether those are submitted via the “Report Issue” button on a listing, through email, or by phone. When there are increases in specific violation types, we often place notifications on RMLSweb in order to alert subscribers so that they can avoid violations.

MAY HIGHLIGHTS

We have seen a rise in the number of listings not being made available for showing. As a reminder, rule 3.27 of the RMLS Rules and Regulations states:

Availability for Showing. With the exception of Commercial Lease, Auction, and Coming Soon-No Showing listings, all active listings shall be available for showing immediately upon entry into the RMLS system, excluding listings which require all offers to be made contingent on interior inspection. Listings cannot restrict showing until a future date.

There are reasons your client may wish to restrict showings. Maybe there is a renter, or the house is unsafe. In cases like this you should add a statement to the remarks that explains that all offers are contingent upon an interior inspection. It may also be helpful to provide a brief explanation as to why showings are unavailable. If a home is simply not ready to be shown but you want to let people know it will available soon then publishing as CSN would be appropriate. This allows other RMLS subscribers the chance to know about your listing so that they can share it with their clients while still affording your client up to 21 days to finish getting their home ready for showings.

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 cases in May 2021.

INFORMAL VIOLATIONS & COURTESY NOTICES

In May 2021, the RMLS Data Accuracy staff reviewed 32,556 listings in addition to the 539 notices sent through the “Report Issue” button on RMLSweb. Of the items reviewed, 1,397 violation notices and 1,458 courtesy notices were sent out. In addition, our team handled 401 phone calls.

The following are the courtesy notifications sent to RMLS subscribers in May 2021:

Questions about RMLS Rules and Regulations or the accuracy of specific listings can be directed to the RMLS Data Accuracy department at dataaccuracy@rmls.com or 503.395.1916.

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 an 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 an RMLS subscriber contacts us — whether that is via the “Report Issue” button on a listing, through email, or directly by phone.

We track 34 specific issues in Listing Data Checker (LDC), the software that helps us spot and correct issues proactively. Eight 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

Recently we’ve received quite a few notifications regarding incorrect or missing schools. You may have noticed that some of the school names you are used to seeing are now missing from RMLSweb. Recently several school districts have gone through a renaming process, with some schools changing names multiple times.

If you don’t see a school that you think should be on the list and want to know whether the school is missing or has a new name, here’s what to do: First, double check the area for your listing. It can be easy to be looking in the wrong area if the listing is near a county line or area boundary. 

Next, check the local school district’s website for updated information. If you’re still not sure, you can always contact our Data Accuracy department at 503.395.1916 and we will help you determine what the new name of the school is.

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 cases in April 2021.

INFORMAL VIOLATIONS

In April 2021, the RMLS Data Accuracy staff reviewed 31,851 listings in addition to the 574 notices sent through the “Report Issue” button on RMLSweb. Of the items reviewed, 1,327 violation notices and 1,564 courtesy notices were sent out. In addition our team handled 378 phone calls.

The following are the courtesy notifications sent to RMLS subscribers in April 2021:

When we notice an uptick in a specific type of violation (perhaps a rule recently changed or market conditions leading 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 RMLS Rules and Regulations or the data accuracy of specific listings, or simply want to chat with us more about the above information.

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 an 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 an RMLS subscriber contacts us — whether that is via the “Report Issue” button on a listing, through email, or directly by phone.

We track 34 specific issues in Listing Data Checker (LDC), the software that helps us spot and correct issues proactively. Eight 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

Accurate data is very important to us at RMLS – ensuring accuracy is one of our core values. To that end, we use multiple checks and measures to ensure that accuracy. One such tool is the Report Issue button that can be found on every agent report listing in RMLSweb. The Report button enables you to alert our Data Accuracy department if you come across any listing data that may be inaccurate.

Why do we need your help with this? Given such a high volume of listings, It would be impossible for our staff to personally visit every property and verify each piece of data, so we are reliant on you, the RMLS community who are the experts in our local real estate markets, to alert us if you detect an issue. Those notifications allow us to follow up with the Seller’s Agent to get the data verified and corrected if need be.

The process is anonymous, meaning that we will never share the identity of anyone that alerts us to any issue. The verification and correction process can take some time to correct as we require permission from the Seller’s Agent before we can make any changes to a listing, so your patience is appreciated.

Accurate data is a benefit to all of us so please stay vigilant and let us know if you find any potential inaccuracies. If you have a question about your own listing or need us to help with any corrections, please contact our Help Desk.

TIP: 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 review any cases in January 2021.

INFORMAL VIOLATIONS

In January 2021, the RMLS Data Accuracy staff reviewed 24,663 listings in addition to the 478 notices sent through the “Report Issue” button on RMLSweb. Of the items reviewed, 896 violation notices and 2,341 courtesy notices were sent out. In addition our team handled 303 phone calls.

The following are the courtesy notifications sent to RMLS subscribers in January 2021:

When we notice an uptick in a specific type of violation (perhaps a rule recently changed or market conditions leading 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 RMLS Rules and Regulations or the data accuracy of specific listings, or simply want to chat with us more about the above information.

Here we go again! RMLS celebrates another year working hard for thousands of subscribers across Oregon and Southwest Washington by presenting an annual collection of numbers. These numbers show just how much RMLS has supported real estate activity over the course of 2020. We hope you enjoyed journeying along with us.

Compare the numbers below with the same from prior years and see how we’ve grown!

RMLSweb
Number of times subscribers logged in to RMLSweb: 1,920,055
Photos uploaded to listings: 1,939,599
Number of new prospect profiles created: 75,157
All residential properties listed for sale: 71,940
All residential properties sold: 61,350
Median sold price of homes listed: $397,000
Total dollar volume of homes sold: $27,089,173,000
Reports viewed: 11,929,621

RMLS Subscribers
RMLS subscribers as of December 2020: 14,894
New RMLS subscribers (compared to December 2019): +370
Increase in subscribers, above: +2.5%
Subscribers who attended training: 9,326 via 892 individual classes
Number of calls to the RMLS Help Desk: 19,846 calls

Number of Bug Reports: 8,821
Number of Help Desk chats: 5642
Number of incidents reported using the “Report Issue” button: 5387
CE hours distributed by RMLS™ at no cost to subscribers: 664

Social Media
RMLS followers on Facebook (as of December 31): 5,832
RMLS followers on Twitter (as of December 31): 2,826

RMLS regularly compiles plenty of other numbers as well! In addition to publishing Market Action each month, we have statistical summaries available on RMLSweb with information dating back several years.

We love numbers here at RMLS, and hope you find this data as fun and interesting as we do.

We’re so excited to announce that the All-New Homesnap Pro is now LIVE for RMLS™ subscribers!

Homesnap has been conducting extensive research for the past three years on what technology real estate agents actually want, and now it’s providing it all in one easy-to-use app that’s deeply integrated with RMLS™.

RMLS™ agents have already had free access to Homesnap Pro as an included MLS benefit, but Homesnap just released the biggest update in its history, making it the only real estate search app you — and your clients — will need.

Remember: You must be
logged into your Homesnap Pro account to access these agent-only features.

With the All-New Homesnap Pro, agents can now:

Find seller leads before the competition

An essential part of being a listing agent is finding
seller leads, and now that’s easier than ever with new property heatmaps and filters
for your priority zips. Use the app’s new Likelihood to List scores to identify
the homes most likely to list in the next 12 months to improve your prospecting
with Homesnap’s predictive algorithms. You also have free access to unlimited
homeowner contact information, so you can instantly reach out to homeowners by
phone or email.

Help buyers find homes that aren’t even on the market yet

With the new Likelihood to List scores, you can
identify properties that match your buyers’ search criteria but aren’t on the
market yet. Pair their existing search filters with homes that are Most Likely
to List soon, and you can expand their home search in a snap. Knowing the
homeowner contact info from Homesnap, you can strike up a conversation with the
homeowner and see if they’d be interested in selling.

Seamlessly collaborate with clients

Make the home buying process a harmonic one. Invite your buyers onto Homesnap so you can exchange in-app messages and get alerts when they favorite properties. Homesnap is like a safe haven for your clients, because they can get the same search experience as other national sites, without seeing any third-party advertising. Instead, they just get a seamless search experience powered directly by RMLS™.

With these advanced filters, agents and their clients will soon be able to search for the ideal home with unmatched precision. Say your client wants a condo with a parking space and an outdoor pool, and is a 15-minute commute from their job. With the All-New Homesnap Pro, you can compound these stipulations into one search to find your client the perfect home.

If you don’t have the Homesnap app yet, download it in the App Store and Google Play Store.

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.

Following are the courtesy notifications sent to RMLS™ subscribers in January 2020:

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.

On February 5, 2020 Remine will release new features that provide relevant solutions to everyday agent needs. Below you’ll find an overview of new features that will be available to subscribers.

Client Facing Updates

Invite
Co-Buyers

Your clients are now able to invite a co-buyer to share in the home buying journey. They can invite multiple co-buyers who then become associated with you, the agent.

Agent
Profile Redesign

The agent profile has a fresh new look and feel. This gives you a more prominent, sophisticated profile page. This feature also includes a static ‘contact me’ card – encouraging prospective clients to contact you instantly. Simply scroll down to view active and recently sold listings. As before, you are still able to make edits to your profile via your settings.

Client Chat

You’re now able to chat with your clients, their co-buyers, and other agents within Remine. This new chat feature has a social media type feel – giving clients the everyday usability they crave while keeping the agent at the center of the home buying experience.

Agent Facing Updates

All Carts

This feature adds a ‘master cart’ function. By selecting ‘All Carts,’ you’re able to view a single list of every property you have within all of your carts. This allows you to sort properties, search for a specific address, manage columns, and perform bulk actions such as sending mailers, printing mailing labels, and exporting all properties into a CSV.

Customize
Print Reports

We know what you put in front of your client is extremely important. As a result, you are now able customize sections in all printable reports – including which AVMs you would like to include in your reports and other sections such as: Public Record, Schools, Demographics, Property History, Valuation, and Associated People.

Public
Record Data ‘One-Pager’

This feature enables you to compose a condensed, one-page version of a property’s public record data, with the option to include valuations.

Deeds &
Plats

You now can
purchase deeds and plats via Remine! This helps you ensure that the ownership
of a property is clear when the deed is considered “clean.” Deeds & plats
can be purchased using credits for $7/deed and $1/plat.

Advanced
Flood Maps

Gone are the days of needing multiple flood tools. You can now toggle on and off the flood boundaries to get a better representation of where the property structure lies on the flood map. *This feature is available exclusively on Remine Pro.

This Week’s Lockbox Activity

For the week of December 2-9, 2018, these charts show the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened SentriLock lockboxes in Oregon and Washington. Activity decreased in both Oregon and Washington this week.

For a larger version of each chart, visit the RMLS™ photostream on Flickr.

This Week’s Lockbox Activity

For the week of June 25-July 1, 2018, these charts show the number of times RMLS™ subscribers opened SentriLock lockboxes in Oregon and Washington. Activity increased in both states this week.

For a larger version of each chart, visit the RMLS™ photostream on Flickr.