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 July 2019 our team handled 276 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
Ever wonder what is included in the “Incorrect or Missing Information” category? The types of issues that are reported to us are broad and varied and often change from month to month. Some examples of things that we see are inquiries about agents that were involved in a sale, what type of frontage does the property have, is the neighborhood correct, and price inquiries. We also get a general questions that don’t result in a violation and these are not tracked as such.
We encourage everyone to use the “Report Issue” button that can be found at the bottom of listings in RMLSweb to let us know if you think there is an issue with the listing you are viewing.
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 receive any formal violations to review for the July or August meetings.
INFORMAL VIOLATIONS
In July 2019, RMLS™ Data Accuracy staff reviewed 22,466 listings in addition to the 462 notices sent through “Report Issue” button on RMLSweb. Of the items reviewed, 1,315 violation notices and 1,813 courtesy notices were sent out.
| Category | July |
| Missing Tax ID | 481 |
| Personal Promotion | 150 |
| Incorrect or Missing Information | 114 |
| Missing School | 108 |
| Year Built | 107 |
| No Showings | 76 |
| Duplicate Listing | 71 |
| Missing Owner Name | 66 |
| Listing has Incorrect Status | 39 |
| Conditions to Compensation | 31 |
| Is Property a Condo | 30 |
| Missing or Incorrect 1st Photo | 24 |
| Listing has Incorrect Property Type | 22 |
| Inaccurate Lot Size | 15 |
| Partial Bathrooms Greater Than Five | 13 |
| Listing Input in Incorrect MLS Area | 10 |
| Missing Condo Unit Number | 9 |
| City Unknown | 6 |
| HUD | 2 |
| Duplicate Listing in Different Categories | 2 |
Following are the courtesy notifications sent to RMLS™ subscribers in July 2019:
| Category | July |
| Multiple Owner Names in First Field | 848 |
| Listing is Set to Expire | 447 |
| Listing Still Pending | 351 |
| New Listing Input Over 24 Hours | 167 |
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.
The violation Category “Listing Set To Expire”. What is the violation? Are you saying a listing cannot expire without being a violation?
Confused on this.
The way I read it, the “Listing is Set to Expire” notice is under the category of Courtesy Notification in the text above, not violation
Thank you. I understand now. I missed the “courtesy” part.
You’ll notice the most frequent courtesy notification is actually CAUSED by RMLS data as it is being auto-populated! So by RMLS not fixing their own problem, they are in turn creating more work for themselves and increased notices….
When a listing auto-populates, instead of the program being intuitive enough to put each owner on a different line, it auto fills all names to “owner one” section…..
How about RMLS actually fixes this issue ONCE AND FOR ALL instead of sending us notices every time we forget to change [correct] what the RMLS program just did….
Just a thought…
I believe RMLS alerts you, the subscriber, that your listing is set to expire in 7 days. It’s not a violation.
Same question
I find the “Listing Set to Expire” notice offensive. This is like being scolded and I don’t appreciate being scolded when one of my listings is set to expire. My suggestion is rethinking this approach. Are we not Real Estate Professionals???
I see Steve’s point of view; but on the flip side, Dianne (and I, I’m the licensed assistant) lost a nice country listing because it Expired and we had lost track of that date. The client started getting unprepared for “expired calls” and we subsequently lost the listing. That listing did eventually sell with the next agent. “Listing About To Expire” notice would have prevented that faux pas.
When filling in a listing the owner name automatically auto populates both seller names into the first field. So it is incorrect unless the user knows/remembers to in and change it. Is there a fix being worked on for that? Those courtesy notifications would probably go down to zero if that was fixed.
I appreciate the courtesy notice about the expiration as we are all very aware of the onslaught of calls and emails our sellers will get if we don’t address it. I haven’t seen the notice, but agree it should not be a part of an article about violations. The auto-population owner name issue should be addressed immediately.