RMLS™ Rules Roundup for June 2020

by Heath Bennett | Jul 8, 2020 | Rules Roundup

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 June 2020, our team handled 498 phone calls.

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

Photographs are an important aspect of listing content in the MLS. All listings submitted to RMLS™ are required to have one photograph of the exterior building view, or land if a bare land listing. If multiple photos are submitted the first one must always be an exterior building view. In the case of new construction a floor plan or exterior elevation may be submitted until the building is completed at which point a photo of the exterior building view should be submitted.

The one exception is when your seller(s) have requested that no photos be published with their listing. In this case a signed Photograph Omission Form or equivalent document must be submitted to RMLSweb (Back Office -> Submit Excluded Listing -> Select Category=Photo Omission) within 24 hours of publishing the listing.

Photographs may not contain any added text or graphics, or any alterations that misrepresent the property. Any photograph that contains virtual staging must be disclosed using the “Virtually Staged” watermark. Residential new construction listings that use a photograph of a similar home must disclose it on the photograph with the “Sample Image” watermark.

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 June 2020 as there were no cases to review.

INFORMAL VIOLATIONS

In June 2020, RMLS™ Data Accuracy staff reviewed 34,077 listings in addition to the 540 notices sent through “Report Issue” button on RMLSweb. Of the items reviewed, 1,367 violation notices and 1,580 courtesy notices were sent out.

The following are the courtesy notifications sent to RMLS™ subscribers in June 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 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.