by RMLS Communication Department | Jul 7, 2011 | Misc.
Take our most recent 5-question quiz to see if you know your Rules and Regs information!
Every so often, we publish an RMLS™ Rules and Regulations quiz on the RMLSweb Desktop. We thought we’d also post them here on the blog! Test your knowledge by taking our interactive quiz! Click on the play button on the image below, or take the quiz by clicking here.
Want to brush up on your RMLS™ Rules and Regulations knowledge? Click here to view the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations Document # 1450.
Questions? Please send an email to rules@rmls.com or go to the Questions/Comments section in Toolkit on the RMLSweb desktop page (choose the Rules and Regulations subject) if you have any questions or concerns regarding Rules and Regulations or data accuracy.
by RMLS Communication Department | May 25, 2011 | Guest Post
Guest blog post written by Gail Hare, RMLS™ Executive Vice President
One of the core elements of a Multiple Listing Service is the offer of compensation. Each listing entered into RMLS™ shows the amount of the cooperating compensation in the BAC fields. This informs other MLS participants about their expected compensation before they try to sell the listing. Any change must be communicated in writing before an offer is submitted.
The cooperating commission is shown as a specific dollar amount or as a percentage of the gross selling price. The commission of the Listing Broker is never displayed. The total commission negotiated between the Listing Broker and the Seller is also never disclosed.
Dual or Variable Rate Commission
Some listing agreements have special terms if the Listing Broker also represents the buyer. Those terms state that total commission differs when there is no Cooperating Broker in the sale. This could affect the relative attractiveness of competing offers. Listings have a required field called “Total Commission Differs If Sold In House.” This is checked YES to alert MLS subscribers about this condition.
Short Sale Considerations
Short sales present many challenges. The lender may require a reduction in the gross commission as a condition of approving the sale. The Listing Broker may use the Private Remarks to describe how any reduction will be apportioned. If there is no notification by this or other means, Cooperating Brokers can reasonably expect the published compensation.
Remember!
Compensation and the division of compensation is not fixed or controlled in any way. Each Listing Broker independently decides the commission for each listing.
Disputes between REALTORS® regarding offers of compensation are resolved through arbitration and mediation.
For More Information
Read Section 6 of the RMLS™ Rules and Regulations to learn more about commissions, and Rule 3.25 to learn more about how short sales are handled. Please contact our Rules staff if you have questions. Call Vallerie Bush, Rules Administrator, at 503-872-8045 or Wanda Kennedy, Rules Representative, at 503-872 8084. They can also be reached by email at Rules@rmls.com.
by RMLS Communication Department | Feb 2, 2011 | Guest Post
By Vallerie Bush, RMLS™ Rules Compliance Administrator
In November of 2010, we conducted our second subscriber satisfaction survey. The goal was to gather feedback regarding subscribers’ impressions of our service. Results of the survey showed us that many subscribers had questions or confusion regarding our Rules and Regulations process. We hope to clear up some of this confusion in this article.
Informal Violations. First, informal violations are received several different ways; fax, email, telephone, the Questions and Comments section on RMLSweb, and sometimes in the mail. Once the complaint is received and reviewed, the listing agent is contacted to correct the violation. This is done via email or a telephone call with a time frame to correct the listing. If the listing has not been corrected within the time frame, the Participant Broker is copied when a second request is sent. The source of the informal complaint remains anonymous in this process. The number of informal violations processed for 2010 was 14,868 with the top issues being Personal Promotion, Invalid Owner Name, Incorrect Photographs, and Incorrect Property Type.
Audits. There are several in-house audits that are conducted on a daily basis. The following items are checked on listings:
- Virtual tours for personal promotion
- HUD violations
- Appropriate first photograph
- Public remarks for personal promotion
- The BAC field for presence of compensation (there is no required amount or percentage)
- The address field for extra wording that is not part of the address (i.e. private road, lot number, cul-de-sac, etc.)
- The remarks section for conditions to compensation
After the audit, the violations regarding HUD, virtual tours, personal promotion and extra wording in the address fields are corrected by staff with a follow-up email to the listing agent. The other audits checked have emails sent to the listing agent to have the listings corrected in a timely manner. If the listing has not been corrected, the listing agent is sent a second request with a copy to the Participant Broker.
Computer Generated Emails. Computer generated emails are sent when a listing is saved and the tax ID number field is “not found” or when the school fields list “other” as the school. There are also computer generated emails sent when a listing has been in pending status for more than 100 days that ask to verify that the listing is in the correct status. There are a total of 4 emails sent out with the last one being sent to the Rules and Regulations email folder for follow-up. The listing agent can respond to the email with an explanation and the violation is then reviewed and discussed with the listing agent.
Formal Violations. Formal violations are reported using document #1452. A formal process begins with a letter sent to the respondent and the complainant. The respondent is given the opportunity to respond to the violation. The formal violation and the response are presented to the Rules and Regulations Committee to determine if a fine will be levied. The respondent has a chance to appeal the decision through a Hearings process. Unlike informal complaints, the source of the complaint cannot be anonymous. There were a total of 4 formal violations processed in 2010.
The RMLS™ Rules and Regulations Department has determined by using education and pro-active audits how to make RMLS™ the most valuable tool it can for its REALTOR® subscribers. We follow up on every question and report and welcome every opportunity to increase our database accuracy. Please send an email to rules@rmls.com or go to the Questions/Comments section in Toolkit on the RMLSweb desktop page (choose the Rules and Regulations subject) if you have any questions or concerns regarding data accuracy.
by RMLS Communication Department | Feb 2, 2011 | Guest Post
By Vallerie Bush, RMLS™ Rules Compliance Administrator
In November of 2010, we conducted our second subscriber satisfaction survey. The goal was to gather feedback regarding subscribers’ impressions of our service. Results of the survey showed us that many subscribers had questions or confusion regarding our Rules and Regulations process. We hope to clear up some of this confusion in this article.
Informal Violations. First, informal violations are received several different ways; fax, email, telephone, the Questions and Comments section on RMLSweb, and sometimes in the mail. Once the complaint is received and reviewed, the listing agent is contacted to correct the violation. This is done via email or a telephone call with a time frame to correct the listing. If the listing has not been corrected within the time frame, the Participant Broker is copied when a second request is sent. The source of the informal complaint remains anonymous in this process. The number of informal violations processed for 2010 was 14,868 with the top issues being Personal Promotion, Invalid Owner Name, Incorrect Photographs, and Incorrect Property Type.
Audits. There are several in-house audits that are conducted on a daily basis. The following items are checked on listings:
- Virtual tours for personal promotion
- HUD violations
- Appropriate first photograph
- Public remarks for personal promotion
- The BAC field for presence of compensation (there is no required amount or percentage)
- The address field for extra wording that is not part of the address (i.e. private road, lot number, cul-de-sac, etc.)
- The remarks section for conditions to compensation
After the audit, the violations regarding HUD, virtual tours, personal promotion and extra wording in the address fields are corrected by staff with a follow-up email to the listing agent. The other audits checked have emails sent to the listing agent to have the listings corrected in a timely manner. If the listing has not been corrected, the listing agent is sent a second request with a copy to the Participant Broker.
Computer Generated Emails. Computer generated emails are sent when a listing is saved and the tax ID number field is “not found” or when the school fields list “other” as the school. There are also computer generated emails sent when a listing has been in pending status for more than 100 days that ask to verify that the listing is in the correct status. There are a total of 4 emails sent out with the last one being sent to the Rules and Regulations email folder for follow-up. The listing agent can respond to the email with an explanation and the violation is then reviewed and discussed with the listing agent.
Formal Violations. Formal violations are reported using document #1452. A formal process begins with a letter sent to the respondent and the complainant. The respondent is given the opportunity to respond to the violation. The formal violation and the response are presented to the Rules and Regulations Committee to determine if a fine will be levied. The respondent has a chance to appeal the decision through a Hearings process. Unlike informal complaints, the source of the complaint cannot be anonymous. There were a total of 4 formal violations processed in 2010.
The RMLS™ Rules and Regulations Department has determined by using education and pro-active audits how to make RMLS™ the most valuable tool it can for its REALTOR® subscribers. We follow up on every question and report and welcome every opportunity to increase our database accuracy. Please send an email to rules@rmls.com or go to the Questions/Comments section in Toolkit on the RMLSweb desktop page (choose the Rules and Regulations subject) if you have any questions or concerns regarding data accuracy.
by RMLS Communication Department | Feb 2, 2011 | Guest Post
By Vallerie Bush, RMLS™ Rules Compliance Administrator
In November of 2010, we conducted our second subscriber satisfaction survey. The goal was to gather feedback regarding subscribers’ impressions of our service. Results of the survey showed us that many subscribers had questions or confusion regarding our Rules and Regulations process. We hope to clear up some of this confusion in this article.
Informal Violations. First, informal violations are received several different ways; fax, email, telephone, the Questions and Comments section on RMLSweb, and sometimes in the mail. Once the complaint is received and reviewed, the listing agent is contacted to correct the violation. This is done via email or a telephone call with a time frame to correct the listing. If the listing has not been corrected within the time frame, the Participant Broker is copied when a second request is sent. The source of the informal complaint remains anonymous in this process. The number of informal violations processed for 2010 was 14,868 with the top issues being Personal Promotion, Invalid Owner Name, Incorrect Photographs, and Incorrect Property Type.
Audits. There are several in-house audits that are conducted on a daily basis. The following items are checked on listings:
- Virtual tours for personal promotion
- HUD violations
- Appropriate first photograph
- Public remarks for personal promotion
- The BAC field for presence of compensation (there is no required amount or percentage)
- The address field for extra wording that is not part of the address (i.e. private road, lot number, cul-de-sac, etc.)
- The remarks section for conditions to compensation
After the audit, the violations regarding HUD, virtual tours, personal promotion and extra wording in the address fields are corrected by staff with a follow-up email to the listing agent. The other audits checked have emails sent to the listing agent to have the listings corrected in a timely manner. If the listing has not been corrected, the listing agent is sent a second request with a copy to the Participant Broker.
Computer Generated Emails. Computer generated emails are sent when a listing is saved and the tax ID number field is “not found” or when the school fields list “other” as the school. There are also computer generated emails sent when a listing has been in pending status for more than 100 days that ask to verify that the listing is in the correct status. There are a total of 4 emails sent out with the last one being sent to the Rules and Regulations email folder for follow-up. The listing agent can respond to the email with an explanation and the violation is then reviewed and discussed with the listing agent.
Formal Violations. Formal violations are reported using document #1452. A formal process begins with a letter sent to the respondent and the complainant. The respondent is given the opportunity to respond to the violation. The formal violation and the response are presented to the Rules and Regulations Committee to determine if a fine will be levied. The respondent has a chance to appeal the decision through a Hearings process. Unlike informal complaints, the source of the complaint cannot be anonymous. There were a total of 4 formal violations processed in 2010.
The RMLS™ Rules and Regulations Department has determined by using education and pro-active audits how to make RMLS™ the most valuable tool it can for its REALTOR® subscribers. We follow up on every question and report and welcome every opportunity to increase our database accuracy. Please send an email to rules@rmls.com or go to the Questions/Comments section in Toolkit on the RMLSweb desktop page (choose the Rules and Regulations subject) if you have any questions or concerns regarding data accuracy.
