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Avoid $5000 fines! Bright MLS Off-MLS Policy explained…

Is Your Listing in Compliance?

Realtors – Watch this video to ensure you are in compliance with new marketing policies!  Bright and NAR are doing their part to try to make a fair and competitive market place to protect Buyers and Sellers.  These policies also apply to rental and new homes.  The fines for non-compliance are pretty hefty.

The Bright MLS policy generally affects Realtors in 2 main circumstances:

  • Standard Listings MUST be in the MLS within 1 business day of any public advertisement.  This includes a sign in the yard or a flyer distributed to the neighborhood.  If you mail a coming soon or just listed postcard, or send an email blast about a listing before it goes in the MLS (either as Coming Soon or as Active) you may be subject to a $5,000 fine for non-compliance.  Also, as a reminder, if a listing is in the MLS as Coming Soon, you cannot allow any showings of the property until it is Active.
  • Off-MLS listings can NOT be publicly marketed in any way, including a sign in the yard.  Even with a waiver signed by a seller to state they do not want their home in the MLS, they are not allowed to market the home publicly.  You may contact individual agents directly about the property, or market it within your own brokerage, but no public marketing like signs, postcards, or email blasts are allowed.

If you have further questions about the policy after watching the video, view more information here or contact Bright MLS at (301) 838-7100.