Changes outlined in business practices national association of realtors (nar) The commission lawsuit settlement will take effect on August 17, 2024, according to a letter sent to members Friday by NAR Chief Legal Officer Katie Johnson.
Initially, the trade group had said the change in approach would take effect in mid-July. Johnson’s letter noted that NAR’s settlement agreement requires that the practice changes be implemented no later than the date of class notice. Under the preliminary settlement approval process, August 17 is the earliest known date that a class notice can be issued.
Multiple listing services that opt into the agreement must implement the policy changes and be considered exempt parties by September 16, 2024, although Johnson and NAR recommend that all MLSs that opt into the agreement should implement these policies by August 17 change.
Johnson’s letter also outlines what the changes are and what revisions have been made to NAR’s MLS policy manual. The changes include eliminating and prohibiting “a listing broker or seller from making an offer of compensation in the MLS to a buyer’s agent or other buyer’s representative” and prohibiting “MLS participants, subscribers and sellers from making any offer of compensation in the MLS.” Broker or other buyer’s representative.
The policy change would require MLSs to “eliminate all broker compensation fields and compensation information in the MLS” and “not create, facilitate or support any non-MLS mechanisms (including enabling such mechanisms by providing listing information to Internet aggregator websites) “. Purpose) to enable participants, subscribers or sellers to claim compensation from a buyer’s broker or other buyer’s representative. “
The changes also prohibit the use of MLS profiles or sources to directly or indirectly establish or maintain a compensating quoting platform for multiple brokers or other buyer representatives. If an MLS participant violates this policy, MLS will terminate that participant’s access to any MLS data and data sources.
Additionally, agents and brokers will be required to provide compensation information to sellers. Prospective buyers and sellers, as well as all MLS participants working with the buyer, must sign a written agreement prior to viewing the property.
“We are announcing these important changes now to ensure NAR members and MLS have adequate time to prepare,” Johnson wrote.
According to NAR, the policy change was reviewed by the MLS Emerging Issues and Technology Advisory Committee and adopted by the NAR leadership team.
