• Eliminate and prohibit any requirement that compensation offers be made in the MLS between listing brokers or sellers and buyer brokers or other buyer representatives. 

  • Eliminate and prohibit MLS Participants, Subscribers, and sellers from making any compensation offers to buyer brokers or other buyer representatives in the MLS.

  • Require the MLS to eliminate all broker compensation fields and compensation information in the MLS. 

  • Must not create, facilitate, or support any non-MLS mechanism (including by providing listing information to an internet aggregator's website for such purpose) for Participants, Subscribers, or sellers to make compensation offers to buyer brokers or other buyer representatives. 

  • Prohibit the use of MLS data or data feeds to directly or indirectly establish or maintain a platform of compensation offers from multiple brokers or other buyer representatives. Such use must result in the MLS terminating the Participant's access to any MLS data and data feeds. 

  • Reinforce that MLS Participants and Subscribers must not, and MLSs must not enable the ability to filter out or restrict MLS listings that are communicated to customers or clients based on the existence or level of compensation offered to the cooperating broker or the name of a brokerage or agent. 

  • Compensation disclosures are required for sellers and prospective sellers and buyers. 

  • Require MLS Participants working with a buyer to enter into a written agreement with the buyer prior to touring a home.

BeachesMLS Policy Changes

Rules and Regulations Changes

Based on the NAR settlement terms, the BMLS Board of Directors adopted to remove all references to the requirements for Participants (brokers) to offer compensation or commission in the MLS. The following rules have been updated or added, including but not limited to:

Section 7 No Compensation Offers in MLS

The MLS must not accept listings containing an offer of compensation in the MLS to other MLS Participants and Subscribers. Further, the MLS may not create, facilitate, or support any non-MLS mechanism (including by providing listing information to an internet aggregator’s website for such purpose) for Participants, Subscribers, or sellers to make offers of compensation to buyer brokers or other buyer representatives.

The use of MLS data or data feeds to directly or indirectly establish or maintain a platform of offers of compensation from multiple brokers to buyer brokers or other buyer representatives is prohibited and must result in the MLS terminating the Participant’s access to any MLS data and data feeds.

MLS must not have a rule requiring the listing Participant to disclose the amount of total negotiated commission in their listing contract, and MLS shall not publish the total negotiated commission on a listing that has been submitted to MLS by a Participant. MLS must prohibit disclosing in any way the total commission negotiated between the seller and the listing Participant or total broker compensation (i.e. combined compensation to both listing brokers and buyer brokers).

Section 7.3 Written Buyer Agreement

  • Unless inconsistent with state or federal law or regulation, all MLS Participants working with a buyer must enter into a written agreement with the buyer prior to touring a home. The written agreement must include.

  • A specific and conspicuous disclosure of the amount or rate of compensation the Participant will receive or how this amount will be determined to the extent that the Participant will receive compensation from any source;

  • The amount of compensation is in a manner that is objectively ascertainable and not open-ended.

  • A term that prohibits the Participant from receiving compensation for brokerage services from any source that exceeds the amount or rate agreed to in the agreement with the buyer and

  • A conspicuous statement that broker fees and commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable.

Section 7.5 Disclosure of Compensation

  • MLS Participants and Subscribers must:

  1. Disclose to prospective sellers and buyers that broker compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable. This must be included in conspicuous language as part of any listing agreement, buyer written agreement, and pre-closing disclosure documents (if any).

  2. Conspicuously disclose in writing to sellers and obtain the seller’s authority for any payments or offer of payment that the listing Participant or seller will make to another broker, agent, or other representative (e.g., real estate attorney) acting for buyers. This disclosure must include the amount or rate of any such payment and be made in writing in advance of any payment or agreement to pay.

Compliance Guidelines Changes

The following new penalty rules have been adopted by the BeachesMLS Board of Directors.

Section 4.1p

If it is discovered that a Participant or Subscriber tours a home with a potential buyer without first obtaining a written agreement, the following fine will be assessed. 1st offense $1,000 per occurrence and 2nd offense $5,000 per occurrence.

Section 4.2q

If it is discovered that a Participant or Subscriber places broker compensation details or amounts in any field or third-party application provided by the MLS, including but not limited to visual/audio media, broker and public remarks, metadata, and/or document(s), etc. on the listing as outlined in Section 7 of the BeachesMLS Rules and Regulations, the following fine will be assessed. $500 per occurrence (warning for the first offense and automatic fine for any offense thereafter)

Section 5.d

In the event of a violation of Section 7 of the BeachesMLS Rules and Regulations, all Participant data feeds will be immediately terminated, and the Participant’s MLS access will be suspended until the Participant is in compliance with Section 7.