CRMLS Broker Report: 2021 Year End Update

Welcome to the CRMLS 2021 Year End Update. This information is available for you to share with your agents and office staff.

CEO Update

  • See below for a quick summary on current industry legal happenings:
    • NAR & DOJ â€“ The US Department of Justice has investigated NAR and MLS practices since 2019, focusing on buyer broker compensation and the Clear Cooperation Policy. NAR and the DOJ agreed on a settlement in 2020, but the battle reignited when the DOJ pulled out of the agreement in July 2021. Update: DOJ’s October 13 response to NAR petition.
    • Moehrl vs. NAR et al.  â€“ A class action lawsuit filed in 2019 challenges the sharing of sales commissions between listing brokers and buyer’s brokers, arguing that sellers overpay under this system. 
    • Sitzer v. NAR et al. â€“ A lawsuit filed in 2019 seeking class action status challenges, like Moehrl, the system by which home sellers pay the commissions of buyer’s brokers, arguing that sellers overpay. 
    • REX vs Zilllow & NAR â€“ A lawsuit filed in March 2021 by non-MLS/NAR real estate brokerage REX alleges antitrust violations against NAR and Zillow for separating MLS and non-MLS listings on Zillow’s website.  
    • Leeder vs NAR et al. â€“ A class action lawsuit filed in January 2021 alleges that sharing commissions between listing and buyer brokers inflates buyer costs in the form of higher home prices.  
    • PLS vs. NAR & CRMLS â€“ A lawsuit filed in May 2020 by PLS against NAR and CRMLS alleging that the Clear Cooperation Policy violates antitrust law. 

Compliance Corner


Registered Listings

It’s here! From now on, when your sellers direct you to keep a listing out of the MLS, you can use the Registered Listing service in your Listing Toolbox to enter and manage these excluded listings.

Watch our video for a quick overview of the new service:

Our Knowledgebase has resources available anytime. You can find out more about the Registered status in our FAQ, along with step-by-step guides on the new process to enter and edit new Registered listings.

If a listing closes while in Registered, you can enter the listing as a comparable into the MLS.

Start by entering the property as a normal listing. Submit the listing  as “Active” first. Once it’s in the Active status, you can update it to “Closed.”

When you enter this listing into the MLS, you must complete all the required fields. Since the listing will first appear as “Active,” other CRMLS users will be able to see it. We recommend you write something in the description like “entered for comparable purposes only” to make it clear to other users that the listing has already closed.


Enhancement & Product Corner

All MLS Systems

CRMLS is collaborating with Realtor.com to add a new beta feature that improves listing attribution. Home buyers and sellers can now click on a link on Realtor.com listing detail pages to go straight to a CRMLS listing agent’s profile page.

Claim your free profile on Realtor.com TODAY to create an eye-catching, engaging landing page that will help consumers find you easily.

This new transparency feature does NOT affect Realtor.com‘s lead generation tools. Lead forms will stay the same, helping consumers find buyer agents to navigate them through the buying process.


Flex


Matrix

OneHome available on December 7

On 12/7, your current Matrix client portal will become OneHome™,a new, invitation-only site for collaborating with your clients as they search CRMLS listings.

When your clients visit OneHome, they will see this:

OneHome offers everything you have in the current Matrix client portal – plus more. The new client portal will bring you innovative tools to engage and collaborate with your buyers, sellers, and leads. Your clients will know the portal as the best source of MLS-accurate real-time information, and you’ll get insight into their searches, favorites, and dealbreakers as you work together to find the perfect home.

Best of all, real estate professionals like you do not need to change your workflow. Your saved searches and auto emails in Matrix will transfer automatically, and your login will not change.

Starting on 12/7, all Matrix auto emails will direct consumers to OneHome instead of the existing Matrix client portal. These auto emails will still include links that your clients can visit without creating a OneHome account.

To help get you ready for this upgrade, check out our OneHome FAQ and explore the Learning Lab widget on your Matrix homepage (image below) for a library of OneHome info.


Paragon

How to work with the new listing cancellation restrictions

As of May 25, a new rule restricts the power to cancel a listing to Office Managers and Brokers only. Instructions to cancel a listing can be found in our Knowledgebase. You can also use the Assume Identity feature.

Brokers can designate office admin or staff to “Assume Identity.” Assume Identity is a way for you as an agent or broker to allow a licensed or unlicensed assistant to log into CRMLS Paragon under their own unique login and then “Assume the Identity” of the agent or broker they are working for.

You can be certain that under your login, only you can manipulate your listings. When your assistant logs into Paragon and assumes your identity, there will be a “paper trail” that shows the assistant is logged in under their unique username and password. The “paper trail” will show that, with your permission, the assistant has assumed your identity and made changes to your listings.

Brokers, agents, and assistants must belong to the same office and Association/Board of REALTORS® to Assume Identities. View our step-by-step guide to give permission to Assume your Identity.

Here is a guide to issues that have been recently resolved and are currently in progress:

  • IN PROGRESS: We’re working to ensure “Coming Soon to Active” shows as “New” (with vendor)
  • IN PROGRESS: Addition of a Change Type for Coming Soon so that it can have its own category on Hotsheets and MarketWatch (with vendor)
  • IN PROGRESS: Cleanup of City List (finalizing)

Visit your dedicated Paragon Upgrade Resources Center for information

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