Know when to say 'MLS' ... and when not to

Multiple Listing Service of Northern Illinois has enacted a rule restricting its participants' use of the term "MLS" and related terms -- the policy is similar but less restrictive than an optional policy adopted by the National Association of Realtors at its annual conference in November.

The stated effort of the new policy and others like it is to eliminate consumer confusion about what an MLS is and isn't, and to distinguish MLS information from the limited access to MLS-derived information that consumers can access on numerous real estate Web sites.

MLSNI, a Chicago-area Realtor association-owned MLS with about 50,000 members, had initially sought to block use of "MLS" and related terms in company names and Web site addresses, but in response to a member's complaint scaled back this Web site address restriction to include only those Web site URLs that seem to infer that the Web site is operated by or associated with MLSNI.

A policy passed by Regional MLS in Minnesota, which restricted use of MLS-related terms, drew an antitrust lawsuit that was eventually settled. And Northwest MLS of Washington has a similar policy.

The NAR policy, "which may be adopted as a matter of local discretion" by Realtor-affiliated MLSs, provides that no MLS participant, subscriber or licensee affililiated with (an MLS) participant shall, "through the name of their firm, their URLs, their e-mail addresses, their Web site addreses, or in any other way represent, suggest or imply that the individual or firm is an MLS, or that they operate an MLS." The stated rationale for the voluntary policy is that it establishes the authority of MLSs to "govern use of 'multiple listing services,' 'MLS,' and similar terms," and requires "that it be clear to consumers that they do not receive full, direct and complete access to all information in MLS databases via participant or subscriber Web sites."

Opponents have questioned whether the rules will actually help consumers to understand that they do not have full access to MLS information at property-search Web sites, and whether such restrictions could give a boost to those individuals and companies that are not members of the MLS and are not bound by MLS rules.

The term "MLS" is actually a trademark of Major League Soccer.

An MLS in Indiana has coined a new name in rebranding as the Broker Listing Cooperative, or BLC. The effort, by the Metropolitan Indianapolis board of Realtors, was intended to redefine "who owns the service and who has access to complete information."

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