Debate flares over 'MLS' in Web site URLs
NAR amends guidance on issue
By Glenn Roberts Jr., Wednesday, May 21, 2008.Bookmarking Sites
The acceptable use of "MLS" in Realtor Web sites is still an open question, though members of a National Association of Realtors committee have amended language in a case study to avoid potentially "overbroad" guidance.
Use of "multiple listing service" and "MLS" in Realtor Web site and company names has been a contentious issue in some markets, and the issue escalated to a lawsuit against a Minnesota MLS that had adopted restrictions on the use of the terms. That case was settled.
Members of the NAR Professional Standards Committee last year approved a case interpretation relating to Realtor standards in presenting a true picture in their advertising and representations to the public.
That case study provided an example in which a Realtor using the NorthwoodsandLakesMLS.com Web site was in violation of the Code of Ethics and Standard of Practice because the Realtor was not the operator of a multiple listing service.
"While Realtor 'Z's' Web site included information about other participants' listings that the MLS had provided -- and that Realtor 'Z' was authorized to display -- the fact remained that a real estate-related URL that included the letters MLS would lead reasonable consumers to conclude that the Web site would be an MLS's, and not a broker's Web site," according to the language adopted last year.
But controversy surrounded the language, which left it up to the complaint process and arbitration hearings at the local Realtor association level to determine whether or not a particular URL was in violation of NAR's "true picture" standard.
The agenda for the Professional Standards Committee meeting, held last week in Washington, D.C., stated that the language in the case study approved last year "might be overbroad, and there could be circumstances where the letters MLS in a Realtor's URL might not be misleading."
The case study relates to Standard of Practice 12-10 in NAR's Code of Ethics and Standard of Practice, adopted last year, which provides that Realtors' "obligation to present a true picture in their advertising and representations to the public includes the URLs and domain names they use." Another Standard of Practice, adopted this year, provides that Realtors "shall not use URLs or domain names that present less than a true picture or register URLs or domain names which, if used, would present less than a true picture."
William Lublin, chairman for the NAR Professional Standards Committee and CEO for Philadelphia-based Century 21 Advantage Gold, said the changes to the language in the case study have the effect of "softening the wording."
Lublin said that, in his personal opinion, there has been an inappropriate focus on the use of the letters "MLS" in a Web site address in that case study. The focus, he said, should really be on whether a URL is misleading, regardless of whether the letters "MLS" are present.
"It's a guide," he said of the case study. "It's not a hard and fast rule. If you have a URL that says, 'IAmNotTheMLS.com' -- that is not misleading. I have seen examples of URLs in my practice ... where the URL is just misleading."
He added, "This is about people using names that are not right." Also in his opinion and not speaking as a representative for the Professional Standards Committee, Lublin said, "I believe that if a URL is misleading and the consumer is not landing on the type of site they think they're going to land on, that's inappropriate."
And he noted that the decision is ultimately up to local Realtor association hearing panels.
"We agree as an industry that it's not right to do something that might confuse or mislead the consumer, and that's really what this is about. We believe that our members need to be careful not to mislead the public in their creative use of technology."
The Professional Standards Committee changed the language in the case study, Case Interpretation 12-20, to provide that "a real estate-related URL that includes the letters MLS will, in many cases, lead reasonable consumers to conclude that the Web site is an MLS's, and not a broker's Web site," while scrapping the language stating that it "would lead reasonable consumers to conclude that the Web site would be an MLS's."
Gary Ashton, a Realtor and team leader at RE/MAX Elite in Nashville, Tenn., who had owned NashvillesMLS.com, said he is pleased that the committee revisited and revised the language.
"The changing of the wording helps to clarify that it's open to interpretation a little bit more than it was before," he said. "To me, it's an example that the committee's actually listening to its membership." The case study, he said, "was always a guideline. It was never a blanket prohibition."
While NAR's Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice applies to all Realtors, NAR's board of directors in November 2007 approved an optional policy that Realtor-operated MLSs can choose to adopt that restricts subscribers' use of "MLS" and related terms.
That optional policy allows -- but does not require -- MLSs to block the use of "MLS" and "Multiple Listing Service" in subscribers' Web site addresses, company names, e-mail addresses and other marketing efforts. Several MLSs already had similar policies in place.
Ryan Ward, a Realtor for Keller Williams Realty Consultants in Roswell, Ga., launched an online petition that questioned NAR changes to the Code of Ethics that could be used to restrict use of the terms "MLS" and "multiple listing service" at member Web sites.
Ward said that the committee's changes to the case study language don't go far enough. "I don't necessarily know that that's going to stop somebody from filing (a complaint)," he said.
"It's not solution-oriented. I would prefer they come out with something that was a little more solution-oriented than creating even more ambiguity," Ward said.
Several Realtors have named Art Hammond, a Nashville Realtor, as the source of several complaints against Realtors who maintain Web sites that use the term "MLS" in the URL. Hammond, reached today, said he had no public comment on the matter.
***
What's your opinion? Leave your comments below or send a letter to the editor. To contact the writer, click the byline at the top of the story.
All rights reserved. This article may not be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever, in part or in whole, without written permission of Inman News. Use of this article without permission is a violation of federal copyright law.
Add A Comment
You must login or register to post a comment.
Submitted by Todd Siegel on May 21, 2008 - 2:10pm.
So basically these rules restrict educated, licensed and trained Realtors from using the terms MLS in their urls and company names etc., but allow uneducated, untrained, unlicensed, unethical and unregulated groups to use MLS in their names and urls to prey on the general public. That makes a lot of sense. Good job NAR.
Submitted by Benjamin Dona on May 21, 2008 - 5:30pm.
All it's done so far is pit one Realtor against another via the complaint process while the third party non realtor sites can do as they please. How brilliant is that?
Benjamin Dona, Broker
www.findsouthwestfloridahomes.com
Submitted by Bart Wilson on May 21, 2008 - 6:17pm.
Policing the word in commercial use: MLS isn't going to help at this stage of the game. It's so broad and in widespread use it is like Q-Tips, Xerox, Kleenex... the word: MLS is just as ubiquitous. The demand for private MLS server appliances is certainly out there. Small firms, entrepreneurs even bands of REALTORS want their own lead aggregators and willing to pay for their own MLS servers or real estate portals. Just look at eLance or Guru and see how many RFPs are out there for knock offs of Trulia.com, Kayyah.com and Zillow.com.
Submitted by Joe Hildebrand on May 21, 2008 - 6:33pm.
Wow! Sounds like a waste of time to me! We still have as much ambiguity as before. While leadership is debating this members are simply transfering the URL to a non-realtor members and the unlicensed can do as they please! I am not sure our leadership is not working against us or placing us in a disadvantage in this case.
Let's not forget that R.com is a huge mess not to mention a debacle at times. In the end, NAR and member MLS' biggest failure was the fact they did not trademark "MLS"! I really would like to see how a hardline stance would stand up before the US Supreme Court.
Submitted by Joe Cline on May 22, 2008 - 12:40am.
Joe,
I completely agree. Who cares if MLS is in your domain name or site? Not me. Certainly not enough to try and fight my association when there are other people we should be working against together to protect our industry and interests.
There's plenty of business to go around if you are good and build strong relationships with your clients.
Just my 2 cents.
Joe
Teravista Texas Real Estate and MLS Search | Austin Community Named Top-10 Eco-Friendly
Submitted by Bill Lublin on May 22, 2008 - 1:48am.
Bill Lublin CRB,CRS,GRI
CEO CENTURY 21 Advantage Gold
Visit my Blog at MovePhilly
Search for Homes in Pa & NJ
Todd - The rules do not restrict the use of the letters MLS unless they are used in a misleading manner. I am sure that you would agree that it is not ethical to mislead the public.
Benjamin - Non REALTORS have never been obligated to maintain any level of ethical behavior - That's why I am proud to be a REALTOR, and why I believe the consumer prefers to deal with REALTORS.
Bart- The Case Study is not about policing the commercial use of the term MLS, it is about presenting a true picture in our representations ot the public so that we are meeting the consumer's expectations appropriately.
Joe H - Respectfully, the case study referred to was modified to reduce ambiguity, and is used as a guideline in intepreting the article of the Code of Ethics which requires us to present a true picture in our dealings with the public. It is not a rule or regulation in itself. As far as strategems that members might take to circumvent the Code of Ethics, I would imagine that to be a matter of conscience. However once again, the issue here is not a trademark issue, but a "true picture issue"
Joe C - I agree with you that the business, was, is, and I believe will continue to be about relationships, and that is where we all need to concentrate our efforts.
Submitted by Alex Greb on May 22, 2008 - 1:51am.
MLS is dying slowly. Thats what happens to an animal when its about to die. Very sad, I mean we own the listings.
Submitted by Jim Lee, Knoxville TN Realtor on May 22, 2008 - 5:16am.
There are some domains I've seen that use "MLS" in a misleading manner. You really can't tell if it's a broker site or an association or board site.
However I've seen just as many if not more, other URLs where the website itself is far more misleading, i.e. does not identify that it's a broker or agent site, that do not use those troublesome letters "MLS".
And of course NAR has no control over non-Realtors using MLS in their URLs; evidence www.MLSonline.com and the many others that can continue to use it with impunity.
Then there is that one man "Internet Realtor vigilante" from Nashville who has filed over 20 ethics violations all over the country against NAR members solely for having "MLS" in their URLs. One has to wonder what his motives are?
The unfortunate result of this new edict is the uneven enforcement that is now going on all across the United States. One Realtor could be found guilty simply because his domain many say www.MyTownMLS.com while another Realtor on the other side of the country can be found innocent of the same offense, and a third could basically work out a plea bargain to keep his or hers as is simply by adding a disclaimer to their website.
Jim Lee, CRS, ABR, GRI, NAR Certified e-PRO Trainer
Realty Executives Associates, Knoxville, Tennessee
www.KnoxvilleHomeCenter.com mailto:Jim@JimLee.com
(865) 693-3232, My Personal Toll Free # 1-800-662-2488 ext. 163
**********************************
Submitted by Phillip Jones on May 22, 2008 - 6:10am.
NAR is wasting their time and our money on this issue. Even if they had trademarked "MLS" enforcing it via the FTC would be an exercise in futility. Furthermore, if a company is "hosted" from an ISP outside the US then the FTC and NAR have no authority to shut the site down or dictate content. MLS is ubiquitous as Kleenex and Xerox as Bart already pointed out. NAR should focus their efforts on more meaningful matters. IMHO:)
Have a great day and good selling!
Submitted by Todd Siegel on May 22, 2008 - 7:52am.
Bill, respectfully, many, including ourselves, have been prohibited by the various authorities in jurisdictions across the country from using MLS in our names because just having it in your name is deemed misleading. You cannot even get a license to do business with MLS in your name in many places so the rules do restirct the use of MLS without determining on a case by case basis if they are truly misleading. Of course on the other hand, they have no authority over those that are not licensed and these companies use MLS as freely as they choose to our detriment.
Submitted by Duke Lane on May 22, 2008 - 11:43am.
From Bill Lublin's post: "The Case Study is not about policing the commercial use of the term MLS, it is about presenting a true picture in our representations to the public so that we are meeting the consumer's expectations appropriately.
"[T]he case study referred to was modified to reduce ambiguity, and is used as a guideline in intepreting the article of the Code of Ethics which requires us to present a true picture in our dealings with the public...."
Am I remembering incorrectly that a part of the (an) argument against using "MLS" in a URL was in part that "the whole" MLS was not and could not be on an agent or broker's site? For example, "private remarks," commission details, etc., are not included on IDX sites, ergo it is not "the whole" MLS and thus that alone makes it misleading?
Submitted by Bill Lublin on May 27, 2008 - 12:25pm.
Bill Lublin CRB,CRS,GRI
CEO CENTURY 21 Advantage Gold
Visit my Blog at MovePhilly
Search for Homes in Pa & NJ
Duke: I think the confusion in your comment relates to the perspective that an IDX feed only has the information provided by brokers who have opted-in to the process, and therefore there are (or may be) brokers whose listings do not appear in IDX feeds. That is a different issue however from the misleading use of the letters MLS in a URL. An example of a non-offensive URL is www.I-am-not-an-mls.com for example.
Submitted by Ben Kaeding on May 29, 2008 - 12:39pm.
It seems that people are going to complain because they didn't think of it first. Here is an example site that was included in one of the complaints: www.nashvillesmls.com The site is very well done designed and easy to use. If I was searching for listings in Nashville, it might be my favorite place to search MLS listings. Is the term "MSL" trade marked. If not, who cares?
Submitted by Renee Adelmann on June 3, 2008 - 9:58am.
For good or bad, I think consumers equate the term "MLS" to "homes for sale". When most consumers are searching for the mls, they are trying to locate propertys for sale, not trying to locate the mls board or some other governing body.
Since the term is so commonplace, I don't see how restricting its use amongst the members of an association that actually created the term is a good policy, especially wnen non-members are free to exploit the term so many consumers utilizes to find homes these days.
R. Adelmann
San Francisco Modern Real Estate
Submitted by Justin Case on June 3, 2008 - 4:25pm.
Let me get this straight NAR....in the monthly NAR publication "REALTOR" dated March 1, 2002, you suggested using...your city +MLS. Hard to believe? See it below in this artice..chart #1.
http://www.realtor.org/rmomag.nsf/pages/AskMrIn200202221?OpenDocument
So now in 2008, NAR now is threatening the realtor community for using "MLS"? NAR thinks they are GOD...please NAR...do something good for us...get out of our way.
Justin Case