A seller who wants privacy over broad exposure has a paperwork trail to follow.
The National Association of Realtors published a new guidance document Thursday clarifying agent and broker responsibilities when a seller chooses an office exclusive listing or a pre-marketing option, according to the association. The resource is the sixth that the association has added this year to its facts.realtor library, which explains NAR’s MLS policies.
What an office exclusive is
An office exclusive listing is filed with the local MLS but is not marketed to the public and is not shared with participants or subscribers outside the listing firm, per the guidance. Every association-owned MLS must offer the option, though the decision to use it belongs to the seller. NAR lists health, safety and privacy among the reasons a seller might choose it over broad market exposure.
Pre-marketing options, including Coming Soon statuses and delayed marketing exempt listings, follow a different structure, according to NAR. Those listings are filed with the MLS and available to other participants and subscribers, so a brokerage using one remains in compliance with MLS rules. Whether the options are available depends on the local MLS, per the guidance.
Where the responsibility falls
Under the guidance, the agent must explain how each marketing option serves the seller’s interests. The broker carries a separate duty: To explain the pre-marketing options available locally and to obtain a signed disclosure from any seller who waives MLS benefits.
That disclosure must cover three points, per NAR: The professional relationship between the participant and the seller, the seller’s acknowledgment of the MLS benefits being waived or delayed and confirmation of the seller’s decision not to have the listing marketed to the public.
The guidance also addresses the Clear Cooperation Policy, which requires participants to submit a listing to the MLS within one business day of marketing the property to the public. If an office exclusive listing is marketed to the public, NAR said the one-business-day submission requirement applies. A broker may discuss an office exclusive listing with an agent outside the firm through one-to-one communication, provided the seller authorizes it and the receiving broker does not market the property.
The guidance does not define “publicly marketed” or specify which MLS benefits agents should walk sellers through, and it does not explain how a listing broker can stop a receiving broker from marketing a property after a one-to-one referral.
Active vs. non-active listings
The guidance also covers Virtual Office Websites, saying all active listings in an MLS must be made available through a VOW data feed based on prior discussions with the Department of Justice, per NAR. MLSs have local discretion to classify a listing as active or non-active, but NAR said the status must accurately represent whether the property is available.
Some MLSs treat a listing as non-active or off-market if the property is not available to be shown, is not tracking days on market, does not require a list price or does not track price change history, according to the guidance.
NAR noted that additional state laws and local MLS rules may apply, pointing to Wisconsin, Washington and Connecticut as states that have passed or are considering laws requiring public marketing of listings.
NAR CEO Nykia Wright told attendees at the Realtors Legislative Meetings in June that the association is monitoring MLS-related questions from members. NAR Vice President of Communications Raffi Williams said the new resources stem from that monitoring.
