Have an upcoming listing to announce?

Please read our guidance below on how to satisfy Clear Cooperation Policy requirements.

Short version

Do you have an upcoming listing to announce?

• Is it in the MLS in “Preview” status? All clear!
• Will you list it in the MLS within one business day? All clear!
• Are you unable to list it in the MLS in “Preview” or “Active” status within one business day? To avoid violating the Clear Cooperation Policy, please do not announce the upcoming listing yet.
• Do you have a “Certificate to Withhold from the MLS” signed by the seller? You must still not promote the upcoming listing to anyone outside of your own office to remain in compliance.

Details

The Clear Cooperation Policy, set by NAR, ensures all participants in the MLS have access to the full available inventory of properties represented by other members. The policy specifically restricts “pocket” or “off-market” listings, with only narrow exceptions for keeping a property out of the MLS. This policy also affects upcoming listings, which are frequently announced during caravans.

The single overriding trigger for the Clear Cooperation Policy is “public marketing” of the property. This is intended to be defined broadly. In addition to covering signage on the property, posts to social media, email marketing to other offices, and displays on the web, “public marketing” also includes announcing the upcoming listing at a caravan. (The only marketing allowed is within the listing agent’s own brokerage, to other agents within the same office and their clients.) And once “publicly marketed,” a property must be listed in the MLS within one business day.

Important note: A “certificate to withhold from the MLS” signed by the seller cannot override the Clear Cooperation Policy. Which is to say, a listing withheld this way cannot be publicly marketed, only shared within a brokerage. Once information about the property is available to any other brokerage, it is considered “public marketing” and must be entered into the MLS.

You can take advantage of the “Preview” status in the REsearch MLS, which meets the requirement of having the property visible to other members, but is not syndicated or distributed outside the MLS. Also, a listing in “Preview” status does not need to have a photo, nor is the listor required to accommodate or respond to showing requests as required in the rules for “Active” listings. If you release a listing in “Preview” status, you have one month to further prepare the property and the listing before it goes “Active.”