On September 24, several important updates to the MLS Rules will take effect, reflecting the July revisions from C.A.R.’s model MLS rules. These updates are being made to bring California’s rules into alignment with recent policy changes adopted by the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR).

These revisions are designed to ensure consistency, compliance, and clarity across MLS operations statewide while aligning with national policy.

Changes noted in red.

5.1.4 Book Fees: If applicable, the participant shall be responsible for book fees for each MLS book the participant wishes to lease. The participant may not obtain more MLS books than the total number of subscribers affiliated with the participant.

7.5 Mandatory Submission.
Within 1 business day of marketing or advertising a property to the public or within 2 days after all necessary signatures of the seller(s) have been obtained on the listing or at the beginning date of the listing as specified in the contract, whichever is later, on any exclusive right to sell or seller reserved listing agreement for the sale of one to four unit residential property and vacant lots located within the service area of the MLS, Broker Participants must input the listing to the service for cooperation with other Participants. Public marketing or advertising includes, but is not limited to, conveying or displaying any information about the property or its availability for sale through or on any: windows, signs, public facing websites, social media, brokerage or franchise operated websites (including IDX and VOW), digital communications marketing (ex: email, text or phone blasts, social media messaging), multi-brokerage or franchise listing sharing networks, flyers or written material or on any applications available to the public or through conducting an open house. The public would include anyone outside the broker(s) and agent(s) licensed within a single listing brokerage and their clients, as further described in Section 7.6). Only those listings that are within the service area of the MLS must be input.  Open listings, rental listings or listings of property located outside the MLS’s service area (see Section 7.7) are not required by the service, but may be input at the Broker Participant’s option

7.6 Exempted Listings Multiple Listing Options for Sellers
If the seller refuses to permit the listing to be disseminated by the service on any exclusive right to sell or seller listing agreement for the sale of one to four unit residential property and vacant lots located within the service area of the MLS, the listing broker shall submit to the service within 3 days after all necessary signatures of the seller(s) have been obtained on the listing agreement or at the beginning date of the listing as specified in the contract, whichever is later, a certification signed by the seller stating that the seller instructs listing broker to do no public marketing or advertising (as public marketing or advertising is defined in Section 7.5), that the only scope of permissible promotion of the property will occur internally within the brokerage and consist of direct one-on-one communication between the listing broker and licensees affiliated with the listing broker and their respective clients (i.e. “office exclusive”) and that seller refuses to authorize the listing to be disseminated by the service. C.A.R. Standard Form SELM and/or RLA may be used for this certification, but in any event, said certificate shall include the aforementioned required statements as well as an advisory to seller that, in keeping the listing off the MLS (1) real estate agents and brokers from other real estate offices, and their buyer clients, who have access to the MLS may not be aware seller’s property is for sale; (2) seller’s property will not be included in the MLS’s download to various real estate internet sites that are used by the public to search for property listings; (3) real estate agents, brokers and members of the public may be unaware of the terms and conditions under which seller is marketing the property; and (4) any reduction in exposure of the property may lower the number of offers made negatively impact the sale price. In the event listing broker commences any public marketing or advertising on an exempted listing, submission to the MLS for dissemination is required within (1) one business day thereafter in accordance with Section 7.5.

7.6.1. Office Exclusive.
A seller may choose an “office exclusive” marketing option for any exclusive right to sell or seller reserved listing agreement for the sale of one to four unit residential property and vacant lots located within the service area of the MLS. An “office exclusive” is a listing where the seller has directed the listing broker to not publicly market their property and to not disseminate it through the MLS to other MLS Participants and Subscribers. For “office exclusive” listings, the listing broker shall submit to the service within 1 business day after all necessary signatures of the seller(s) have been obtained on the listing agreement or at the beginning date of the listing as specified in the contract, whichever is later, a certification signed by the seller stating that the seller instructs listing broker to do no public marketing or advertising (as public marketing or advertising is defined in Section 7.5), and that seller refuses to authorize the listing to be disseminated by the service. In the event listing broker commences any public marketing or advertising on an “office exclusive” listing, submission to the MLS for dissemination is required within one (1) business day thereafter in accordance with Section 7.5.

7.6.2. Exempt Listing Disclosure.
The filing of an exempt listing with the MLS must be pursuant to a certification, signed by the seller, obtained by the listing broker which includes:(i) disclosure about the professional relationship between the Participant and the seller; (ii) acknowledgement that the seller understands the MLS benefits they are waiving with the exempt listing, such as broad and immediate exposure of their listing through the MLS; and (iii) confirmation of the seller’s decision that their listing not be publicly marketed and disseminated by the MLS to other MLS Participants and Subscribers as an office exclusive listing. C.A.R. Standard Form MLSA and/or RLA may be used for this disclosure.

7.21 Auction Listings. 
Only auction listings which comply with these MLS Rules and Regulations, including, but not limited to Sections 7.12 and 7.13,  may be submitted to the service. Auction listings entered into the MLS system shall have listing contracts as required under these rules, be clearly labeled as auction listings, and provide all the terms and conditions of the auction. Reserve auctions (i.e., auctions where sellers have a secret minimum price they do not disclose to the bidders and where the sellers reserve the right to accept or reject the highest bid) are not permitted on the MLS. Auction listings shall further specify the following:

(a)          The list price, which shall be seller’s minimum acceptable bid price;
(b)          The date, time and place of the auction;
(c)          All required procedures for Participants/Subscribers to register their representation of a potential bidder;
(d)          The amount of the buyer’s premium charged by the auction and any additional fees, if any;, to be placed in the public remarks;
(e)          The time or manner in which potential bidders may inspect the listed property;
(f)           Whether or not the seller will accept a purchase offer prior to the scheduled auction; and
(g)          Any other material rules or procedures for the auction.
(h)          Unless otherwise noted, the above information must be specified in confidential remarks and/or associated documents.

Subsections (b) through (g) above shall not appear in a listing’s public remarks.

7.12 No Compensation Specified on MLS Listings.
Participants, Subscribers, and their sellers are prohibited from making offers of compensation to buyer brokers and other buyer representatives in the MLS. Participants and Subscribers are prohibited from disclosing in the MLS, in any way, the total commission negotiated between the seller and the listing broker, or total broker compensation (i.e. combined compensation to both listing brokers and buyer brokers). The MLS reserves the right to remove a listing from the MLS database that does not conform to the requirements of this section. This rule does not prevent sellers from offering buyer concessions on the MLS so long as such concessions are not limited to or conditioned on the retention of or payment to a Buyer Broker or other buyer representative. 

12.16 Use of Listing Information on Internet.
(n) Co-Mingling. A Broker Participant or R.E. Subscriber may co-mingle listings through IDX from this MLS with listings from other MLS sources on its IDX display, provided all such displays are consistent with these IDX rules, and the MLS Participant (or MLS subscriber) holds participatory rights in those MLSs. Co-mingling is the ability for a visitor to the website to execute a single property search of multiple IDX feeds resulting in the display of IDX information from each of the MLSs on a single search results page; and that Participants may display listings from each IDX feed on a single webpage or display. Listings obtained from other MLSs must display the source from which each such listing was obtained. Displays of minimum information (e.g. a oneline or thumbnail search result, text messages, “tweets”, etc of two hundred (200) characters or less) are exempt from this requirement but only when linked directly to a display that includes all required disclosures. Audio delivery of listing content is exempt from this disclosure requirement only when all required disclosures are subsequently delivered electronically to the registered consumer performing the property search or linked to through the device’s application.

12.19 Virtual Office Websites.
12.19.22: A Participant shall cause any listing displayed on his or her VOW that is obtained from other sources, including from another MLS or from a broker not participating in the MLS, to identify the source of the listing.

12.19.23: A Participant shall cause any listing displayed on his or her VOW obtained from other sources, including from another MLS or from a broker not participating in the MLS, to be searched separately from listings in the MLS.

To maintain the highest standards of efficiency, fairness, and usability within our MLS platform, new changes to the MLS Rules and Regulations will take effect on August 18. These updates are designed to streamline processes, enhance accuracy, and better support the needs of our members.

Changes noted in red.

Reasoning: Updated language concerning Coming Soon rules for improved clarity.

MLS Rule Section 10.1.1 Coming Soon Listings. It shall be the responsibility of the Broker Participant (Section 4.1.1) and Real Estate Subscriber (Section 4.2.1) to follow said rules when placing a property in the Coming Soon section of the multiple listing service (MLS). Broker Participant and Real Estate Subscriber shall only place a property in the Coming Soon section of the MLS if the Participant/Subscriber has met necessary criteria for MLS input as described in Sections 7.5, 7.6, and 8.1.

Important information surrounding Coming Soon Listings:
1. It is optional to place your listing into the Coming Soon Status.
2. Listing agent must have a signed written listing agreement in place to enter a “Coming Soon” listing which explains the limitations of the “Coming Soon” status.
3. Coming Soon listings will be viewable to all MLS Participants.
4. Coming Soon listings will not be syndicated out to other websites.
5. Coming Soon listings are included in the VOW data feed but will not be included in the IDX and data feeds.
6. Coming Soon listings are not allowed to be placed into open houses or broker tour modules within the MLS.
7. Coming Soon listings are only searchable within the Paragon MLS.
8. Once a listing has been moved from Coming Soon to Active status by the agent, it cannot revert to Coming Soon with that same broker. Once an agent changes a listing from Coming Soon to New/Active status, it cannot be reverted to Coming Soon Status.
9. Days on Market (DOM) re-sets when status is changed to New/Active
10. Agent showing is allowed
11. Once Coming Soon status is entered, public marketing is allowed.
12. Upon request, all Paragon MLS Coming Soon data can be in Broker back-office data feeds. However, Coming Soon listings may not be displayed or integrated into any public-facing products or websites, except for listings belonging to the listing brokerage.
13. Photos are optional.

Reasoning: Added the requirement for Comparable (Comps) Listings to be inputted within 30 days from the closing date to promote timely and accurate market data.

MLS Rule Section 10.2 Reporting of Sales. Listings with accepted offers shall be reported to the MLS or input into the MLS database as “pending” within 3 days of the acceptance, by the listing broker unless the negotiations were carried on under Section 9.1 (a) or (b), in which case, the buyer broker shall notify the listing broker of the “pending” status within 3 days after acceptance, whereby the listing broker shall then report or input the status change to the MLS within 3 days after receiving notice from the buyer broker. The listing shall be published on the MLS as pending with no price or terms prior to the final closing. Upon final closing, the listing broker shall report or input the listing in the MLS as “sold” within 3 days after the final closing date unless the negotiations were carried on under Section 9.1 (a) or (b), in which case, the buyer broker shall notify the listing broker of the “sold” status and selling price within 3 days after the final closing date, whereby the listing broker shall then report or input the status change and selling price within 3 days after receiving notice from the buyer broker. Listings that were not input into the MLS as a result of the seller’s instructions may be input into the MLS “sold” data at the listing broker’s option within 30 days after the closing date. If a listing is entered for comparison purposes only, then “For Comp Purposes Only” shall appear in the first line of confidential remarks. 

Reasoning: Revised the rule for improved clarity and to better align with current practices regarding photo use.

11.5 Photographs on the MLS.
a) By submitting photographs to the MLS, the participant and/or subscriber represents and warrants that he or she either owns the right to reproduce and display such photographs or has procured such rights from the appropriate party and has the authority to grant and hereby grants the MLS and the other Participants and Subscribers the right to reproduce and display the photographs in accordance with these rules and regulations. Use of photographs by a subsequent listing agent requires prior written authorization from the originating listing agent or appropriate party with the legal right to reproduce and display such photographs. Except by the MLS for purposes of protecting its rights under Section 11.6, branding of photographs, virtual tours, or any other photographic representation with any information or additional images is prohibited. However, branded virtual tours will be permitted in the Branded Virtual Tour field for the sole purpose of transmittal to 3rd party vendors only. Upon notification to the Participant and/or Subscriber, MLS has the right to remove any photo found to be out of compliance with the MLS Rules.

1. b) At least one (1) photo or graphic image of the front exterior of the property accurately displaying the listed property (except where sellers expressly direct in writing that photographs of their property are not to appear in MLS compilations) is required to be posted on the MLS within 1 day of the listing in all categories other than business opportunity, Lots and Land property types and Coming Soon 25 status.
2. c) To maintain the accuracy and efficiency of the MLS, the MLS will no longer remove photos from sold, Expired, Hold, or Cancelled listings. Alternately, to meet the requests from home buyers and sellers, the MLS will mark the requested photos as private upon written request from the Listing Broker.

Reasoning: Removed restrictions on financing language to allow agents more flexibility in providing relevant property details.

12.5.1 Public Remarks Restrictions and Requirements

a. Information in the public remarks shall only relate to the marketing, description, and condition of the property.

b. No contact information is permitted, including names, phone or fax numbers, email addresses or branded website addresses (including branded virtual tours and branded transaction tracking URLs).

c. No showing instructions are permitted, including references to lockbox, alarm, gate or other security codes.

d. No information directed toward real estate agents or brokers, may be shown in public remarks.

e. Listing Content and Fair Housing Laws. All listing information, including all remarks, submitted to the MLS must be in compliance with fair housing laws. The MLS monitors listing content and employs a process for identifying potential violations of fair housing laws. Should potential fair housing law violations be identified, Participants and Subscribers will be advised to immediately remove or correct such potential violations. Failure to remove or correct may subject Participants and Subscribers to discipline and/or subject the listing to immediate removal from display.

f. Seller credits, incentives, or concessions to a buyer are permitted in the Public or Confidential Remarks fields, provided that:

• The remarks specifically identify the intended use of the credits, incentives, or concessions.
• The remarks do not include a dollar amount or percentage.
• The credits, incentives, or concessions are not offered for payment, directly or indirectly, of buyer broker compensation.
• The remarks are otherwise compliant with all MLS Rules.
• For additional information, contact the listing agent.

1. Any compensation or commission information is prohibited.
2. No occupancy information is permitted (for example, whether the property is owner-occupied, tenant-occupied, or vacant). However, a statement that the property shall be delivered vacant is not a violation.

Reasoning: Added language to improve understanding and ensure proper handling of photos marked as private in IDX displays.

12.16 (s) Photos: Photos designated as ‘private’ in the MLS are excluded from public display. Displaying such photos on IDX websites is strictly prohibited.

To maintain the highest standards of efficiency, fairness, and usability within our MLS platform, new changes to the MLS Rules and Regulations will take effect on January 27. These updates are designed to streamline processes, enhance accuracy, and better support the needs of our members.

Changes noted in red.

10.1.1 Coming Soon Listings – Restrictions Related to Coming Soon Status. It shall be the responsibility of the Broker Participant (Section 4.1.1) and Real Estate Subscriber (Section 4.2.1) to follow said rules when placing a property in the Coming Soon section of the multiple listings service (MLS). Broker Participant and Real Estate Subscriber shall only place a property in the Coming Soon section of the MLS if the Participant/Subscriber has met necessary criteria for MLS input as described in Sections 7.5, 7.6, & 8.1.

Participant/Subscriber is required to enter a proposed list date to proceed in placing a listing in the Coming Soon section of the MLS. Once the listing moves from Coming Soon to any Active status it cannot revert back to Coming Soon.

1. It is optional to place your listing into a Coming Soon Status.
2. Listing agent must have a signed written listing agreement in place to enter a “Coming Soon” listing which explains the limitations of the “Coming Soon” status.
3. The MLS requirement of unilateral offer of compensation still applies while in “Coming Soon” status.
4. The Coming Soon listing will automatically be placed in a “Cancelled – Coming Soon” after 30 days of entry.
5. Coming Soon listings will be viewable to all MLS Participants.
6. Coming Soon listings will not be syndicated unless approved by MMG out to other websites.
7. Coming Soon listings will not be included in the IDX and RETS feeds.
8. Coming Soon listings are not allowed to have open houses or be placed on broker tours in the MLS.
9. Coming Soon listings are only searchable within the Paragon MLS.
10. Once a listing has been moved from Coming Soon to Active status by the agent, it cannot revert to Coming Soon with that same broker.
11. Days on Market (DOM) re-sets when status is changed to Active. Cumulative Day on Market (CDOM) continues counting from the time entered into the MLS. Only when a property has been off the market (Canceled or Expired) for more than thirty (30) days will the days (DOM and CDOM) on the listing start at zero (0).
12. Agent showing is allowed.
13. Once Coming Soon status is entered, public marketing is allowed.
14. Allow Coming Soon data to be in Broker back-office feeds (no front-facing data component) (Brokerages own data only)
15. Photos are optional.

11.5 Photographs on MLS

1. At least one (1) photo or graphic image of the front exterior of the property accurately displaying the listed property (except where sellers expressly direct in writing that photographs of their property not appear in the MLS compilations) is required to be posted on the MLS within 1 day of submission of the listing in all categories other than business opportunity and Lots and Land and Coming Soon status.