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Flexmls Downtime: Scheduled Maintenance – June 17th – 3am FBS will update MLS system hardware in the early morning hours of Monday, June 17th. This work is expected to take up to 60 minutes between 3:00a-4:30a (Eastern). The flexmls system will be unavailable during this time. Downtime Schedule:
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Surveillance in Real Estate: Is this a problem? Please review the Legally Speaking article below from OAR regarding video and audio surveillance during listing appointments. Links to additional resources appear at the bottom of this story (NAR or OAR login may be required). Legally Speaking: Video and audio home surveillance Mar 14, 2019 By Lorie Garland, Ohio REALTORS Assistant Vice President of Legal Services Q: During a listing appointment the seller disclosed to my agent that there are video and audio surveillance equipment on his property. The seller stated his intent to record showings, because he wants to hear what buyers and agents are saying about his property. Is it legal for the seller to do this? Does the listing agent need to disclose to buyer agents that the showings are being recorded? A: Ohio law addresses both audio and video recordings. Under Ohio law a seller is permitted to use surveillance equipment to video record on his property. The equipment used is commonly referred to as a “nanny cam.” There are, however, limitations on that right to record. A seller should not record in locations where there is an expectation of privacy, for example a bathroom. Audio recordings, though, have stricter requirements. Under Ohio law, in order to legally make an audio recording, at least one person being recorded must consent to being recorded. Therefore, for a seller to use surveillance equipment to audio record conversations during a showing of their property, one of the individuals at the showing would have to consent to the recording. For most showings this would be either the buyer’s agent or the buyer. The fact that the seller knows about the audio recording would not be sufficient since the seller is not typically present during showings, and therefore is not a party to the conversation being recorded. Violations of the above provisions are a 4th degree felony under Ohio law. There are two ways to approach listing a property with video and audio surveillance equipment present. The first approach is to request that the seller turn off their surveillance equipment during showings or anytime the property is being accessed where the conversation of others will take place (i.e. an inspection, appraisal). This requirement could be limited to audio recordings or apply to all surveillance equipment and could be included as a term of the listing agreement. The other approach is to disclose the use of surveillance equipment and obtain consent to any audio recording. Notification of surveillance equipment could be made through the MLS or any other method used to communicate property access information. Also, a surveillance equipment notice should be posted at the property. Consent to an audio recording would need to be obtained prior to a showing or granting access to others pursuant to your duties under the listing agreement. Consent to audio recordings should be obtained in writing. For a showing, written consent would be required from the buyer’s agent or the buyer. If the buyer’s agent is providing the consent it should only be given with the knowledge and written authorization of the buyer. The bottom line is that a brokerage should adopt a policy on listing property with surveillance equipment and communicate that policy to all licensees. If a property has surveillance equipment, the seller should be made aware of Ohio law in this area and the existence of any surveillance equipment should be disclosed to others and proper consent to audio recordings obtained. Buyer agents should caution their clients regarding property surveillance equipment and should never do or say anything in a property that they would not want the seller to know. Additional Resources: (NAR/OAR login may be required) https://www.nar.realtor/legal/video-and-audio-surveillance-state-law-survey https://www.ohiorealtors.org/blog/583/nars-window-to-the-law-video-and-audio-surveillance-issues/ https://www.realtor.com/news/trends/buyers-under-surveillance/ https://www.ohiorealtors.org/blog/1073/legally-speaking-video-and-audio-home-surveillance/ Watch a quick NAR video about surveillance (skip to 3:08 if you don’t want to see the rest of the video)
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New to Homesnap? Webinar June 17 – 2pm Want to learn more about Homesnap? Need a refresher on how to use it? Homesnap Webinar Training: Homesnap University: Homesnap customer support: Video Testimonials: What is Homesnap? What is the Broker Public Portal and its relationship to Homesnap? Why Homesnap?
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Realist 2018 Tax Data Updated for Franklin County The annual tax roll update for Franklin County has been posted in Realist. All Franklin County parcels in Realist will now display the 2018 tax information. Realist auto-population of tax data for new listings will now use the 2018 tax data. IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT EXISTING MLS LISTINGS: Agents who entered listings prior to the availability of 2018 tax data in Realist (for any county) should manually update the “Tax (Yrly)” and “Tax Year” fields. For listings that are not in a CANCELLED or CLOSED status, these fields can be edited along with other listing fields by editing the listing values through the Listing Information section of Add/Edit. This action can be taken by the broker/office admin or by the listing/co-listing agent. Realist contains tax data for all Ohio counties. Some of the outlying counties are still operating on 2017 tax data. Realist is currently in the process of updating all remaining counties.
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Franklin County Auditor’s Website Down – June 1 & 2 We have been requested by the county to let our members know that the Franklin County Auditor’s website will have limited to no functionality due to temporary interruption of electrical service. Per the County Public Facilities Maintenance department at the Franklin County Office Tower on SATURDAY JUNE 1 and SUNDAY JUNE 2, offices such as the Auditor and Recorder WILL have limited, if any online services available those days. NOTE: This will NOT affect Flexmls or MLS listing details, Realist reports or the ability to autopopulate Tax Data. Originally posted May 28, 2019
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Quick Search to be Merged with Map Search The existing Quick Search will now display the Map Search area by default. On May 30th, there will no longer be a need to press the Map Search button in order to view the listings on the map and draw polygon shapes.  The Quick Search option on the menu will display search fields and the map simultaneously. The separate Map Search option will be removed from the Flexmls menu since Quick Search now offers the exact same map functionality.  If less than 1,000 listings are found, they will automatically appear on the map. If more than 1,000 listings are found, a pop-up message will show the number of results. To view the listings on the map, click the View on Map button on the message. If you prefer to view the results in a list instead, you can click the List tab.  
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Realtor.com added to Broker Distribution Preferences MLS participant brokers can now control their listing feed to Realtor.com by using a checkbox setting to “disable the feed” on the Broker Distribution Preferences page. The default setting for Realtor.com feed has not changed. Listings will continue to be fed to Realtor.com unless the feed is manually disabled by the broker as detailed below. Adding Realtor.com simply gives the broker more direct control over their listing feed from MLS to Realtor.com. If a broker wishes to STOP sending listings to Realtor.com, they must disable the feed on the Broker Distribution Preferences page. Brokers can login to flexmls, then go to Menu > Preferences > Broker Distribution to access the settings discussed below. Broker Distribution Preferences page summary:  Enable Feed: Allows listings to be fed to Realtor.com when checked. (Main On/Off setting for this feed.) Send listings by default: Listings will be fed to Realtor.com by default when checked, unless agent override is allowed. Agent can override: Individual listing agents can override the broker’s office-wide setting for Realtor.com when this is checked. There will be a checkbox on the Add/Edit screen that the agent can check/uncheck for each individual listing. IMPORTANT NOTE: Agents will be able to override the brokers “Send listings by default” using the checkbox on Add/Edit screen until the broker unchecks “Agent can override” for that feed on the Broker Distribution Preferences page. Agent override checkbox will appear on on Add/Edit screen:
 Questions? Contact MLS Technical Support (614) 475-4000 techsupport@columbusrealtors.com The Broker Distribution functionality within Flexmls provides a way for participant brokers to control listing distribution to select third party portals. When Broker Distribution Preferences was added in 2018, Zillow Group was the only destination on the list. As of May 2019, Realtor.com has been added.
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CDOM to be Removed from MLS reports PLEASE NOTE: This change affects only the single field, CDOM. The regular display of Days on Market (DOM) and full MLS listing history will not be affected by this change. The MLS Board of Directors has voted to remove the Cumulative Days on Market (CDOM) display field from the default reports in MLS. This change will occur in phases over the coming days and weeks. The process should be complete in early June. Days on Market (DOM) will continue to be displayed on MLS reports. The current calculation of DOM will not be modified. No listing history will be removed from any listing. All changes currently tracked by MLS listing history will continue to be displayed on the history screen in MLS. The feasibility of completely removing CDOM from the MLS (as opposed to simply not displaying it) is to be discussed by the MLS Board of Directors in the future.
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Land Users: CIE Export field is now required Do you have commercial land listed on MLS? Do you want it to be displayed in CIE/Catylist? The CIE Export Y/N field was recently added to Land property type. Please make sure to select “Yes” if you want to deliver your listing to Catylist from MLS for all Commercial, Office, Industrial and Business Op listings and now commercial LAND listings. If the listing should not be made available to CIE/Catylist, simply select “No”. NOTE: CIE Export is not intended for Residential lots. COCIE (CIE) is the Central Ohio Commerical Information Exchange. “CIE Export Y/N” is a required field in MLS for all Commercial, Office, Industrial, Business Op added to MLS in June 2018. It is now available for Land as well. The field determines whether the listing will be made available to Catylist. The field appears on the Edit Listing screen below the Printing Services field on the “Details” tab. The CIE Export field does not display on listing reports. PLEASE NOTE: Summary:
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Flexmls Web: Quick Search Screen Improvements – April 18 FBS will make a couple of changes to the search screen in Flexmls on April 18, 2019. These changes are based upon user feedback after the recent update. New Search Detail Pop-up The ability to quickly see the currently selected criteria using the “i bubble” at the top left was removed with the recent Flexmls update. This Search Detail functionality will return in a new location. You will now access the Search Detail pop-up by clicking the 3-dot icon at top right then Search Detail in the drop-down menu.  Empty Space at the Top of Search Screen Removed The redesigned layout of the search screen created a blank, unused gray bar at the top of the search screen. This blank gray area will be removed to allow additional space for map search and criteria fields. 
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