HB 466 includes several changes to license law regarding Agency Agreements:

• Buyer agreements are now required
• Agency Agreement (listing contract) is required prior to “marketing or showing” a seller’s residential property
  • HB 466 will require additional changes to MLS policy including modification or removal of 1.02.17 Failure to Display “No Listing Contract” because of the new requirement for Listing Agreement prior to marketing.

Summary Video available from Daphne Hawk, Superintendent of Real Estate and Professional Licensing: REPL – Sept 2024 License Lowdown” – Watch Video

Ohio Realtors’ Summary of House Bill 466: House Bill 466 to take effect on October 24th, 2024

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10/21/2024

A new field has been added to the Residential add/edit screen.

Summary of the new “Existing Accessory Dwelling Unit” field:

• Yes/No field
• Required entry
• Residential Only
• The following Fannie Mae description of ADU appears ON SCREEN beside the field:
  • An ADU, commonly referred to as an accessory apartment or in-law suite, is a smaller additional living space on the same lot as a single-family home. It must include space for living, sleeping, cooking, and bathrooms independent of the primary residence. While the ADU may or may not include access to the primary residence, it must be accessible without going through the primary residence and there must be some expectation of privacy from the home.
  • Important note: This field only indicates whether an ADU exists. Municipal and township restrictions should still be verified.  (Fannie Mae)

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10/17/2024

CCOR MLS hereby provides notice under Section 13.7 of the PDL that the following two sections are added to the PDL effective on August 17, 2024:

Inserted immediately after Section 2.4:
2.5 License to Use Compensation Fields Terminated. If Brokerage, Sales Licensee, or Vendor has received MLS Data from CCOR MLS including offers of compensation from Participants other than Brokerage (“Other Participants’ Offers”), the following consequences are effective on August 17, 2024. (“Settlement Implementation Date”): (a) The license of Brokerage, Sales Licensee, or Vendor to use Other Participants’ Offers terminates; (b) Other Participants’ Offers are no longer considered part of the Licensed Data; (c) Other Participants’ Offers are Confidential Information and not subject to the exception in Section 1.4(a); (d) any use or display of Other Participants’ Offers is not a Permitted Use; and (e) Brokerage, Sales Licensee, or Vendor must delete Other Participants’ Offers from all copies of any MLS Data or Licensed Data in their possession. Brokerage may retain and make use of offers of compensation that Brokerage has made or makes after the Settlement Implementation Date; such data are not deemed Licensed Data and are not bound by the terms of this Agreement except for this Section 2.5 and Section 4.9.

Inserted immediately after Section 4.8:
4.9 Limitation on Offers of Compensation Using Licensed Data. Under a national settlement of private antitrust claims negotiated by the National Association of REALTORS® (“NAR”) in the court cases Burnett v. NAR (Western District of Missouri) and Moehrl v. NAR (Northern District of Illinois) in 2024, CCOR MLS may not allow any Participant, including Brokerage, to “create, facilitate, or support any non-MLS mechanism (including by providing listing information to an internet aggregators’ website for such purpose) for listing brokers or sellers to make offers of compensation to buyer brokers or other buyer representatives (either directly or through buyers).” Authorized Users may take no action in violation of this provision. Authorized Users may, however, display Licensed Data and offers of compensation to buyer brokers or other buyer representatives only on those portions of the MLS Data that relate only to data and listings submitted, contributed, or input by Brokerage and its Subscribers. Your continued use of Licensed Data or the Data Interface under the PDL on or after August 17, 2024, is your consent to, and serves as consideration for, these amended terms.

The updated PDL can be accessed at: Broker Participant Data License Agreement

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09/06/2024

You can now download the latest revision of the MLS Policy Violation Manual on the Forms page of the member portal.  The manual has been updated for changes regarding the NAR Settlement. Effective August 16, 2024.

To access the new MLS Policy Violation Manual through Member Portal:

1. Login to member portal at portal.columbusrealtors.com
2. Click Forms button
3. Scroll down & click MLS Reference Materials
   • Click MLS Policy Violation Manual to open/save PDF

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08/20/2024

A new version of the MLS Rules and Regulations is available on the Forms page through your member portal. The new version includes revisions necessary to comply with the NAR Settlement regarding compensation.

To access the new MLS Rules and Regulations through Member Portal:

1. Login to member portal at portal.columbusrealtors.com
2. Click Forms button
3. Scroll down & click MLS Reference Materials
   • Click MLS Rules & Regulations to open/save PDF

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New MLS Worksheets (input forms) are available for all property types directly from FlexMLS and through the Member Portal. They have been provided to all forms vendors, but may take a few days to be updated on those external forms platforms.

To access the new MLS Worksheets through Member Portal:

1. Login to member portal at portal.columbusrealtors.com
2. Click Forms button
3. Scroll down & click MLS Worksheets and Corrections Forms
   • For Res Rental Worksheet: Scroll down and click Rental Module

To access the new MLS Worksheets from inside FlexMLS:

1. Login to FlexMLS through Member Portal
2. Click Menu > Daily Functions > Input Forms
3. Select the Property Type of the form you wish to print/download
4. Click Print button at bottom right

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08/16/2024

On Monday, you may have received one or multiple emails from the Columbus & Central Ohio Regional MLS via our provider, FlexMLS. The timing of this message was incorrect and unfortunate, and we are aware the emails have caused some confusion.

Please accept our sincere apologies.

However, this should be a reminder that beginning this Friday, August 16, no mentions of compensation or commission in any form may be communicated through the Multiple Listing Service.

Our MLS staff will conduct a word search based on several key terms on August 16 and remove any references, including the deletion of the compensation fields inside the MLS.

So, you may ask, what’s your responsibility to remain compliant?

You, the agents, and the brokers are responsible for removing any references to compensation in agent-to-agent remarks or in documents uploaded to your listing.

Again, we apologize for any confusion the automated FlexMLS emails may have caused. Never hesitate to contact Columbus REALTORS® support for clarification.

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08/13/2024

An email was sent to many agents that was intended as a reminder the upcoming deadline to remove compensation offers from the MLS prior to August 17, 2024. Unfortunately, the email did not specify the exact field/document that may contain the prohibited information.

Agents received the email if their listing met either of these criteria:

1. You have a listing with an attached document
   • IF that document contains compensation information, it would need to be removed. 
2. You have a listing with “compensation” or “commission” in A2A Remarks or Property Description fields

Reminder: Prior to August 17^th:  Property Description and A2A remarks fields will need to have the words manually removed by the listing agent.  Any DOCUMENT attached to the listing that contains compensation information must be removed.

Automatic removal of compensation fields:

The compensation fields (ie Buyer Broker/Ten Rep, Sub agency, VRC, etc) will be automatically removed on Friday August 16^th. 

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08/12/2024

Beginning Friday, August 16, 2024, offers of compensation will be removed from the Columbus & Central Ohio Regional MLS, and written buyer agreements will become mandatory for all buyer’s agents. This will ensure that Columbus REALTORS® membership complies with the August 17 date of final implementation set in the proposed settlement terms with the National Association of REALTORS®.

1.) On August 16, offers of compensation will be prohibited on the MLS. Offers of compensation will continue to be an option consumers can pursue off-MLS through negotiation and consultation with real estate professionals. Offers of compensation help make homeownership and the benefits of professional representation more accessible to buyers, including first-time homebuyers, increase homeownership opportunities for historically underserved groups, and benefit sellers by expanding the potential buyer pool.  The Columbus & Central Ohio Regional MLS will remove the compensation fields from the MLS at 8:30 a.m. on August 16, 2024. At this time, compensation fields will be removed for all new listings. Over the next few hours, the compensation fields for all existing listings within the Columbus & Central Ohio Regional MLS will be removed. The process is expected to be completed by early afternoon on August 16.

An important reminder to all MLS subscribers is that offers of compensation should not be conveyed through the MLS in any other form, including broker remarks, document attachments, showing instructions, hyperlinks to external websites with offers of compensation, etc.   

Essential Forms & Educational Resources
Standard Clauses related to Columbus REALTORS® Residential Purchase Contract
Exclusive Right to Sell Listing Contract (Updated July 2024)
– Annotation for Clause #2 of the Residential Listing Contract
Exclusive Right to Represent Buyer Form (Updated July 2024)
Non-Exclusive Right to Represent Buyer Form (Updated August 2024)
Buyer Broker Compensation Agreement (Updated August 2024)

Columbus REALTORS® members are encouraged to attend an all-member Zoom webinar on Thursday, August 15, at 2 p.m., during which upcoming changes and the most asked questions surrounding the changes outlined in the settlement will be discussed.

Register for the All-Member Webinar

Links to previous Columbus REALTORS® video content surrounding the NAR proposed settlement can be found below:
Video Podcast with Columbus REALTORS CEO Brent Swander
May 30, 2024 All-Member Webinar Archive

Updated Policies & Fines 
The implementation of these new policies will begin on August 16, 2024. During the transition, the Columbus and Central Ohio Regional MLS will grant a one-time warning for each new policy through the end of 2024. Beginning January 1, 2025, fines will be issued at the following rates:  

1.05.04 – Failure to Present Buyer Representation Agreement
Warning*, $1000, $2500, $5000, Suspension (Plus) 

MLS Participants working with buyers are required to enter into written agreements with their buyers before touring a home. 

*NOTE: The $0 Fine (warning) will be removed on December 31, 2024.  From January 1, 2025, the fine will start at $1000.  

If the MLS Participant is working only as an agent or subagent of the seller, then the participant is not “working with the buyer.” In that scenario, an agreement is not required because the participant is performing work for the seller and not the buyer.  Authorized dual agents, on the other hand, work with the buyer (and the seller). The written agreement must include:
1.      A specific and conspicuous disclosure of the amount or rate of compensation the Participant will receive or how this amount will be determined, to the extent that the Participant will receive compensation from any source. 
2.      The amount of compensation in a manner that is objectively ascertainable and not open-ended.
3.      Language that prohibits the Participant from receiving compensation for brokerage services from any source that exceeds the amount or rate agreed to in the agreement with the buyer; and 
4.      A conspicuous statement that broker fees and commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable.  

Failure to meet this requirement will result in the following:
1st Violation: $1000 fine. If failing to provide the MLS, upon request within two business days, documentation indicating that this requirement has been met, a $1000 fine will be assessed.
2nd Violation: $2500 fine. If failing to provide the MLS, upon request within two business days, documentation indicating that this requirement has been met, a $2500 fine will be assessed.
3rd Violation: $5000 fine. If failing to provide the MLS, upon request within two business days, documentation indicating that this requirement has been met, a $5000 fine is assessed. 
4th Violation: Repeat offenders will be reviewed by MLS leadership and may result in service suspension or additional fine assessments levied against both the agent and broker.  An ethics complaint by the Chair of the MLS Board of Directors may be filed.  (Effective 8/17/2024)

1.05.05 – Prohibited Compensation in MLS
Warning*, $1000, $2500, $5000, Suspension (Plus) 

MLS Participants are prohibited from specifying any potential offers of compensation in the MLS, whether directly (such as in any field or uploaded document) or indirectly (such as link to showing scheduling services, etc.,). Any reference to compensation will be removed and a fine will be assessed.  

*NOTE: The $0 Fine (warning) will be removed on December 31, 2024.  From January 1, 2025, the fine will start at $1000.  

Violation of this policy will result in the following:
1st Violation: $1000 fine.  The offer of any compensation will be removed and fine assessed.
2nd Violation: $2500 fine. The offer of any compensation will be removed and fine assessed. 
3rd Violation: $5000 fine. The offer of any compensation will be removed and fine assessed.
4th Violation: Repeat offenders will be reviewed by MLS leadership and may result in service suspension or additional fine assessments levied against both the agent and broker.  An ethics complaint by the Chair of the MLS Board of Directors may be filed.  (Effective 8/17/2024)

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08/08/2024

Columbus & Central Ohio Regional MLS will remove all compensation-related fields on Friday, August 16.

Question: Can I include compensation in a PDF that I upload to my listing?

Answer: No. Documents uploaded to a listing cannot contain compensation information. All public and private documents that contain compensation information must be deleted from all on-market listings prior to August 17, 2024.

Read more about the settlement at NAR’s facts.realtor and Columbus REALTORS® website.

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08/02/2024