Beginning December 15, all visitors to the public site, REcolorado.com, will be able to see compensation information for listings entered by REcolorado subscribers and members of REALTORS® of Central Colorado and Steamboat Springs Board of REALTORS®.
Making compensation information visible brings more transparency to real estate transactions, which is both pro-consumer and pro-competitive. Displaying compensation offered to buyer agents provides greater transparency for consumers, who would not otherwise see this detail. It also helps ensure listings are not excluded from search results based on the amount of compensation offered to buyer agents.
REcolorado proactively chose to make this change, anticipating that the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) would pass the rule that compensation fields would need to be available in any publicly accessible MLS data feed, which takes effect January 1, 2022.
Among the reasons behind this change cited by NAR are the following:
- Reinforce that local marketplace participants do not represent brokerage services as free. While REALTORS® have always been required to advertise their services accurately and truthfully, this change creates a legal rule that restricts the use of the word “free” that is easy to follow and enforce.
- Ensure disclosure of compensation offered to buyer agents. The change bolsters transparency and REALTORS’ existing duty to let their clients know about all the services they provide and how they are compensated.
- Ensure listings aren’t excluded from search results based on the amount of compensation offered to buyer agents. This supports REALTORS’ existing duty to inform clients about all relevant properties meeting their criteria.
Source: https://www.rismedia.com/2021/11/16/nar-approves-mls-proposals-display-buyer-broker-commissions/
Compensation fields were made available in REcolorado Participant data feeds and Internet Data Exchange (IDX) feeds earlier this year and are now visible to the public on REcolorado.com.
