After stripping a listing attribution proposal of its most controversial aspects, the National Association of Realtors approved a policy on Monday to require the display of a listing broker’s phone number or email address next to listings on agent and broker websites.
The board voted 583 in favor of the policy and 199 opposed at the 1.5 million-member trade group’s annual conference, the Realtors Conference & Expo, in San Diego.
The policy requires agent and broker Internet Data Exchange (IDX) websites and Virtual Office Websites (VOW) to display “the email or phone number provided by the listing participant.”
A controversial suggestion to require listing agent attribution on IDX and VOW sites and language in the original proposal to display the contact information of the listing firm “at least as prominently as any other contact information or lead form on the site,” were defeated at NAR’s Multiple Listing Issues and Policies Committee meeting on Saturday.
Realogy and Zillow came out in favor of the policy proposal before the committee meeting, while RE/MAX came out against the policy entirely. Leading Real Estate Companies of the World (LeadingRE), after expressing its support of the policy, retracted its support on Thursday in favor of a neutral stance.
“Zillow believes that transparency, innovation, and consumer choice are positive, not only for home buyers and sellers, but for the real estate industry overall,” a Zillow spokesperson told Inman via email Monday.
“We have for years displayed the seller’s agent and/or brokerage on listings for consumers to use if they choose. We believe the language passed this week will help establish some clearer standards for this practice nationally.”
The NAR board approved the policy with a slight amendment suggested by the trade group’s Executive Committee, which is a subset of the board. While the MLS committee approved requiring the display of a “listing participant identified email or phone number,” the Executive Committee recommended that be changed to “the email or phone number provided by the listing participant,” which the board adopted.
The policy now reads:
Internet Data Exchange (IDX) Policy, Policy Statement 7.58
Policies Applicable to Participants’ IDX Websites and Displays
12. An MLS Participant’s IDX display must identify the listing firm, and the email or phone number provided by the listing participant in a reasonably prominent location and in a readily visible color and typeface not smaller than the median used in the display of listing data.
IV. Requirements that MLSs May Impose on the Operation of VOWs and Participants, Policy Statement 7.91.
d. Any listing displayed on a VOW shall identify the name of the listing firm, and the email or phone number provided by the listing participant in a readily visible color, and reasonably prominent location, and in typeface not smaller than the median typeface used in the display of listing data.
The policy will go into effect Jan. 1, 2022 and MLSs have until March 1 to implement it.
Editor’s note: This story has been updated.
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