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The California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS), the nation’s largest MLS, is pushing back against the Multiple Listing Options for Sellers (MLOS) policy from the National Association of Realtors (NAR), explaining that it will not implement the new measure.
NAR’s Multiple Listing Options for Sellers policy, announced last month, allows home sellers to delay the public marketing their properties when these listings appear on IDX websites and syndicated platforms.
NAR is giving MLSs until Sept. 30 to implement the change at their discretion.
But after what it called “careful review and consideration,” CRMLS said it will not adopt the MLOS policy and will instead rely on existing systems that it claims already fulfill the policy’s intent.
“There is no need,” CRMLS said in a statement issued to its users. “This new policy does not provide any additional seller choices or options, is not clear nor easy to understand or explain, and we don’t need to complicate things.
“Implementing a new status would only complicate things and create confusion for our agents and brokers.”
The organization also expressed concern that the policy could usher in a less open real estate marketplace, potentially benefiting powerful brokerages at the expense of smaller firms and consumers.
CRMLS also feels that Multiple Listing Options for Sellers is part of a broader attempt to sidestep NAR’s Clear Cooperation Policy, which mandates that listings be shared on an MLS within one business day of being marketed publicly.
“To understand why we have refused, we must explain where the impetus for this new policy came from,” CRMLS said. “NAR was under increasing pressure from powerful, national brokerages to drop the Clear Cooperation Policy. In an effort to maintain CCP as-is and to placate those complaining brokerages, NAR created this (policy).”
CRMLS said it already supports the spirit of the new rule through its existing “active” listing status, which permits brokers to withhold listings from internet distribution if their clients request it.
But the NAR policy introduces a new category — “delayed marketing exempt listings,” which are accessible to agents and buyers via MLS and virtual office website (VOW) feeds but hidden from IDX and syndicated platforms.
CRMLS argues this approach is not only redundant but ineffective.
“Major portals like Zillow, Redfin, and other large broker/franchise websites already receive CRMLS VOW feeds,” the statement read. “That means listings will still appear on those sites — just not on the nearly 30,000 CRMLS IDX websites or Realtor.com, which doesn’t use a VOW.”
According to CRMLS, that outcome could confuse and frustrate homebuyers, forcing them to create accounts on multiple sites to access the full inventory of listings.
The organization is also concerned about administrative impact on its members. It warned of “increased compliance confusion,” “overlapping statuses,” and unnecessary “hurdles to day-to-day business operations.”
As an alternative, CRMLS said it is exploring additional enhancements to its current active-listing status that it claims would preserve transparency while meeting sellers’ privacy needs.
“CRMLS, as a broker cooperative and pro-consumer advocate, opposes private listings and information silos,” the statement concluded. “It’s time to stop unnecessarily changing up the rules and to let agents and brokers get back to work.”
In January, CRMLS CEO Art Carter expressed vehement support for the Clear Cooperation Policy in an op-ed posted to his LinkedIn page.
“A broker cooperative needs to provide meaningful services to all of its subscribers, their clients and other stakeholders,” he wrote. “While listing platforms are valuable and some of our best customers, they do not establish rules, policies, or systems to facilitate cooperation between agents. Instead, they focus on advertising properties for sale and offer historical information.”
