HousingWireHousingWire
The hate speech policy is not the only policy the National Association of Realtors (NAR) is making changes to this week. The trade group’s executive committee voted on Wednesday to repeal NAR’s optional no-commingling rule.
The rule states that MLS listings and non-MLS listings may not be displayed together within the territory of MLSs that have adopted the policy.
“This decision was based on MLS-community feedback about the rule’s declining usage and relevance in local marketplaces,” a NAR spokesperson wrote in an email.
Earlier this year, more MLSs across the country began to quietly repeal the optional rule.
Stellar MLS in Florida is one organization that recently abandoned the policy. According to CEO Merri Jo Cowen, the MLS made the decision to allow commingling on its site in October 2024 after having had the optional rule in place for “many years.”
“We had been considering a change for a while as broker and agent websites, along with other listing sources have matured over the evolution of the Internet and we found the rule to be outdated,” Cowen wrote in an email.
Zillow, a vocal critic of the policy, was one industry player excited to hear the news about the executive committee’s vote.
“Home shoppers have made their expectation clear: they want a seamless, transparent experience that shows all available homes in one place,” Matt Hendricks, Zillow’s vice president of industry affairs, wrote in an email.
“Removing the outdated no-commingling rule is a meaningful step toward ensuring the home search process reflects the way people actually shop for homes today. We remain committed to making the home search simpler, more transparent, and accessible for everyone.”
Due to the policy, Zillow was forced to create a two-tab listing display it utilized in markets that had adopted the policy. The two-tab design in no-commingling markets was the source of an antitrust lawsuit from now-defunct discount brokerage REX Real Estate, as it prevented REX listings from being viewed alongside MLS listings.
Despite its creation of the two-tab design and compliance with the policy, Zillow has been a vocal critic of the no-commingling policy and has lobbied NAR to get rid of the optional rule. Since 2021, Zillow has submitted four requests to NAR asking the trade group to eliminate the rule.
During the summer of 2024, several sources confirmed to HousingWire that the Department of Justice — which became involved in REX’s appeal of its suit — had served civil investigative demands to multiple MLSs that had the no-commingling rule in place.
