During the month of November, your Realcomp Board of Governors reviewed several recommendations that were put forth by Realcomp's MLS User Committee. Based on those suggestions and their discussions, the following MLS Policy improvements were approved:

1. A MOTION was MADE, SECONDED, and CARRIED to require that all listings entered into the Realcomp MLS must have at least one (1) exterior photo.

Commentary: This revised policy applies to all property categories, including that of Vacant Land. For Vacant Land properties, MLS Subscribers may opt to upload an actual photo (i.e. ground-level or aerial shot), a plat map, or a sketch (while abiding by all copyright requirements).

Effective Date: Beginning Tuesday, February 5, 2019, this policy will include all newly listed Vacant Land properties. Having at least one (1) exterior photo is currently required on all other property categories.

2. A MOTION was MADE, SECONDED, and CARRIED to apply the initial fine for failure to upload a primary photo and the appropriate listing or property documents to a new listing at 48 hours and every five (5) days thereafter the required documents or photos have not been uploaded.

Commentary: Primary photos are now required for all listings. Listing documents/disclosures are also required for Residential, Condominium, and Multi-Family property types (with the exceptions of leases and new construction listings). Previously, the repeating fine was applied every seven (7) days on listings without photos and every 10 days on listings without documents.

Effective Date: Beginning Tuesday, February 5, 2018 the new fine schedule will go into effect.

3. A MOTION was MADE, SECONDED, and CARRIED to allow a property to be entered into the MLS as a Residential and a Vacant Land listing with the appropriate disclosures, remarks and references to the other entered listing. In addition, Realcomp has added “Residential Structure” to the Site Description feature group on Vacant Land listings.

Commentary: Previously, MLS Subscribers could only list a property once as either Residential or Vacant Land. This policy modification now allows MLS Subscribers to list a Residential property, that could be torn down in order to build a new structure, under both Residential and Vacant Land at the same time. Additionally, the Residential listing should reference the Vacant Land listing in the remarks section and vice versa. The Residential Structure feature must also be selected and displayed on the Vacant Land version of the listing.Lastly, whichever listing does not sell should be unconditionally withdrawn from the system when the other sells.

Effective Date: Tuesday, January 8, 2019.

4. A MOTION was MADE, SECONDED, and CARRIED to change the current policy regarding garages to allow tandem garages to be considered as two (2) car garages.

Commentary: Previously, garage sizes were determined by the size of the garage door. Now, the size should be determined based on the number of cars the garage can actually hold.

Effective Date: Tuesday, January 8, 2019.

5. A MOTION was MADE, SECONDED, and CARRIED to change the current MLS policy regarding lockbox showings to read as follows: Lockboxes AF. “Lockbox access cannot be given to any other persons other than the individual expressly approved by the seller or listing broker and distribution of this access will subject the subscriber to a fine.

Commentary: Lockbox access, once given to an individual authorized by the seller or listing broker, is not to be shared with anyone else. If an agent makes an appointment to show a listing and cannot make the appointment, he/she should cancel. If an associate of that agent decides to show the property, they should make their own appointment to do so.

Effective Date: Tuesday, January 8, 2019.