| Multiple Listing Service (MLS) (also Multiple Listing System or Multiple Listings Service) is a database that allows a broker representing a seller to share information about the property for sale widely with brokers representing potential buyers. |
The purpose of the MLS to is enable a more efficient marketplace to occur between brokers by distributing information. When a real estate agent is introduced to potential home buyer, the agent can peer into the MLS system to retrieve information about homes for sale in that area. The MLS permits that agent to view information about homes represented by OTHER brokers, just as a securities broker can see the price of stock put up for sale by other brokers through the securities exchanges. The MLS is an exchange for real estate, just as the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ are exchanges for securities, but the MLS is not an open exchange or a public exchange. Unlike securities exchanges, which have government oversight (the Securities and Exchange Commission), the MLSs are governed by private entities and the rules are set by those private entities with no state or federal oversight.
The MLS typically combines the listings for all available properties that are represented by a broker that is a member of the MLS.
Membership in the MLS is generally considered to be essential to the practice of real estate brokerage -- a broker that is not a member of the MLS cannot put information into the MLS or access information put in by other brokers.
Most MLSs restrict membership and access to real estate agents who are 1) licensed by the state, and 2) members of the trade association, the National Association of Realtors. Thus, a person selling his or her own home (for sale by owner) can generally not put a listing for the home into the MLS. And, a properly licensed broker that wishes to not join NAR, the trade association, or to operate a business outside the NAR's rules, cannot join the MLS.
In general, MLSs are private entities that set their own rules for membership, access, and sharing of information. In many cases, a local MLS is a company owned and operated by brokers that use it. In some cases, the MLS is owned by the local or state trade association of real estate agents. In most cases, MLSs abide by rules set by the National Association of Realtors (NAR). See self regulatory organizations.
The general public only cannot gain access to information about sellers' homes in the MLS. Individual brokers who are members of the MLS may provide information to potential buyers in different ways -- providing specific listings on paper in an office is customary. An agent may also email or fax listings. The ability of a real estate broker to use his or her website to permit a potential buyer to see home sellers' information in the MLS is the subject of significant controversy.
NAR has set policies that permit brokers to show only limited MLS information on their websites. NAR has an ownership interest in a company (Homestore) that operates a website that has exclusive rights to display significant MLS information. That site is www.Realtor.com.
The U.S. Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit in September 2006 against the National Association of Realtors over the NAR's policy that restricts brokers from establishing websites that show home sellers information that is in the MLS. the DOJ's antitrust claims also include NAR rules that exclude certain kinds of brokers from membership in MLSs.
Currently, in the United States there is no one central MLS. MLS's have city-wide or regional coverage. In 2005, there were approximately 800 MLSs in America, each dedicated to a city or region.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License (see Copyrights for details).