Important Seller Concessions Fields Update

For those of you that attended or viewed the video of the recent MLS policy change seminar you will recall it was indicated that it was still a moving target. This message will confirm that to be true! You were advised that, as of August 13, the compensation offered fields would no longer appear on FlexMLS. That is still true. They are gone.

You were also advised that on that same date, three new fields would appear as follows:

• Sellers Concessions Y/N

• Concessions Type ($ or %)

• Concessions Amount (numeric only field)

Over the past few weeks, MichRIC has observed a significant shift in the approach by MLS organizations nationwide. Several MLSs, including the two largest in the country, have now opted to hold off implementing two of the above three concession fields due to potential liability. The primary concern driving these decisions is the potential misuse of these fields during the ongoing transition related to the NAR settlement.

In speaking with MichRIC legal counsel, who represents multiple MLSs across the country, MichRIC was advised to also delay the implementation of these fields, at least for a short period. At a special meeting called, MichRIC has decided to postpone the implementation of the above fields until such time as it can be discussed further at its upcoming September 6 meeting.

Please note that none of the above will affect the concessions field when reporting information gathered on sales of listings. The concessions field will remain a required, open-text field when closing a listing.

In the meantime, your GRAR Board of Directors voted last week to permit, at the listing broker/agent’s option, the disclosure and publication of Seller Concessions in the Public Remarks field. It should be disclosed as either a flat fee, a percentage of the sale price, or a simple statement indicating that the seller has offered concessions to the Buyer (again, disclosure of the specific amount is optional on the part of the Listing Broker/Agent, in consultation with the seller). Also remember that the offering of seller concessions cannot be limited to or conditional upon its use as a cooperative or buyer brokerage fee, and Seller concessions offered via the MLS ARE NOT BINDING until they are established and agreed to in an executed purchase agreement.

Further clarification: In response to many questions we have received and in reviewing listings submitted recently, that in the absence of a specific percentage or flat fee amount of concessions agreed to by the seller in the contract, the NO box should be checked. The field in the contract was not intended to leave it open for possible consideration by the seller since every listing would be able to check YES, i.e. every seller would likely consider concessions for the right price. That’s not how the field is intended to be used.

The question to be asked is: At the list price, is the seller willing to offer concessions and, if yes, how much are they willing to offer? Only in these cases where the seller has agreed to a specific amount should you check ‘YES’ in sellers concessions in the contract.

The bottom line is that the seller’s concession information was not intended to be ‘maybe’ or that the seller ‘might’ consider it at the right price. It’s either specific as to what the seller is offering at the list price or the answer in the contract is ‘NO’.