“If
your
seller
instructs
you
not
to
offer
compensation,
enter
a
value
of
0
into
the
compensation
fields
in

Pinergy
[the
MLS
platform],”
the
email
states.

The
email
also
notes
that
MLS
PIN
is
not
opting
into
the
nationwide commission
lawsuit settlement
agreement reached
by
the National
Association
of
Realtors (NAR),
choosing
instead
to
move
forward
with
its
own.

“Even
though
MLS
PIN’s
rules
changes
presented
as
part
of
the
settlement
in
Boston
are
still
awaiting
final
court
approval,
MLS
PIN
has
decided
to
start
implementing
those
rules
changes
now,”
the
email
states.
“If
the
Court
in
Boston
does
not
approve
our
settlement,
we
may
need
to
further
modify
our
rules
and
Pinergy
or
revert
to
our
previous
rules.”

Some
of
the

additional
changes
that
MLS
PIN
is
looking
to
implement,
as
outlined
in
its
settlement
include:

• “Offers
  of
  compensation,
  if
  any,
  will
  be
  made
  by
  the
  seller.
  Listing
  brokers
  and
  cooperating
  brokers
  will
  no
  longer
  split
  commissions.
• Listing
  agreements
  must
  disclose
  that
  the
  seller
  is
  neither
  required
  to
  offer
  compensation
  nor
  required
  to
  accede
  to
  any
  cooperating
  broker’s
  request
  for
  compensation.
  The
  listing
  broker
  must
  disclose
  this
  to
  the
  seller
  before
  the
  seller
  signs
  the
  listing
  agreement.
• If
  a
  seller
  elects
  to
  offer
  compensation,
  the
  listing
  agreement
  must
  also
  say
  that
  the
  cooperating
  broker
  will
  be
  an
  intended
  third-party
  beneficiary
  of
  the
  agreement
  with
  the
  right
  to
  enforce
  the
  same.
• Before
  posting
  a
  listing,
  the
  listing
  broker
  must
  certify,
  in
  a
  checkbox
  designated
  for
  this
  purpose
  in
  Pinergy,
  that
  the
  listing
  broker
  has
  notified
  the
  seller
  of
  the
  seller’s
  rights
  not
  to
  offer
  compensation
  and
  not
  to
  accede
  to
  a
  cooperating
  broker’s
  request
  for
  compensation.”

MLS
PIN
did
not
specify
when
these
changes
would
be
put
in
place.
But
in
two
emails
dated
June
24,
also
obtained
by
HousingWire,
the
MLS
told
customers
that
new
data
fields
would
be
“made
available
in
the
Property
Resource
for
Compensation
within
roughly
30
days.”

The
new
fields
are
related
to
cooperating
compensation
offered;
facilitator
compensation
offered;
sub-agent
compensation
type;
cooperating
agent
compensation
type;
facilitator
compensation
type;
and
the
new
option(s)
to
the
compensation
based
on
field
(compensation
not
offered
and
potential
compensation
not
offered
on
the
MLS).

According
to
the
email,
the
database
field
for
the
Property
Resource
for
Compensation
“will
be
null
or
empty
if
the
broker
selects
‘Not
Offered’
under
the
two
new
compensation
fields
and
the
already
provided
Sub
Agency
Compensation
field.
If
any
of
the
three
fields
return
null
or
is
empty,
please
display
‘Not
Offered’
for
compensation.”

In
June
2023,
MLS
PIN
reached
a
settlement
agreement
with
the
Nosalek
plaintiffs.
But
in
late
September
of
last
year,

the
DOJ
intervened,
stating
that
it
had
“significant
concerns”
about
the
settlement. 

In
February
2024,
the
DOJ
filed
a

statement
of
interest
in
the
Nosalek
suit,
in
which
it
called
for
the
end
of
cooperative
compensation.
Earlier
this
month,
MLS
PIN
and
the
Nosalek
plaintiffs
filed

a
legal
brief
in
which
they
expressed
their
disagreement
with
the
DOJ’s
position
on
cooperative
compensation
and
urged
Judge
Patti
B.
Saris,
who
is
overseeing
the
suit,
to
approve
the
settlement.

Earlier
this
week,
Saris
delayed
her
own
ruling
on
MLS
PIN’s
settlement
agreement
until
after
the
court
overseeing
the
final
approval
of
NAR’s
settlement
agreement
issues
a
decision
in
late
November.

The
DOJ
did
not
return
a
request
for
comment.