Section 1.1.13 Remarks 

• Any offers of compensation of any type, including from seller or listing broker to cooperating brokers. This is prohibited in all remarks (e.g., marketing, agent, and advertising) and in all field, photos, and listing attachments.

Section 1.2 Detail on Listings Entered into The Service 

• A listing agreement or property data form, when filed with the multiple listing service by the listing broker, shall be complete in every detail which is ascertainable as specified on the property data form; provided, however, that no field, photo, attachment, or supplement file on a listing in the Service may include an offer of compensation from seller or listing broker to cooperating brokers or an offer of a seller concession that is limited to or conditioned on the retention of or payment to any other brokerage. (R)

Section 1.2.1 Required Disclosures to Seller 

• Participants must disclose to prospective sellers in conspicuous language that broker commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable:
• in their listing agreement or
• in pre-closing documents, if any, unless (i) or (ii) are a government-specified form.
• With government-specified forms, Participants must include a separate written disclosure statement with conspicuous language expressly stating that broker commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable.
• Listing Participants must conspicuously disclose to sellers, and obtain the seller’s authority, for any payment or offer of payment that the listing broker or seller will make to another broker, agent, or other representative (e.g., real estate attorney) acting for buyers; and such disclosure must be in writing, be provided in advance of any payment or agreement to pay to another broker acting for buyer and specify the amount or rate of any such payment.

Section 2.1 Disclosures to Prospective Buyers

• Participants must disclose to prospective buyers with whom they work in conspicuous language that broker commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable (i) in the Participant’s agreement with the buyer, or (ii) in pre-closing documents, if any, unless (i) or (ii) are a government-specified form. With government-specified forms, Participants must include a separate written disclosure statement with conspicuous language expressly stating that broker commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable.

Section 2.2 Written Buyer Agreements Required

• A Participant working with a buyer must enter into a written agreement with the buyer prior to the buyer touring any home. The written agreement must comply with the following:

1. To the extent that the Participant will receive compensation from any source under the agreement, the agreement must specify and conspicuously disclose the amount or rate of compensation the Participant will receive or how this amount will be determined;
2. Any amount of compensation reflected must be objectively ascertainable and may not be open-ended (e.g., “buyer broker compensation shall be whatever amount the seller is offering to the buyer” is considered open-ended);
3. Such a Participant may not receive compensation for brokerage services from any source that exceeds the amount or rate agreed to in the agreement with the buyer, unless the Participant is the listing broker.

Section 4.5 Services Advertised as “Free”

• MLS Participants and subscribers must not represent that their brokerage services to a client or customer are free or available at no cost to their clients, unless the participant or subscriber will receive no financial compensation from any source for those services.

Section 4.6 No Filtering of Listings

• Participants and Subscribers must not filter out or restrict MLS listings that are communicated to customers or clients based on the existence or level of compensation offered to the cooperating broker or the name of a brokerage or agent.