NAR Adds Flexibility for Sellers

WASHINGTON — “Informed consumer choice” might well be a catchphrase for the National Association of Realtors® as it navigates an industry-wide dialogue about the options for marketing real estate listings.

On Tuesday, after months of deliberation and input from a wide range of stakeholders, NAR President Kevin Sears announced that the association’s Clear Cooperation Policy will remain in place. However, the NAR Leadership Team has introduced a new MLS policy statement that will work alongside CCP to gives brokers the flexibility to meet the needs of selling clients while also supporting fair housing by providing buyers and their agents with equal access to MLS property information.

Both CCP and the new policy statement, Multiple Listing Options for Sellers, are part of NAR’s Handbook on Multiple Listing Policy, which guides Realtor® associations in the operation of MLSs. The rules are designed to permit optimum service and efficiency in MLS systems.

Multiple Listing Options for Sellers: What you need to know  

The Multiple Listing Options for Sellers policy statement was developed following many months of analysis and consultation with MLS and association leaders; brokerages of all sizes; agents; multicultural organizations; and fair housing, policy, technology and legal experts. It introduces a category of exempt listings called “delayed marketing exempt listings.”

The new policy goes into effect immediately, but MLSs have until Sept. 30 to implement the change.

• Sellers choose. The exemption allows sellers to instruct their listing agent to delay marketing their property through Internet Data Exchange (“IDX”) and syndication for a specified period of time. During the delayed marketing period, home sellers and their listing agent can market the listing in a manner consistent with the sellers’ needs and interests.
• MLSs determine delay period. NAR will not dictate the length of the delayed marketing window, Sears says. Instead, NAR is encouraging MLSs to engage with participants and stakeholders before the Sept. 30 implementation deadline to determine what will work best in the local market or region.
• Signed disclosure required. Listing agents representing sellers who choose to delay the public marketing of their listing must secure a signed disclosure from the sellers documenting their informed consent to waive the benefits of immediate public marketing through IDX and syndication. Seller disclosure is required for both delayed marketing exempt listings and office exclusive exempt listings. (An office exclusive listing, as defined under CCP, refers to one in which the sellers have directed that their property may not be disseminated through the MLS and may not be publicly marketed. An MLS may require that office exclusive listings be submitted but may not disseminate them to other MLS participants and subscribers.)
• MLS visibility still required. Delayed marketing exempt listings are filed with the MLS and available for other MLS participants and subscribers to access and share with their clients and consumers. However, the MLS and other participants and subscribers are delayed from displaying the listing through an IDX feed and syndicating those listings to other entities.

The Sept. 30 implementation deadline allows MLSs time to make technical changes associated with the new exemption and engage with brokers and stakeholders to gather input on the flexibility and accommodations consumers need in their local market.

Multiple Listing Options for Sellers - Infographic

What CCP requires and how it came to be

It has been five years since the Clear Cooperation Policy went into effect. For MLSs that are owned and operated by Realtor associations, that policy requires broker participants to submit listings to the MLS for cooperation with other MLS participants within one business day of marketing the property to the public.

By the time the CCP policy was put in place, the issue of off-MLS listings had been the subject of intense debate for several years. With private broker networks springing up to keep listings in the hands of select agents, concerns were raised about not only the integrity of the MLS but also transparency and fairness to buyers. NAR did not take a stand on the use of private networks, but it did express concerns about the negative impact of bypassing established local broker marketplaces.

CCP was crafted by NAR’s Multiple Listing Policy Committee and approved by NAR’s Board of Directors in November 2019, with an implementation date of May 1, 2020. The policy did not prohibit “coming soon” listings, marketing to private networks, or office exclusives. As mentioned earlier, an office exclusives exception was written into CCP. Rather, it set out to ensure that all MLS participants and buyers have a full view of the inventory in their market and sellers have full exposure of their property.

Challenges to CCP sprang up almost immediately after it took effect, including lawsuits filed by two private listing networks. Critics have said the policy disadvantages sellers who might not want the marketing history of their listing visible to buyers. Other industry leaders have expressed support for CCP.

NAR says, “Our goal is and always has been to foster an efficient, fair and transparent real estate market for consumers and to help brokers and agents carry out their ethical duty to put their clients’ interests first.”

A broader range of marketing options

The Multiple Listing Options for Sellers policy preserves CCP while enabling a new marketing choice for sellers and their agents.

NAR also clarified that one-to-one communication about listings from the listing broker to another broker will not trigger CCP requirements. However, multi-brokerage communications about a listing will constitute public marketing under CCP.

The new policy doesn’t change an MLS’s local mandatory submission deadlines or CCP and its requirement to file a listing with the MLS within one business day of public marketing.

“NAR continually evaluates its MLS policies to ensure they best serve our members and their consumers while also mitigating and avoiding potential legal risks,” Sears says. “We are pleased to have found a solution that reflects the best and balanced interests of the industry. The Leadership Team and I are grateful for the support, engagement and passion that our members have shown throughout this process.”

© 2025 National Association of Realtors® (NAR)