After staying silent on the topic for nearly two months, the Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS) finally weighed in on the debate surrounding the Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP) of the National Association of Realtors (NAR).
In an email sent to members last week, CMLS CEO Denee Evans wrote that the group believes that CCP should remain in place and that any modifications made “should preserve the spirit and effect of the policy.”
Evans’ email also informed members that CMLS had sent a letter to NAR expressing its views on the policy. In the email to members, CMLS wrote that it does not believe many of the concerns that have been raised are “inherently invalid.”
“None of them, alone or in aggregate, merit the removal or significant weakening of a policy so critical to the integrity of our housing market,” Evans wrote in the email.
Additionally, in its letter to NAR, CMLS states that hastily repealing CCP would be “reckless and unnecessary,” and that NAR should not view CCP as an “either/or problem, but an opportunity to fine-tune mandatory listing submission.”
According to CMLS, conceding the “competitive vibrancy, efficiency, openness, and equity” for “lesser, more shortsighted considerations,” would be a mistake. Evans wrote that if CCP is repealed, sellers would “pay dearly” and buyers might find it “more difficult, and perhaps more expensive, to see a full picture of their options.”
“Agents will awaken each morning to a constrained view into their market. Brokers will find it more difficult to compete as listings are systematically held within private networks and a few market-dominating firms,” the email reads.
In the view of CMLS, the office exclusive exemption, which permits brokerages to hold listings within a single company, has been the impetus for some brokerages advocating for the repeal of CCP.
“We believe this is risky in a world where consumer, regulatory, and legal scrutiny on our industry has never been more acute. The optics of hoarding homes are as bad as the actual effects,” Evans wrote.
In her letter to NAR, Evans wrote that a hasty reaction to the criticism of CCP may encourage “brokers to ‘silo’ their own listings,” which would “only assist larger firms with bigger market shares.”
“Abandoning CCP now functions to increase barriers to entry for newer, smaller, innovative firms, in favor of larger, entrenched players,” the letter to NAR stated.
Despite being a strong advocate for CCP, CMLS noted that it “support ideas for updating the policy so long as its fundamental purpose is preserved.” Sources have previously told HousingWire that NAR is still reviewing CCP and discussing potential changes to the policy.
