Relisting

Is the withdrawal and re-entry of listings (“relisting”) a violation of the Canopy MLS rules? Maybe.

The “Canopy MLS Rules and Regulations” (Section 1.14: Temporarily-Off-Market/Withdrawal of Listing Prior to Expiration) states that the listing brokerage may withdraw a listing from the MLS before the expiration date of the listing agreement only when authorized by the seller and agreed to by the listing brokerage in writing.

The rule also says any change to a listing agreement shall not constitute a new listing unless the change is made following the expiration. The purpose of this provision is to stress to agents that a simple price change or other small change to a listing is not a valid reason for withdrawing and re-inputting a listing.

Relisting is potentially a violation of the rule if the seller’s written instructions were not obtained. However, if the seller instructs the agent to withdraw a listing (and the Canopy MLS rules require it to be in writing), then that is what the agent must do.

If a complaint is made, Canopy MLS staff might request the written documentation from the seller authorizing the withdrawal. If this documentation is requested and the listing agent cannot provide the seller’s written authorization within 48 hours, then a Category II violation has occurred, which carries an immediate $100 fine.

If the listing brokerage renews or extends the listing after it has expired, the listing brokerage may either return the listing to “Active” or enter a new listing (Section 1.19: Expiration of Listings).

The MLS system tracks the listing’s days on market (DOM) by its MLS number and the Cumulative Days on Market (CDOM) by the property’s address. When a new listing is entered, “CDOM” will only reset to zero if the previous listing closed or has been off market (Temporarily off Market, Expired or Withdrawn) for more than 90 days. In addition, agents can retrieve the property’s complete listing history by address to determine whether there are previous listings in the system for the property.

Want to know more? Read “Who Knows How New Your ‘New’ Listing Really Is?”, available on the members-only website, Realtor.org.