The National Association of Realtors (NAR) certainly generated headlines on Tuesday when it announced the adoption of its new policy for “delayed marketing exempt listings,” which it is framing as a compliment to its contentious Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP).
Despite the headlines, Phillip Cantrell, the founder of Benchmark Realty, characterized the move as a “nothing burger.”
“It is just classic NAR propaganda. This is what happens when you have government by a committee of 900,” Cantrell said. “The don’t know what they are doing and they don’t know why they’re not doing anything the right way. They just can’t figure it out because they are all chasing their tails.”
Under what NAR is calling its MLS Listing Options for Sellers policy, sellers will have the option to delay marketing their listing publicly as long as they sign the required disclosure. NAR noted that the policy is designed to exist in conjunction with CCP, which requires listing brokers to list a property on the MLS within 24 hours of publicly marketing it. If a seller chooses to pursue this delayed listing strategy, they will be able to instruct the listing agent to delay marketing a listing through Internet Data Exchange (IDX) and syndication for a period of time, with each local MLS being allowed to determine the maximum length of time a listing can be delayed from public marketing. During the time period, the listing will be able to be seen by other MLS participants through their local MLS platform.
The new policy went into effect on Tuesday and must be implemented by MLSs by September 30 of this year.
In structuring the policy this way and giving control to the local MLSs, Cantrell believes this will, in effect, mark the end of CCP.
“They just want to push the burden of responsibility and liability off to somebody else,” Cantrell said. “Now the MLSs are going to say, ‘Well we aren’t going to enforce this for you.’ So, in other words, that is the end of Clear Cooperation. They didn’t come up with a solution, they just side stepped the whole issue.”
Cantrell is not wrong in saying that some MLSs have already made the decision to not enforce CCP. Utah-based Park City Board of Realtors most notably made this decision last October, when it announced that it would no longer be enforcing the rule.
But while Cantrell believes local MLSs will not be pleased with this added responsibility, Saul Klein, an industry veteran and the CEO of San Diego MLS, disagrees.
“The most important thing to me, is that they are leaving discretion to the local MLSs,” Klein said. “I think that is really a very good piece. To allow the MLSs to talk to their broker communities and figure out how to make things work best for them and their clients in smart.”
Klein said SDMLS will be updating its policy as it had planned allowing listing agents to keep listings in a “delayed marketing” status for as long as they want, but unlike before when they had the option to syndicate coming soon listings to IDX feeds, they would no longer be able to do this due to NAR’s new policy.
Bright MLS, one of the largest MLSs in the country, made a similar move in the summer of 2024, removing the time limit for “coming soon” listings.
“Today’s announcement from NAR affirms what innovative MLSs like Bright know — no two home sellers are the same, and brokers and agents need flexibility to best serve their clients. Our position has never been to dictate brokerage business models,” Brian Donnellan, the president and CEO of Bright MLS, wrote in an email. “We’ve always been committed to ensuring that our policies meet the needs of our subscribers in a changing market, and that will always be the case.”
But while some feel that NAR’s move reiterates the stances they have taken on CCP, others do not feel that NAR’s new policy pushes things far enough.
Compass responds
“With NAR introducing a new MLS policy to ‘expand choice for consumers,’ they acknowledged the Clear Cooperation Policy restricted home seller choice,” Robert Reffkin, the CEO of Compass, wrote in an email. “Expanding choice means that NAR is still not letting homeowners choose precisely how to market their homes, but this is a small step in the right direction. MLSs shouldn’t restrict how homeowners market their homes at all, but by providing them with a longer period of unrestricted public marketing, like 30 days, MLSs reduce their legal risk and homeowners gain more choice that they need and deserve.”
Reffkin and Compass have been vocal critics of CCP and have called upon MLSs and industry professionals to push back against the policy by not enforcing it. Reffkin has also called out Washington State-based Windermere Real Estate for its role in upholding Northwest MLS’ ban on office exclusives in a post on Instagram. (NWMLS is not NAR affiliated.)
Mixed reaction among large brokerages
Jason Haber, a Compass agent and the co-founder of NAR alternative the American Real Estate Association alongside The Agency founder Mauricio Umansky, agrees with Reffkin. This new policy is only a fraction of what he and his trade organization were hoping for, but he too feels that it is a step in the right direction.
“They didn’t fully embrace what we were advocating for, but at the same time, let’s be fair, having this new designation will make a difference,” Haber said. “We believe in consumer autonomy and that they should have the right to make decisions about where, how and when their home is listed. We believe that is a priority for the consumer and did we get there today? No, but did we move in the right direction? Yes.”
Real estate industry giant Anywhere also has a bit of a pessimistic view of the policy.
“We have been vocal in our position on Clear Cooperation, advocating for reform that balances buyer visibility and seller choice,” an Anywhere spokesperson wrote in an email. “However, it’s clear there is significant momentum around private listings, and we do not believe today’s decision will change that. As the industry evolves, we are focused on equipping our agents with tools and technology to leverage our scale and remain advantaged in any market.”
Unlike staunch CCP critics like the American Real Estate Association and Compass, Anywhere has previously argued for a middle ground in the CCP debate.
“I have been vocal about the Anywhere stance that we should reform, rather than repeal the rule, and hoped that more leaders in our industry would join a good-faith dialogue to strike a balanced result for an issue that has significant potential to change how housing transactions are done,” Sue Yannaccone, the president and CEO of Anywhere Brands and Anywhere Advisors, wrote in an op-ed on HousingWire last month. “Instead of discussing a potential compromise like a one-to-three-week grace period for posting to an MLS, we’ve seen the repeal proponents bang the drum about how the policy hurts sellers by showing days-on-market and price reductions.”
Side CEO Guy Gal, expressed more optimism on the policy, saying that he and his firm supports sellers’ right to choose how to market their home, as well as policies that promote fair access to housing opportunities, something that he feels NAR’s new policy achieves. But there are aspects of this debate that give him pause.
“Side does not believe that it is in the best interest of homeowners, buyers, and communities for large corporate brokerages to instruct thousands of agents to encourage sellers to keep their properties off market,” Gal wrote in an email.
Zillow, eXp, BHHS, RE/MAX respond
Zillow, who has been a vocal supporter of CCP, shared a similar take. Zillow chief industry development officer Errol Samuelson said this move by NAR to uphold CCP reinforces Zillow’s belief that “withholding listings off the MLS and behind a velvet rope limits competition, reduces transparency, and disadvantages buyers, sellers and agents.”
“Requiring a formal seller disclosure further underscores the risk of holding listings off-market and that privately listing a property should be the exception, not the rule,” Samuelson added in his email. “Broad listing exposure remains the most reliable and more equitable way for sellers to maximize price and minimize time on the market, while ensuring buyers have equal access to housing inventory and all agents in a market can compete fairly to earn business. We will continue working with brokers and MLSs to support policies that put the consumer first.”
Leo Pareja, the CEO of eXp Realty, also expressed some concerns about how sellers may be influenced to use a private listing network over more public marketing.
“My biggest concern is the practice of steering sellers into believing that limited exposure is the best option, even when empirical data suggests otherwise,” Pareja wrote in an email. “I support maximum transparency, education and disclosure, always keeping our consumers’ best interests in mind, and fulfilling the fiduciary responsibilities we all agreed to uphold when we earned our real estate licenses.”
Like Zillow, HomeServices of America executive vice president Chris Kelly said his firm is “eager to collaborate” with local MLSs to understand these changes, as well as educate agents and their clients about the choices they will now have.
“Upon initial review, these changes appear to be a thoughtful response to the various concerns raised about the Clear Cooperation Policy,” Kelly wrote in an email. “The introduction of the Delayed Marketing Exemption provides much-needed flexibility that was previously lacking, which had pushed exclusive listings even further into the shadows.”
Another major national brand, RE/MAX, is also pleased with the policy shift.
“RE/MAX is pleased to see transparency and fairness continue as cornerstones in real estate,” a RE/MAX spokesperson wrote in an emailed statement. “The recent introduction of the Modified Listing Options Solution policy provides a balanced approach, addressing diverse seller preferences while preserving the intent of the Clear Cooperation Policy.”
In addition, RE/MAX stressed that it is important for agents to be transparent with their clients, by clearly outlining the implications of delaying the marketing of listings.
“Ultimately, promoting listings to a broader audience remains in the best interest for most buyers and sellers – a position that RE/MAX has consistently held,” the spokesperson added.
As the broker-owner of a small independent firm in Wellesley, Massachusetts, Chip Stella had one of the most enthusiastic reactions to NAR’s announcement.
“I’m very happy NAR has stood its ground on CCP. Adding the delayed marketing exemption gives the seller more flexibility while at the same time agreeing to expose their listing to both buyers and agents,” Stella, one of the broker-owners of Rutledge Properties, said. “Today’s decision also shows a willingness by NAR to take input and make important updates to CCP from both consumers and its membership.”
Prior to the policy announcement, Stella expressed concern about what a possible repeal of CCP would do to small independent brokers.
“The MLS is a data source for buyers, sellers and agents. It is not a marketing tool only for sellers and I feel like that is what all the CCP opponents keep talking about,” Stella said prior to Tuesday’s announcement. “The MLS is really important for me, my brokerage and my agents to do the best job that we can for consumers, because to do that job we need to have access to all of the available listings.”
He noted that having access to all available listings was not only important for buyers to make an educated decision about which house to purchase, but also for sellers and listing agents to be able to accurately price homes.
With NAR pushing the decision on how to implement this new rule onto local MLS, the debate surrounding CCP is clearly not going away, but instead fragmenting to the over 500 MLSs nationwide. But at least for now, Stella’s worst fears don’t appear to be materializing.
