1. Section 8 of RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) prohibits any fee, kickback or anything of value in exchange for referrals.

2. An exception to RESPA exists known as “affiliated business arrangement,” which comes with its own set of rules that are important to understand when using one.

3. A court could hold a real estate brokerage firm vicariously liable if the agent’s relationship with a title company is not RESPA compliant. Even if the broker has nothing to do with that relationship and/or receives no financial benefit.

4.. Conversations agents have about homes coming for sale fall under marketing and thus could result in a clear cooperation violation.

5. An MLS cannot regulate office exclusives, other than to require the listing broker to submit a disclosure form signed by the seller in which the seller acknowledges giving up the benefit of the MLS (the local MLS can dictate form to be used). Office Exclusives cannot be marketed outside of the Office. GLAR Requires all Office Exclusives to be filed with the MLS within 1 business day. Office Exclusives may not be marketed outside of the office.

6.MLS listings can only be shared via an IDX (Internet Data eXchange) link where required listing brokerage information is displayed. Example: sharing directly through FlexMLS.

7. An agent hiring a photographer to do listings photos does not mean that agent automatically owns the copyright on said photos.

8. If the seller changes listing brokers, they have no right to authorize the new broker to use the same listing photo.

9. Likewise, buyers obtain no rights in the listing photos through the purchase of the home. Buyers do not have the right to require an MLS to remove all photos of the home that they have purchased. GLAR will not remove any photos from MLS but will mark the photos as private.

10. Buyer’s agents are NOT permitted to use MLS photos to announce that they have represented the buyers in a sale. Buyer’s agents may take their own picture, but only share after closing and with proper listing broker attribution.

Bonus material: Top 10 Things Real Estate Agents Should Know About the Sellers Disclosure Act

October 2023 Greater Lansing Association of REALTORS® Industry Update on October 19, 2023.

Thank you to presenters:

-Gail Anderson, McClelland and Anderson
-Jeff Bone: 2023 President, Greater Lansing Association of REALTORS®