Risk mitigation, local control drive MLS Handbook revisions
NAR’s manual for MLSs received a thorough scrubbing, with several policies repealed to reduce liability and “promote the MLS’s independent decision-making.”
HOUSTON — The National Association of Realtors has made several changes to its Multiple Listing Services Handbook as the organization focuses on risk mitigation after years of costly litigation.
At NAR NXT 2025, the executive committee made 18 revisions to the handbook following a first-ever "comprehensive antitrust risk assessment" of MLS policies, according to NAR. Six of the changes related to MLS access, while other updates involved removing policies that were ambiguous, outdated or not enforced.
The changes — the most extensive in 20 years, NAR said — will be reflected in the 2026 handbook, which is scheduled for release in January.
Non-Realtor access to the MLS: The updates included the repeal of several policies regarding non-member requests for MLS access, including guidance for local MLSs around vetting applicants, limiting access rights and informing state and national associations of the request.
The rationale for scrapping the policies, in most cases, was that "requiring association membership is a matter of local discretion," and repealing the more prescriptive policies "will promote the MLS's independent decision-making" — suggesting that NAR is looking to decentralize some policies that have become sticking points in the past couple of years.
Mandatory membership rules, in particular, have been the subject of several lawsuits — and a source of concern for some in the industry, including Canopy Realtor Association CEO Anne Marie DeCatsye. Requiring Realtor membership to access the MLS is "a liability risk waiting to happen," DeCatsye told Real Estate News in June.
"I would rather stand on our own two feet and not be reliant on NAR MLS policy, because that is what got us all in trouble," DeCatsye added.
Unenforceable or outdated policies: Other policy statements were removed because NAR had never created a process to facilitate or enforce them. Examples included establishing MLS service areas, forming reciprocal agreements and determining how MLSs are named.
A lengthy policy outlining security measures for issuing and storing keys was repealed because the guidance was outdated, while a policy specifying the amount of fines for MLS rule violators was removed because it appeared to be arbitrary. In both cases, it was noted that individual MLSs should determine how to handle such issues.
An entire section on MLS disciplinary guidelines was removed because it was deemed purely informational, and again, better managed at the local level.
A modernization effort: "These updates to the MLS Handbook strengthen and modernize NAR's policies and reflect our efforts to align MLS policies with how real estate professionals do business today," Kevin Sears, outgoing NAR president, said in a news release.
The recommendations put forth by the risk assessment committee, he added, "will help our organization and our industry move forward."