After months of talks, RESO and CMLS step away from merger
The orgs, both key to the MLS ecosystem, decided against forming a joint entity, saying structural and governance differences outweighed potential benefits.
Leaders from the Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS) and the Real Estate Standards Organization (RESO) have decided not to move forward with creating a new joint organization after nearly a year of exploring the idea.
In an email to members, leaders of both organizations said they had "engaged in thoughtful exploration" of whether a new entity could bring together advocacy, standards development and industry leadership in new ways. Those talks revealed "areas of strong alignment," but also highlighted governance and structural challenges of forming a single organization.
"This decision reflects a disciplined evaluation of how best to serve our respective missions and the broader real estate marketplace," wrote Nicole Jensen, 2026 chair of CMLS, and Rebecca Jensen, 2026 chair of RESO.
What CMLS and RESO do: CMLS represents MLS organizations and focuses heavily on advocacy and operational issues facing MLSs.
RESO, meanwhile, develops the data standards used across the real estate industry to ensure MLS systems, brokerages and technology platforms can exchange information efficiently.
What this means and what's next: Clint Skutchan, T3 Sixty EVP for Organized Real Estate, said the non-merger makes sense. (Note: Real Estate News is an editorially independent division of T3 Sixty.)
"I think there's greater clarity now moving forward as to what each entity's role is, versus trying to blend them," Skutchan said. "My personal opinion is that to have tried to put these two organizations that have very different board structures and very different strategies and purposes likely would have diluted each at a really pivotal time for the industry."
Both organizations said they will continue collaborating on industry issues where their missions overlap, particularly around data standards and support for MLS organizations.
"Our shared commitment to the industry remains unchanged," the chairs wrote. "We look forward to continuing to collaborate in ways that best serve MLSs, brokers, technology partners and the real estate marketplace as a whole."