CMLS appoints new CEO at a ‘pivotal time’ for the industry
Jessica Edgerton, chief legal officer at LeadingRE, will join CMLS on July 1. The move, she said, comes “at a moment when our work has never mattered more.”
One of the real estate industry's most prominent trade associations has a new leader.
The Council of Multiple Listing Services, which represents roughly half of the nation's MLSs, has appointed Jessica Edgerton as CEO, the organization revealed today.
Edgerton will move into the role previously held by Denee Evans, who announced her planned departure last year after leading CMLS for more than a decade. Evans officially stepped down on May 31, with REdistribute CEO Amy Gorce currently serving as interim CEO.
An organized real estate leader with a legal POV
A former associate counsel at NAR and the current chief legal officer at Leading Real Estate Companies of the World, Edgerton brings deep legal expertise to CMLS — a potentially strategic move at a time when the threat of litigation continues to loom over the industry.
In the wake of multiple class-action lawsuits and scrutiny from the DOJ, many associations, MLSs and brokerage companies have taken steps to minimize legal risks as they consider the future of their organizations. NAR's leadership has been clear about the need for "derisking," which was a key driver of last year's MLS Handbook updates aimed at reducing liability and shifting decision-making to the local level.
And just last month, both NAR and CMLS sent letters to the DOJ making the case that MLSs are pro-competitive and pro-consumer — a seemingly proactive move to counter arguments by some in the industry that MLSs have too much power and face too little competition.
Advocating for the MLS
Edgerton is joining CMLS "at a moment when our work has never mattered more," she said in a news release, emphasizing that the MLS serves "a vital purpose: to give real estate professionals a shared foundation of trusted information, and to give consumers the data they need to confidently make the most significant financial decisions of their lives."
Paul Boomsma — LeadingRE's president and CEO (and Edgerton's former boss) — applauded the move, stating that "there is no one better to advocate for the industry regarding best practices, data access, and transparency during this pivotal time when there is an ongoing dialogue around private listings and off-MLS distribution channels."
When Edgerton steps into her new role on July 1, she will be tasked with "advancing the MLS community, strengthening member value, and championing an accessible, efficient, and transparent housing market enabled by the MLS," the organization said.
During her time with LeadingRE, which supports brokerages across 70 countries, Edgerton said she has "seen what real estate markets look like when professionals and consumers do not have access to the complete, trusted information an MLS provides."
That perspective, she added, "gives me an even deeper appreciation for the MLS as essential market infrastructure and for the leaders who make that system work every day."