Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Listing contracts have an end date, but what are the obligations of the broker when the contract runs out? My contract with an agent has run its course, unsuccessfully. I want the agent to remove all of the data that was uploaded to the MLS and to other websites being subscribed to. To be blunt, his/her photos were bad and the description and facts were not always accurate, and while the agent claimed they would be corrected, they never were. The broker also has a personal website with listings. How do I make sure that mine is removed? I have remained cordial, yet want to be sure this experience does not affect future marketing.
Listing contracts have an end date, but what are the obligations of the broker when the contract runs out? My contract with an agent has run its course, unsuccessfully. I want the agent to remove all of the data that was uploaded to the MLS and to other websites being subscribed to. To be blunt, his/her photos were bad and the description and facts were not always accurate, and while the agent claimed they would be corrected, they never were. The broker also has a personal website with listings. How do I make sure that mine is removed? I have remained cordial, yet want to be sure this experience does not affect future marketing.
FWIW, future marketing will stand out in comparison. If done properly, it will be in a positive way. And, that will reflect on the agent more than on your property.
Has the listing expired?
"Expired" listings are part of the MLS database, as are "Withdrawn" listings.
It will be difficult to have all data removed from the MLS, and it will be impossible to erase the listing.
Typically once the listing contract ends the data will no longer feed into any public websites. As said above though, it will likely always appear in the agent only side of the MLS.
I knew of agents that would remove photos and some data from the MLS for expired listings. I doubt you will get this agent to do so.
When/if you ask you will find out that there is only so much the agent is permitted to do according to the rules of that MLS. Remember the MLS is a database that agents pay to maintain and update. Rules limit what can be done with expired or withdrawn listings. To permit agents to remove those types of listings would lessen the value of the database.
Sadly, that is true. I have seen listings for beautiful properties that I have viewed and the presentation online was absolutely horrible. It made me wonder if a property owner could file a real estate malpractice suit against the offending agent. Because the awful marketing stays with that listing for a very long time. Some real estate listing sites may restrict the photos after the property has been reported as sold. Another way to have the old photos and description removed is to hire a more professional agent and he or she could edit the MLS listing when your property is relisted.
Another way to have the old photos and description removed is to hire a more professional agent and he or she could edit the MLS listing when your property is relisted.
Actually this is wrong. Another agent cannot go in and edit the old listing that belonged to a different broker. They will create a new listing. They could possibly complain to their board and ask that the board force the previous agent to remove the photos, but it's unlikely to happen.
It is the public side that concerns me most, since so many eventual sales begin with a client doing an online search. Glad to hear that the new and improved photos, etc., will be able to outshine the yucky ones.
But how does the MLS know the contract has expired? If it depends on the broker taking action to change active to expired, I am not sure this will happen. What then? And would it require legal action to remove the listing from the broker's own website? If the signs, etc. are not removed do I have a right to remove them, especially those on public right of ways next to the property?
Why do I think the broker would like to keep the listing looking active? It makes the broker look more important and like he/she carries more listings, and I am not confident the broker would not claim in the future that these ads were what sold the property if, for example, I was to do a sale by owner+attorney. The broker also may like to do a 'bait and switch' to other properties he/she has for sale.
But how does the MLS know the contract has expired? If it depends on the broker taking action to change active to expired, I am not sure this will happen.
Upon input into the MLS, the broker has to enter an expiration date. The MLS automatically expires a listing if there is anything but "sold" as the status.
It is the public side that concerns me most, since so many eventual sales begin with a client doing an online search. Glad to hear that the new and improved photos, etc., will be able to outshine the yucky ones.
But how does the MLS know the contract has expired? If it depends on the broker taking action to change active to expired, I am not sure this will happen. What then? And would it require legal action to remove the listing from the broker's own website? If the signs, etc. are not removed do I have a right to remove them, especially those on public right of ways next to the property?
Why do I think the broker would like to keep the listing looking active? It makes the broker look more important and like he/she carries more listings, and I am not confident the broker would not claim in the future that these ads were what sold the property if, for example, I was to do a sale by owner+attorney. The broker also may like to do a 'bait and switch' to other properties he/she has for sale.
It is illegal and unethical for the broker to present a listing as "Active" when it is not.
It is also unethical for the broker to present a listing as "Active" with his firm when another broker has that listing, with the general exception of IDX or VOW sites appropriately designed to share listings properly and giving credit to the other firm and/or the MLS.
Once it expires in MLS it will be removed from some sites but possibly not all. Unfortunately most of the 3rd party sites don't allow broker editing directly. Don't sweat it, if you relist the new listing will be syndicated out over the old one for the most part.
One most MLS websites, the agent can go in and remove all but the primary picture. Send a certified letter to the broker insisting that all photos be removed from the MLS within 5 days.
Unfortunately, getting them off of the MLS is about the only thing you can do, since most websites take their feeds from the MLS or resold from one of the large aggregator sites. You can write to Zillow and ask them to remove all photos from the previous listing, but no telling how long that will take. (anywhere from 2 days to 2 months).
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
