Article 4: GENERAL RULES

Section 4.1 REALTOR® Code of Ethics

All Users agree to abide by the National Association of REALTORS® Code of Ethics, the CVR MLS rules, regulations and policies and the limitations and restrictions of state and federal laws.

Section 4.2 Commission Rates

The CVR MLS shall not fix, control, recommend, suggest, or maintain commission rates or fees for services to be rendered by Participants. Further, CVR MLS shall not fix, control, recommend, suggest, or maintain the division of commissions or fees between cooperating Participants or between Participants and non-participants.

Section 4.3 Trademark Use

No MLS participant, subscriber or licensee affiliated with any participant shall, through the name of their firm, their URLs, their email addresses, their website addresses, or in any other way represent, suggest, or imply that the individual or firm is an MLS, or that they operate an MLS. Participants, subscribers and licensees affiliated with participants shall not represent, suggest, or imply that consumers or others have direct access to MLS databases, or that consumers or others are able to search MLS databases available only to participants and subscribers. This does not prohibit participants and subscribers from representing that any information they are authorized under MLS rules to provide to clients or customers is available on their websites or otherwise.

Section 4.4 Verification of Listing Data

CVR MLS does not verify Listing Content provided by Participants and Subscribers and disclaims any responsibility for its accuracy.  Each Participant and Subscriber agrees to hold CVR MLS harmless from any liability arising from any inaccuracy or inadequacy of any information entered in the CVR MLS Database.

Section 4.5 Confidentiality

Any information provided by CVR MLS to any User shall be considered confidential, including without limitation, the MLS Database, the IDX Database, any User’s password to the MLS Database and IDX Database, any printouts of the MLS Database and IDX Database as provided under these Rules and Regulations, and all Participant’s Listings, including personal information of a Seller included in a Participant’s Listing (“Confidential Information”).  Confidential Information shall be maintained by the User as confidential and available exclusively for the use by CVR MLS Participants, Subscribers, Administrative Users and Assessor Users. CVR MLS Users shall not disclose any Confidential Information to anyone, except as expressly allowed under these Rules and Regulations, or as ordered by a court of competent jurisdiction or as otherwise required by law. CVR MLS Users shall not disclose any Confidential Information pursuant to a court order or as required by law until the applicable Participants, Subscribers, Administrative Users and Assessor Users has given CVR MLS ten (10) days prior written notice and an opportunity to oppose such disclosure. Notwithstanding the foregoing, Participants and Subscribers may disclose individual Listings maintained in the MLS Database in the ordinary course of Participant’s or Subscriber’s real estate or appraisal business.

Section 4.6 Password Use

A confidential password is issued to each authorized User upon completion of the MLS application process. For security purposes, Users may be required to change their passwords. Access to the MLS Database is restricted to Users. Any User who allows another User or unauthorized party to utilize their personal user name and password to gain access to the MLS Database or use of the MLS Database or any derivative thereof shall be subject to a fine.

Section 4.7 Accuracy of Listing Data and Listing Compliance

Participants and Subscribers are required to submit accurate listing data and required to correct any known errors.

Each Participant and Subscriber agrees to take all actions necessary to maintain Listing Content in compliance with the terms and conditions of these Rules and Regulations.

Section 4.8 Representations and Warranties

By the act of submission of Listings to CVR MLS, the Participant and Subscriber represent and warrant that:

  1. The Participant has been authorized to grant and also thereby does grant authority for CVR MLS to include the Listings in the MLS Database and also in any statistical report on comparable data. All right, title, and interest in the MLS Database shall at all times remain vested in CVR MLS as provided under these Rules and Regulations.
  2. The Participant and the Seller have entered into an Exclusive Agency, Exclusive Right to Sell, Exclusive Authorization to Lease or Property Management agreement.
  3. The Seller has agreed in writing that CVR MLS may include the Listing in the MLS Database, license the MLS Database to third parties, disclose and publicly display the Listing, and otherwise lawfully use the Listing information.
  4. The Listing complies in all respects with these Rules and Regulations.
  5. To the best of the Participant’s and Subscriber’s knowledge, and after reasonable due diligence to verify accuracy, all information included in the Listing Content is accurate and complete.
  6. All creative works included in the Listing Content are either original works of authorship of the Participant and/or Subscriber, including all remarks and other text, photographs, video clips, and other graphics and all other components of the Listing Content, or Participant and/or Subscriber have acquired all ownership and copyrights in such Listing Content and its components pursuant to written assignments.
  7. Participant has assigned their rights in the Listing Content to CVR MLS in accordance with these Rules and Regulations and no other person or entity has any rights of any nature in or to any of the Listing Content.
  8. There are no claims, litigation or proceedings pending or threatened with respect to the Listing, or any component of the Listing Content.

Section 4.9.1 Distribution

Participants shall at all times maintain control over and responsibility for any copies of the MLS Database or Listings and shall not distribute any such copies to persons other than persons who are Subscribers with such Participants.

Section 4.9.2 Display

Participants/Subscribers shall be permitted to display the MLS Database to prospective purchasers only in conjunction with their ordinary business activities of attempting to locate ready, willing, and able buyers for the properties described in the MLS Database.

Section 4.9.3 Reproduction

Participants/ Subscribers shall not reproduce the MLS Database or any portion thereof except in the following limited circumstances:

A) Participants/Subscribers may reproduce and distribute to prospective purchasers or sellers, a reasonable number of single copies of Listing Content, but in no event more than 250, contained in the MLS Compilation which relate to any properties in which the prospective purchasers or sellers are, or may, in the judgment of the Participants or their Subscribers, be interested.

B) Reproductions made in accordance with this rule shall be prepared in such a fashion that Listings other than those in which a prospective purchaser or tenant has expressed interest, or which the Participant or the Subscribers are seeking to promote interest, are not contained in such reproduction.

C) Nothing contained herein shall be construed to preclude any Participant from utilizing, displaying, distributing, or reproducing property Listings or other compilations of data listing data, whether provided in printed format, electronically, or in any other form or format, is provided for the exclusive use of the participant and those licensees affiliated with the participant who are authorized to have access to such information. Such information may not be transmitted, retransmitted, or provided in any manner to any unauthorized individual, office, or firm. If the Participant wishes to send the firm’s current Listing information to a third party via electronic means, a statement from the Participant is required by CVR MLS (in all cases) stating that said entity has the Participant’s permission to receive the property information electronically. Those receiving the Listing information must state that the property Listings are provided by the Central Virginia Regional MLS, unless altered in any way by the Participant prior to distribution.

D) None of the foregoing shall be construed to prevent any individual legitimately in possession of current listing information, sold information, comparables, or statistical information from utilizing such information to support valuations on a particular properties for clients and customers. Any MLS content in data feeds available to participants for real estate brokerage purposes must also be available to participants for valuation purposes, including automated valuations.  MLSs must either permit use of existing data feeds, or create a separate data feed, to satisfy this requirement.  MLSs may require execution of a third-party license agreement where deemed appropriate by the MLS.  MLSs may require participants who will use such data feeds to pay the reasonably estimated costs incurred by the MLS in adding or enhancing its downloading capacity for this purpose.  Information deemed to be confidential may not be used as supporting documentation.  Any other use of such information is unauthorized and prohibited by these rules and regulations, and may be subject to a fine under these rules.

Section 4.9.4 Use of Data in Advertising

CVR MLS Property Listings may not be advertised by any Subscriber/Participant other than the Listing Subscriber/Participant in any media (print, electronic or other media format) without the prior written consent of the Listing Subscriber/Participant. The only exception to this requirement is listing display within the context of the IDX data feed where permission may be presumed, subject to the rules and regulations pertaining to IDX.

Section 4.10 Limitation of Liability

In no event shall CVR MLS be liable for the payment of any consequential, incidental or punitive damages, or lost profits, even if CVR MLS has been advised of the possibility of such damages. The entire liability of CVR MLS to the participant or Subscriber for all claims arising from or related to the MLS database or the subject matter of these Rules and Regulations, whether in contract, tort or otherwise, shall not exceed the total amount of fees, not including out of pocket expenses, paid by the applicable participant or Subscriber to CVR MLS for the month(s) during which the MLS database did not function reasonably well or the six (6) months immediately preceding the date on which the claim accrued, whichever is less. CVR MLS shall not be liable to any third party, such as an agent employed by or associated with the Participant or a Seller, for any claims, liability, losses, damages or expenses arising from or related to these Rules and Regulations or the MLS database or IDX database. Should any agent of a Participant, including a Subscriber assert any claim, liability, loss, damage or expense (collectively, a “claim”) against CVR MLS, then the participant shall indemnify, hold harmless and defend CVR MLS from such claim, including payment of CVR MLS’ reasonable attorney’s fees and costs.

Section 4.11 Fair Housing

No listing may be entered into the MLS Database or revised to contain language which violates the Federal and State Fair Housing Acts, as amended from time to time.

Any listing containing potential violations of any fair housing laws should be reported to CVR MLS through the compliance process outlined in Section 9 of these Rules and Regulations.

Section 4.12 Services Advertised as Free

MLS participants and subscribers must not represent that their brokerage services to a client or customer are free or available at no cost to their clients, unless the participant or subscriber will receive no financial compensation from any source for those services.

Section 4.13 Use of MLS Information

Information from CVR MLS compilations of current listing information, from statistical reports, and from any sold or comparable report of CVR MLS may be used by MLS participants as the basis for aggregated demonstrations of market share or comparisons of firms in public mass-media advertising or in other public representations. This authority does not convey the right to include in any such advertising or representation information about specific properties which are listed with other participants, or which were sold by other participants (as either listing or cooperating broker).

However, any print or non-print forms of advertising or other forms of public representations based in whole or in part on information supplied by CVR MLS must clearly demonstrate the period of time over which such claims are based and must include the following, or substantially similar, notice:

Based on information from CVR MLS for the period (______) through (______).