July 22, 2011 Board Meeting Report

The Corporation remains within budget and within income for the first six months of the year despite a slight decline in membership to 7, 755 members and 455 assistants. The upcoming fee increase will be announced in the e-newsletter on Monday July 25, 2011 as well as in the billing statement for the last quarter’s dues. The billing statement will be sent in August.

The MLS Committee reported that they reviewed a request by a member to define the “fixer” category. The Committee will continue to consider this topic and is not recommending any action be taken at this time. The Committee also will continue to research choices and definitions for countertops, as membership was not supportive of Committee’s previous recommendations for countertop types. The Board requested that the Committee keep the fields as simple as possible.

The Communication Committee reported that 14 members have volunteered to serve as BAREIS MLS® spokespeople. Spokespeople are still needed in Napa and Marin. Speaking points will be delivered to the volunteers within the next 2 weeks.

The Rules Committee reviewed 9 citation appeals at their July meeting. In addition, the Committee discussed the request to define “fixer” and decided not to define the field. The Committee also discussed the fact that some other MLSs have made changes to their regulations regarding lender-approved listings to prevent the reduction of commissions by listing brokers for fees on lender-approved listings. The initial thought on this regulation is that it seems like an inappropriate attempt to regulate commissions and would be in conflict with our existing regulations. More research is taking place to see what other broker-owned MLSs are doing. The Committee reviewed a question by a member about whether they could change an offer of compensation that was posted on the MLS after a purchase offer is made because the offer creates a short sale transaction. The commission entered was based on a sale at its original listed price and not as a short sale. The Committee was in agreement that the Regulations require that any changes to a posted offer of compensation be disclosed to the buyer’s agent in writing before an offer is accepted, even if the acceptance of the offer will result in a short sale. No change to the current rule was recommended by the Committee.

There was a lengthy discussion regarding comparable listing violations and Directors expressed concern about the lack of cooperation among members. The possibility of increasing the fine for violating the comparable listing requirements was discussed, as was the possibility of instituting an automatic fine. A question was asked about whether we even need comps in the system. John Hassler reminded Directors that appraisers do need the comparable information, especially the agents’ contact information. After a discussion, the issue of comparable sales was referred back to the Rules Committee for further review.

The revised lockbox reciprocation agreements are currently being distributed among the MLSs and Associations with lockbox contracts. The Peninsula associations are converting to the Bluetooth lockbox and should be complete by the last week of July and mid-August, so we are hoping to come to a final agreement in August for the reciprocation program.

GreatHomes® continues to have strong consumer support with over 1 million page views per month and over 55,000 visits.
The technology for auction properties is currently being tested by the staff. The Board has approved the auction rule to be implemented as soon as the technology is available. The staff will be prepared to implement the rule and technology in August.

The Board approved a request from Jim Branscombe to negotiate with Fannie Mae and an MLS organization in Chicago to reach an agreement for BAREIS MLS® to participate in the Fannie Mae Short Sale Assistance desk program. This program was created to provide a partnership between Fannie Mae and the MLSs that would offer members Fannie Mae resources in the event their listing is a Fannie Mae property and a short sale transaction that has been stalled for more than two months.