Although we disagree with the rule, we are good soldiers and recommend that everyone who is a member of NAR or CREA follow the residential MLS rule regarding advertising publicly an Exclusive Signed Residential Real Estate Listing Advertised Publicly.

If you are to advertise a residential home publicly, you must list it on the MLS within 3 days. (Check with your association in your province or state)

Member brokers in Ontario should also follow the rules of the Real Estate Council of Ontario that if you network information on ICIWorld without a signed listing, you must not identify the property. Once you have the owner’s written consent, and if it is residential, you must list it on the MLS within 3 days. 

We have recommended this since Day 1 of ICIWorld.com in 1994, even before RECO began. The reason is that people can also go behind your back if you do not have a signed listing.  So we supervise and provide guidance to our members on this as best we can. 

Also on ICIWorld, everyone must make their own arrangements for compensation on each and every listing, Have or Want. 

Many associations and MLSs in the USA are in trouble, but many have settled millions in lawsuits over the publishing of commission arrangements on MLS listings. We have never had any issues in 29 years, unlike MLS. Remember, I, too, am a REALTOR and want to make these services work for brokers and salespeople so they can serve the public with more choice.  And I also respect and appreciate REALTORS for protecting the public from all the shenanigans, fraud, and deceit on the Internet, because brokers and salespeople are trained in consumer protection.

If you belong to MLS in the USA, there have been major court cases against NAR, and the Re/Max’s of the world, regarding MLS listings and commissions published on the listings.  They have had to settle the cases for millions of dollars. We would have sided with NAR and Re/Max, but would have lost, too. We think it was working fine, that commissions were negotiable. But workarounds are in order at this time.

However, since we never have nor ever will publish commission arrangements, and so those lawsuits brought against MLS, etc., have not been a problem for us. The ICIWorld Association of Real Estate Brokers and Salespeople with the Global Real Estate Information Listing Service powered by ICIWorld since 1994. See WREILS.com shortform for World Real Estate Information Listing Service. 

We allow the networking of information for residential since you cannot force unsigned information onto MLS. 

HOWEVER, once a residential listing is signed, we can help enforce the MLS rule that it must go on MLS within 3 days if it is to be advertised publicly, which is the key. If networked within your own office, I understand it is okay. Even though we disagree with the overall rule and hope to have it reconsidered someday, like a good soldier, we follow the guidelines in our recommendations to agents. 

We feel they missed the boat by not consulting us when they passed the rule in Washington and in Ottawa in 2023. We tried to show them that publicly sharing networking information before a signed listing, as we do on ICIWorld, undermines the argument that brokers do not share exclusive listings.

The bottom line is: if you network information on ICIWorld, you must not include an address to follow RECO’s guidelines. When you do get a signed listing to be advertised publicly, it must be placed on the MLS within three days. 

And we also do not suggest commissions, so that every listing, Have or Want on ICIWorld, you make your arrangements for compensation. 

ICIWorld has about 40,000 messages and contacts to do business. Active residential messages total about 300.