Are You Familiar with the Important Changes That Became Effective This Month?

The recently passed NJ State Law S3192, Real Estate Consumer Protection Act, which became effective on  August 1st, and policy changes stemming from the NAR Settlement, which NJMLS implemented on August 12th, contain provisions which have prompted changes which include, but are not limited to, the following:
 

NAR Settlement 

• Offers of compensation can no longer appear anywhere in the MLS.  No mention or inference is allowed in listings.  It is also prohibited to include a web address of the listing on another website.
• The following fields have been removed from listing load and from listing agreements for ALL property categories: Comp BA, Comp TA, Comp Sub, and DCA.
• NJMLS Listing Agreements have been updated; all cooperating broker compensation related fields have been removed to comply with NAR Settlement policy changes.
• Commission Split Addendum paperwork has been removed from NJMLS forms. For now, this is still required by the NJ Real Estate Commission, however the NJMLS will no longer provide the Commission Split Addendum in their listing paperwork. For access to the section of the NJ Real Estate Commission rules related to this, click here.
• Keybox Disclosure statement has been moved to a separate form since we no longer provide the Commission Split Addendum in our system.  

For full details on the NAR Settlement, please refer to the information provided by NAR at facts.realtor.
 

NJ State Law S3192

• Buyer/Tenant Representation Agreement is now required prior to working with a buyer or tenant of one to four family properties.  
• Designated Agency is permitted.  (Click for Agency Explained Guide from NJ Realtors).
• Seller's Property Condition Disclosure is now required by the state.  As always, you have the option to upload it to the listing as an Associated Document for easier access by other member agents.
• Signage is required at Open Houses, disclosing who the listing agent represents.  This can be displayed at the entrance to the property or near the sign-in sheet.

For full details on the new NJ State Law, please refer to the information provided by NJ Realtors at: https://www.njrealtor.com/government-affairs/cpea/.  (Click for Summary.)

NJMLS Changes

• Updates to the Rules & Regulations effective August 12th include rules related to:
  • No Compensation Specified on MLS Listings (Section 5)
  • Written Buyer Agreement (Section 5.0.2)
• ShowingTime has implemented a Scheduling Disclosure reminder, which displays when an agent requests a showing using the ShowingTime icon. This is a reminder to the agent that a Buyer/Tenant Representation Agreement is required before showing the property.  The agent will have to check a box to acknowledge they have read the reminder.

Update to Previous NJMLS Changes

• Please note, the NJMLS previously added a field, Seller Concession to Buyer Yes/No, on all sale listings. Based on member feedback and further evaluation by our Board of Directors, the field has been removed. 
• Language related to compensation in the Rental agreement has been updated based on member feedback.
• Listing agreements and Create Listing Agreement have been updated to reflect the above changes.  Updated agreements, dated 08/23/2024 at the bottom of the form, can be found in Toolkit > Forms, Docs, & Gen Info > Forms.

As always, our staff is here to support our members to help you navigate through these changes.
If you have further questions, please email:  support@njmls.com