The Association’s board of directors has voted to end the practice of allowing users of the MLS, with the consent of the seller, to withhold the price at which property listed with the MLS has sold. The current practice of allowing users, with the consent of the seller, to report the last list price as the sale price will be prohibited after December 31, 2009. The prohibition will be accomplished by deleting Section 8.1.1 of the MLS Rules and Regulations.

The practice is being ended to provide listing agents and appraisers with a better understanding of market dynamics so that listing agents can price and appraisers can value listed real property at more realistic levels.

The board of directors took this action at its November meeting after conducting opinion surveys of office managers and listing agents on the subject.

Sanctions for violation of the new rule requiring the accurate reporting of sale prices will be:

• First offense—warning
• Second Offense—$1000
• Third Offense—$2000
• Fourth Offense—$3,000

- SFARMLS