I just wanted to provide everybody a quick update on the settlement as we moved towards our August 17 deadline for compliance. I know that some agents have asked about news articles about a judge ruling to delay the settlement, but please know that is NOT  speaking about this NAR lawsuit, but rather a delay in a Massachusetts-based class action suit against MLS PIN and certain Massachusetts brokers in the Eastern part of the state. They had reached a settlement prior to the national situation, but the judge will wait on approving that case resolution until she sees what the rest of the country will do in the national settlement. For us that means business as usual, moving towards the settlement as planned.

There are been many twists and turns as we navigate the rules of the settlement and how it will impact our contracts and our way of doing business. There have been several revisions of our contracts and we are in yet another revision stage. We want you to know that we are constantly assessing local state and national legal parameters and in tune to the issues cropping up everywhere. For example, Department of Justice is really recently challenged California’s proposed contracts and we regrouped and made sure that it concerns they had were addressed in our version. We are part of the state contracts and forms committee, have been working with local attorneys and have also engaged a national attorney that is a leader in assisting MLS nationwide in compliance.  WE participate in state and national calls with our attorneys and read, read, read to make sure we are up-to-date on emerging issues. It ain’t easy!

You can expect that the following Berkshire documents will be updated;

• Exclusive Right to Buy
• Exclusive Right to Sell
• Purchase and Sale Agreement
• Compensation Addendum
• Disclosure notification for existing agreements
• Uniform commission statement

The contracts are really shaping up to make the implementation as simple as possible.

We are also digging into ongoing liability protection for our brokerages and members if participating in an MLS that isn’t making these changes. There are many nuances to doing business in the state of Massachusetts given the different MLS structures and are meeting with state leadership in order to make sure that we understand so that we could properly inform our members.

We are expecting our contracts will be released shortly, and when ready will have a Broker zoom meeting cover the terms and use. We are also continuing to offer to meet with individual brokers to talk about implementation and will be holding regional meetings again as we get closer..

Please be assured there is quite a bit of work going on behind-the-scenes and we are always working to put your best interest first!

My best, Sandy