Clear Cooperation Policy

The Coming Soon status allows listing agents to place a property in the MLS for up to 21 days to pre-market and prepare the property (staging professional photos, preparing for showings, etc.) without Days on Market accruing.

• Marketing is allowed in both statuses, so long as Coming Soon listings are clearly marked as Coming Soon.
• Both Coming Soon and Active listings are fully displayed to other MLS users.

Coming Soon listings have limited distribution: they will be visible in the MLS, but will not be included in the data feeds sent to real estate portal websites or in data feeds for agent and broker IDX websites.

[1] Coming Soon listings in San Diego County will go out to IDX feeds for applicable brokers. Applicable brokers are those who participate in CRMLS and have Coming Soon listings for properties in San Diego County, regardless of their MLS system or Association or Board membership. This does not affect any CRMLS listings outside of San Diego County.

Coming Soon listings will be included in Virtual Office Websites (“VOW”) data feeds.

Per MLS Rule 7.9, “Marketing” and “Advertising” includes, but is not limited to, information about the property or its availability for sale displayed on any: signs, websites, social media, brokerage or franchise operated websites, communications (verbal or written), multibrokerage or franchise listing sharing networks, flyers or written material, or on any applications available to the public, or by conducting an open house.

Rule 7.9 provides any individual or entity that has signed within the previous year a Disclosure Regarding Real Estate Agency Relationship form in compliance with CA Civil Code section 2079.16 that identifies the Listing Broker shall not be considered a “member of the public.” So, any individual or entity with whom your brokerage does not have such an AD form is a member of the public. Further, other agents in your brokerage (those under the same broker’s license) are not members of the public.

“Days Active in MLS” or “DAM” for a listed property is a measure of the number of days that a property is listed in the status of Active or Active Under Contract in the MLS. Accordingly, DAM will begin to accrue the day a listing first appears in Active or Active Under Contract status.

Yes. You can market the property on Facebook, or other sites as “Coming Soon” as long as the property has already been entered under the Coming Soon status on the MLS.  Marketing and Advertising as defined in Rule 7.9 is permitted and shall include language that the property is “Coming Soon” and shall include the date for which the property will become Active. The DAM will not begin accumulating until the listing is in the status of Active or Active Under Contract. If marketing has taken place prior to entering the listing as Coming Soon on the MLS, the property must be entered under the status of Coming Soon or Active within 1 business day of the public marketing taking place.

No. Once the property has been marketed to a member of the public, the listing must be entered in the MLS as either Coming Soon or Active within 1 business day.
A violation of Rule 7.9 will result in the issuance of a Warning Notice and is subject to a citation in the amount of 1% of the list price and a minimum fine of $500, not to exceed $2,500 if not timely entered in the MLS.

An Exclusion form is an instruction from the seller that states that a property will not go into the MLS at all or will be submitted to the MLS at a later date. The CAR MLSA includes disclosures related to the specific effects of excluding a listing from the MLS, including that the property will be subject to limited exposure as it is not available for cooperation on the MLS. 

Yes. The Coming Soon form can be found in zipForms and on our central website on the CCP and Compliance home pages (https://go.crmls.org/clear-cooperation-policy/ and https://go.crmls.org/compliance/). Using the Coming Soon status without a seller-signed Coming Soon form is a violation of Rule 10.1 – Failure to Obtain Seller’s Authorization for Coming Soon status listings and is subject to a citation and fine in the amount of $750. This rule does not carry a warning.

Yes, pursuant to Rule 8.1 and Ca. Civil Code sections 1086 and 1088, a valid listing agreement is required because the property is in the MLS for cooperation. A listing that is entered in the MLS prior to an effective agreement in place will result in a violation of CRMLS Rule 8.1 and is subject to a citation and fine in the amount of $1,500, and immediate removal of the listing.

Begin by entering the listing information as you normally would. On the listing input screen, select the status of Coming Soon while under the Status tab. Under the Office/MLS tab, you will be prompted to enter the Start Showing Date. When all information is entered, click Save as Incomplete, or Submit Listing.

Contact CRMLS Compliance by email at [email protected] or live chat (https://go.crmls.org/compliance-live-chat/). Be prepared to provide the Compliance analyst with the effective listing agreement and a seller signed Coming Soon form. Once supporting documentation is provided and reviewed, you will be walked through the process to correct this error. For all future listings, make sure you are selecting Coming Soon as the status under the Status tab on the listing input screen. Under the Office/MLS tab, you will need to enter the Start Showing Date, which is the date the listing will be changed to Active.

Yes. Per Rule 11.5.1, an exterior photograph that displays a substantial portion of the exterior structure of the property is required for all property types, except business opportunity. Coming Soon listings are not exempt from this requirement.

Yes. While in the status of Coming Soon, offers may be presented and accepted by the seller(s).

Yes. A listing in the status of Coming Soon may be publicly marketed by use of flyers, For Sale signs, Facebook posts, etc. However, no showings or open houses may take place.

No. Coming Soon listings cannot be shown by anyone, under any circumstances. This includes, but is not limited to, Virtual Open Houses and Virtual Showings. If the property is going to be shown, the listing status must be updated to Active prior to the showing date.

Yes. You can advertise an open house and disclose the date in which the property is available to be shown, however, the property cannot be shown prior to the date disclosed unless the listing is updated to the Active status.

Yes. The listing will automatically update from Coming Soon to Active on Day 22 of the listing’s input date, or, the date entered into the Start Showing Date, whichever is earlier.

Yes. The change needs to be made prior to the current Start Showing Date and the new Start Showing Date cannot exceed the 21-day time frame allotted for Coming Soon.

No. Listings of any property type may use the status of Coming Soon.

To submit a report of off-mls marketing for a property that is not in the MLS as Coming Soon or Active, click on the following link to access the web form below: https://go.crmls.org/off-mls-marketing-report/

The web form will prompt you to enter information regarding the property being marketed, the brokerage firm or agent marketing the property and the type of marketing found. You will also be required to upload any proof of marketing that corresponds with your report. Once submitted, a confirmation will appear on the screen and you will receive a second confirmation via email once a case is created. The CRMLS Compliance Department will review the report and take appropriate measures to correct/address the issue.

Reports received for activity by an agent who is not a CRMLS user are deemed outside of CRMLS’s Compliance jurisdiction and will be referred to the violating agent’s appropriate MLS for further processing. As with all reports submitted to CRMLS, the report will be kept confidential and your contact information will not be submitted with the report unless you provide written authorization for CRMLS to submit that information on your behalf to the violator’s MLS.