MLS Fees are the Fees of the Brokerage

A common question received at the board office is "Why is the entire brokerage firm suspended if only one licensee from the firm doesn't pay his invoice and everyone else did?"

The answer is simple: Only the broker has listings (regardless of which licensee signed the contract all listings belong to the broker and only the broker can give and accept compensation), only the broker is the MLS Participant. The MLS fees are third party billed to associates as a courtesy to the broker but MLS Participation and its costs are still the bill of the broker. Licensees whose licenses are held under the brokerage firm only lease access to the MLS from their broker; they are not members of MLSOK, only the broker is eligible to participate in MLS and approve access.

The MLS contract and bylaws and Rules & Regulations are very clear that the broker is to be charged the MLS monthly service fee multiplied by each and every license hung under their firm. As a MEMBER SERVICE TO THE BROKER, two years ago MLSOK agreed to bill each agent directly and accept payment directly. MLSOK took on the expense and processing time of billing and collecting for the 800+ brokerage/appraiser firms going from handling and collecting 800 payments to processing 4000 payments. MLS also made it much easier for the brokerage firm to comply and remain in good standing by third party billing users. Through the third party billing MLS knows exactly who has not paid within a firm and it could suspend individual non-payers whereas in the past the entire firm (and all its licensees) were suspended from the MLS.

Upon individual user suspension, the broker is contacted and given the following options to avoid service disruption and access to all the licensees held under that firm:

1) Contact the licensee and require payment of the late fee and fee within 30 days
2) Pay the fees for that license directly (Required in the MLS Participant Agreement that the broker will be charged for every license hung under their brokerage) within 30 days
3) Release the licensee in order to remove the license from the count of licenses hung under the brokerage firm

If the broker does not act the entire firm is suspended from MLS as the broker no longer is an active and in good standing Participant.

Brokers can easily check the balances of their associates by using the pay online module.

Brokers should encourage their licensees to make MLS fees a business priority and set aside for this twice annual expense or to sign up for the monthly auto pay available now on the MLS message of the day. There is only a short enrollment period twice per year so don't delay if this is an option one would like to utilize. Remember that there is not a pre-pay discount for paying monthly rather than paying ahead, however the MLS absorbs the monthly processing fee charged by the bank for these payments so these members are also receiving a discounted rate.

Brokers should also check their firm's online balance during billing periods to ensure that their licensees are in compliance.