Boban John
There is no shortage of hot takes about the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation Policy (CCP), around which heated debates and bitter feuds have erupted on social media and beyond.
Enter the American Real Estate Association, the trade group founded by Compass agent Jason Haber and The Agency founder Mauricio Umansky. It proposed on Friday a compromise on CCP that it believes “respects seller choice, enhances competition and safeguards MLS integrity.”
Dubbed the “Clear Collaboration Policy,” the rule would still require agents to advertise listings on a multiple listing service (MLS), but it would allow sellers and agents to decide on how they’re advertised after that.
Haber says that the American Real Estate Association’s announcement Friday is the beginning of outreach to the industry, and the trade group has submitted the idea to NAR.
“We have spoken to our members around the country and developed this plan with a working group and the leadership of our trade group,” Haber told HousingWire in an email. “I do not know how [CCP opponents] will feel about it, but it’s my hope that they see this as a rational and sound policy that would help move the industry forward. We are open to engaging with all stakeholders — even those who disagree with us — to find common ground.”
Inman News was first to report the story.
Clear Cooperation Policy is a NAR rule that requires Realtors to advertise a home on a NAR-affiliated MLS within 24 hours of the property being marketed.
Proponents believe CCP maximizes the reach of a listing and is thus in the best interest of the home seller. Opponents believe it’s anti-competitive, restricts “seller’s choice” and limits innovation by stifling alternative marketing strategies.
NAR has responded to the dust up by holding meetings on the future of CCP, but has yet to make a final decision on it.
No opponent has been more vocal than Compass CEO Robert Reffkin, who regularly assails the rule on cable news, earnings calls and conference panels. He’s also made no secret of Compass’s interest in building an inventory of exclusive listings to make the brokerage’s site a destination for home shoppers.
Compass’s “three-phase marketing plan” seems primed to take advantage of CCP going away in the event that that happens. The brokerage’s plan begins with “Private Exclusives,” which come up in search results but aren’t directly advertised.
Coming Soons are next, and they appear on the site before they appear on an MLS. The third phase is advertising it on all platforms, including sites like Zillow. If CCP is rescinded, this catalogue of listings that skate around the edges of CCP can become true exclusives in short order.
Reffkin’s antagonistic rhetoric has provoked equally combative responses. NextHome CEO James Dwiggins regularly posts heated responses on his LinkedIn, often highlighting what he considers the self-serving nature of Compass’s opposition to CCP.
Predictably, other companies that benefit from CCP have been equally forceful in their pushback.
