VOW Virtual Office Website for Real Estate: SUMMARY All You Need to Know
You can view a Demo system at the link below, In April 2016 we are working on new templates, we will have several you can choose from and they can all be modified by you, your web person, or we can modify them to your liking.
VOW stands for Virtual Office Website.
A Virtual Office Website (VOW) is a web site that is
used to conduct business activities. VOW used as a real estate web
site allows the public (specifically registered users) to conduct
business (example: searches of approved Multiple Listing Service
properties) in a given area under certain conditions. A VOW should be thought of as an extension of your brick and mortar real estate office.
Site users have to provide personal information before they can
actually look at listings, sold data, etc. Also, Realtors who use VOW
can choose to “opt out” from the local Multiple Listing Service, which
means that these Realtors’ properties will only be displayed to people
who have signed in with the VOW.
The benefit to REALTORS is that registered users of their VOW web
site become customers under contract. Registered users gain the benefit
of more detailed information about each property and can generally see
all available properties, including sold data (if the sold data is
public information).
The VOW allows the public to:
- provide contact information
- agree to become a bona fide customer / client
- get a password protected private account
- describe property interest(s)
- and then conduct searches of all available Multiple Listing
Service real estate listings, sold data, etc in a certain area (the
area(s) being represented by the Broker office).
As of early 2006, the VOW policy had been replaced by a new Internet
Listing Display policy created by the National Association of Realtors.
HOWEVER, On May 27, 2008, NAR and the U.S. Department of Justice
reached a favorable settlement, concluding a two-year DOJ investigation
(followed by two and a half years of litigation) regarding NAR’s
multiple listing policy as it pertained to the display of listings from
the MLS on brokers’ virtual office Web sites, or VOWs.
Important changes to the NAR MLS policies and model rules require action by all MLSs no later than February 15, 2009.
Summary of VOW policy by NAR applicable to Participants’ VOW:
- A Participant may provide brokerage services via a VOW that include
making MLS active listing data available, but only to consumers with
whom the Participant has first established a lawful consumer-broker relationship,
including completion of all actions required by state law in connection
with providing real estate brokerage services to clients and customers
(hereinafter “Registrants”). Such actions shall include, but are not
limited to, satisfying all applicable agency, non-agency, and other
disclosure obligations, and execution of any required agreement(s). - A Participant’s VOW must obtain the identity of each Registrant and
obtain each Registrant’s agreement to Terms of Use of the VOW, as
follows:- A Registrant must provide his or her name and a valid email address.
The Participant must send an email to the address provided by the
Registrant confirming that the Registrant has agreed to the Terms of Use
(described in subsection c below). The Registrant may be permitted to
access the VOW only after the Participant has verified that the email
address provided is valid and that Registrant received the Terms of Use
confirmation. - The Registrant must supply a user name and a password, the
combination of which must be different from those of all other
Registrants on the VOW, before being permitted to search and retrieve
information from the MLS database via the VOW. The user name and
password may be established by the Registrant or may be supplied by the
Participant, at the option of the Participant. An email address may be
associated with only one user name and password. The Registrant’s
password and access must expire on a date certain but may be renewed.
The Participant must at all times maintain a record of the name and
email address supplied by the Registrant, and the username and current
password of each Registrant. Such records must be kept for not less than
180 days after the expiration of the validity of the Registrant’s
password. If the MLS has reason to believe that a Participant’s VOW has
caused or permitted a breach in the security of the data or a violation
of MLS rules related to use by one or more Registrants, the Participant
shall, upon request, provide to the MLS a copy of the record of the
name, email address, user name, current password, and audit trail, if
required, of any Registrant identified by the MLS to be suspected of
involvement in the violation. - The Registrant must be required affirmatively to express agreement
to a “Terms of Use” provision that requires the Registrant to open and
review an agreement that provides at least the following: [After the
Registrant has opened for viewing the Terms of Use agreement, a “mouse
click” is sufficient to acknowledge agreement to those terms. The Terms
of Use Agreement may not impose a financial obligation
on the Registrant or create any representation agreement between the
Registrant and the Participant. The Terms of Use agreement shall also
expressly authorize the MLS, and other MLS Participants or their duly
authorized representatives, to access the VOW for the purposes of
verifying compliance with MLS rules and monitoring display of
Participants’ listings by the VOW.]- That the Registrant acknowledges entering into a lawful consumer-broker relationship with the Participant.
- That all data obtained from the VOW is intended only for the Registrant’s personal, non-commercial use.
- That the Registrant has a bona fide interest in the purchase, sale,
or lease of real estate of the type being offered through the VOW, - That the Registrant will not copy, redistribute, or retransmit any
of the data or information provided, except in connection with the
Registrant’s consideration of the purchase or sale of an individual
property. - That the Registrant acknowledges the MLS’s ownership of, and the validity of the MLS’s copyright in, the MLS database.
- An agreement entered into at any time between the Participant and
Registrant imposing a financial obligation on the Registrant or creating
representation of the Registrant by the Participant must be established
separately from the Terms of Use, must be prominently labeled as such,
and may not be accepted solely by mouse click.
- A Registrant must provide his or her name and a valid email address.
- A Participant’s VOW must prominently display an e-mail address,
telephone number, or specific identification of another mode of
communication (e.g., live chat) by which a consumer can contact the
Participant to ask questions, or get more information, about properties
displayed on the VOW. - A Participant’s VOW must protect the MLS data from misappropriation
by employing reasonable efforts to monitor for and prevent “scraping” or
other unauthorized accessing, reproduction, or use of the MLS database. - A Participant’s VOW must comply with the following additional requirements:
- No VOW shall display listing or property address of any
seller who have affirmatively directed its listing broker to withhold
its listing or property address from display on the Internet. The
listing broker or agent shall communicate to the MLS that a seller has
elected not to permit display of the listing or property address on the
Internet. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a Participant who operates a
VOW may provide to consumers via other delivery mechanisms, such as
email, fax, or otherwise, the listing or property address of a seller
who has determined not to have the listing or address for its property
displayed on the Internet. - A Participant who lists a property for a seller who has elected not
to have the property listing or the property address displayed on the
Internet shall cause the seller to execute a document that conforms to
the NAR Seller Opt-Out Form. The Participant shall retain such forms for
at least one year from the date they are signed. - With respect to any VOW that: [the VOW shall disable or discontinue
either or both of those features as to the seller’s listing at the
request of the seller. The listing broker or agent shall communicate to
the MLS that the seller has elected to have one or both of these
features disabled or discontinued on all Participants’ websites. Except
for the foregoing and subject to subparagraph (d), a Participant’s VOW
may communicate the Participant’s professional judgment concerning any
listing. Nothing shall prevent a VOW from notifying its customers that a
particular feature has been disabled “at the request of the seller.”]- allows third-parties to write comments or reviews about particular
listings or displays a hyperlink to such comments or reviews in
immediate conjunction with particular listings. - displays an automated estimate of the market value of the listing
(or hyperlink to such estimate) in immediate conjunction with the
listing.
- allows third-parties to write comments or reviews about particular
- A VOW shall maintain a means (e.g., e-mail address, telephone
number) to receive comments about the accuracy of any data or
information that is added by or on behalf of the VOW operator beyond
that supplied by the MLS and that relates to a specific property
displayed on the VOW. - Each VOW shall refresh MLS data available on the VOW not less frequently than every 3 days.
- Except as provided elsewhere in this Policy or in MLS rules and
regulations, no portion of the MLS database may be distributed,
provided, or made accessible to any person or entity. - Every VOW must display a privacy Policy that informs Registrants of
the ways in which information obtained from them will be used. - A VOW may exclude listings from display based only
on objective criteria, including, but not limited to, factors such as
geography, list price, type of property, cooperative compensation
offered by listing broker, or whether the listing broker is a Realtor®.
- No VOW shall display listing or property address of any
- A Participant who intends to operate a VOW must notify the MLS of
its intention to establish a VOW and must make the VOW readily
accessible to the MLS and to all MLS Participants for purposes of
verifying compliance with this Policy and any other applicable MLS rules
or policies. - A Participant may operate more than one VOW itself or through an
AVP. A Participant who operates a VOW itself shall not be precluded from
also operating VOWs in conjunction with AVPs.
Summary of VOW policy by NAR applicable to Multiple Listing Services MLS:
- A Multiple Listing Service shall permit MLS Participants to operate VOWs.
- An MLS shall, if requested by a Participant, provide basic
“downloading” of all MLS non-confidential listing data; Confidential
data includes only that which Participants are prohibited from providing
to customers orally and by all other delivery mechanisms; Confidential
data is explained in this summary. - The NAR Policy does not require an MLS to establish publicly accessible sites displaying Participants’ listings.
- If an MLS provides a VOW-specific feed, that feed must include all
of the non-confidential data included in the feed EXCEPT for listings or
property addresses of sellers who have elected not to have their
listings or addresses displayed on the Internet. - An MLS may pass on to those Participants who will download listing
information the reasonably estimated costs incurred by the MLS in adding
or enhancing its “downloading” capacity to enable such Participants to
operate VOWs. - An MLS may require that Participants (1) utilize appropriate
security protection, such as firewalls, as long as such requirement does
not impose security obligations greater than those employed
concurrently by the MLS, and/or (2) maintain an audit trail of
Registrants’ activity on the VOW and make that information available to
the MLS if the MLS has reason to believe that any VOW has caused or
permitted a breach in the security of the data or a violation of
applicable MLS rules. - An MLS may not prohibit or regulate display of advertising or the
identification of entities on VOWs (“branding” or “co-branding”). - An MLS may not prohibit Participants from enhancing their VOWs by
providing information obtained from sources other than the MLS (example
being additional technological services, such as mapping functionality). - An MLS may not restrict the format of data display on a VOW or
regulate the appearance of VOWs, except as provided in generally
applicable rules. - An MLS shall make MLS listing data available to an AVP for the exclusive purpose of operating a VOW on behalf of a Participant.
- An MLS may not prohibit, restrict, or impede a Participant from
referring Registrants to any person or from obtaining a fee for such
referral. - Requirements That MLSs May Impose on the Operation of VOWs and Participants.
- An MLS may impose any, all, or none of the following requirements on VOWs but
may impose them only to the extent that equivalent requirements are
imposed on Participants’ use of MLS listing data in providing brokerage
services via all other delivery mechanisms:- A Participant’s VOW may not make available for search by or display
to Registrants the following data intended exclusively for other MLS
Participants and their affiliated licensees:- Expired, withdrawn, or pending listings.
- Sold data unless the actual sales price of completed transactions is accessible from public records.
- The compensation offered to other MLS Participants.
- The type of listing agreement, i.e., exclusive right to sell or exclusive agency.
- The seller(s) and occupant(s) name(s), phone number(s) and email address(es), where available.
- Instructions or remarks intended for cooperating brokers only, such
as those regarding showing or security of the listed property.
- The content of MLS data that is displayed on a VOW may not be
changed from the content as it is provided in the MLS. This requirement
does not restrict the format of MLS data display on VOWs or display of
fewer than all of the listings or fewer authorized data fields. - There shall be a notice on all MLS data displayed indicating that
the data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by the MLS. - Any listing displayed on a VOW shall identify the name of the
listing firm in a readily visible color, and reasonably prominent
location, and in typeface not smaller than the median typeface used in
the display of listing data. - The number of current or, if permitted, sold listings that
Registrants may view, retrieve, or download on or from a VOW in response
to an inquiry may be limited to a reasonable number. Such number shall
be determined by the MLS, but in no event may the limit be fewer than
100 listings or 5% of the listings in the MLS, whichever is less. - Any listing displayed on a VOW shall identify the name of the listing agent.
- A Participant’s VOW may not make available for search by or display
- An MLS may also impose the following other requirements on the operation of VOWs:
- Participants displaying other brokers’ listings obtained from other
sources, e.g., other MLSs, non-participating brokers, etc. shall display
the source from which each such listing was obtained. - A maximum period, no shorter than 90 days and determined by the MLS,
during which Registrants’ passwords are valid, after which such
passwords must be changed or reconfirmed.
- Participants displaying other brokers’ listings obtained from other
- An MLS may not prohibit Participants from downloading and displaying
or framing listings obtained from other sources, e.g., other MLSs or
from brokers not participating in that MLS, etc., but may require either
that (i) such information be searched separately from listings obtained
from other sources, including other MLSs, or (ii) if such other sources
are searched in conjunction with searches of the listings available on
the VOW, require that any display of listings from other sources
identify such other source.
- An MLS may impose any, all, or none of the following requirements on VOWs but
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