The nation’s largest MLS, CRMLS, which serves over 108,000 subscribers in California, updated its policy in September to require all brokers to prominently display the name and contact info of listing brokers and agents on listings they receive through an IDX feed. Instead of appearing down on listing display pages, brokers must now display that information toward the top. Now that Zillow Group displays listings on its site as a participating broker through IDX feeds, rules like this carry more weight, especially from the nation’s largest MLS. Many portals, including realtor.com, now prominently display listing broker or agent names and contact info. CoStar Group has said it plans to compete by leaning into the industry’s Fair Display Guidelines, of which prominent listing broker or agent display is key component.

Related to the story above, NAR is considering adopting a policy that will require websites that display listings through IDX feeds from Realtor association-run MLSs to display the contact information for listing agents prominently. Realogy has come out to publicly support the policy. Listing broker and agent attribution has been a conflicting topic for brokerages and agents for many years. Many complained or resented when realtor.com and Zillow.com grew significantly by selling connections to other agents off their listings, but also faced some of the same issues on the listings presented on broker sites throughout their markets. IDX rules have not required prominent listing agent attribution, and this policy looks to change that. With CRMLS’s move, covered above, and large companies such as Realogy supporting the proposed NAR policy, this could be changing now.