NAR/DOJ Settlement
 Most of you have likely read of the proposed settlement between the National Association of REALTORS® and the Department of Justice. You may wonder what all of this means for you as a Participant or Subscriber of MLS PIN and the answer is nothing at all. While the proposed settlement affects all NAR chartered multiple listing services, it does not affect us. The disagreement between NAR and the DOJ surrounds NAR's VOW policy, and MLS PIN has its own VOW policy. Our policy has been in effect for more than five years and is applied uniformly among all of our customers, and their VOWs. Each time NAR revises its policy, MLS PIN leadership and legal counsel review it to determine if it makes sense for our business model. If it does, staff will recommend a change to the Rules and Regulations Task Force of the Board of Directors. If the Task Force believes a change to the rules is necessary, we present the change to the entire MLS PIN Board of Directors. In the present case with NAR and the DOJ, it is not necessary that any changes be made to our Rules to accommodate this settlement. We will continue to monitor the proposed settlement and any changes made after the public comment period. If you have any questions that were not addressed here, please feel free to contact me directly at kcondon@mlspin.com or John Breault, Director of Customer Support at jbreault@mlspin.com.
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MLS PIN, Amazon.com, and other large and public facing websites have recently been attacked by Internet worms. MLS PIN has been subjected to this worm twice. Our Database Administrators, Pythian Group, have been able to track how the attack occurred; therefore, we have been able to strengthen our defenses against such attacks in the future. While there have been many requests for refunds, our leadership remains steadfast in their belief that monies are best spent in strengthening our defenses to avoid further downtime. We also continue to expand our development team as we prepare for the next version of H3MLS - due in 2009.
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 New Corporate Website
We are in the process of redesigning our corporate website at www.mlspin.com to provide you with easier navigation, additional information, online forms, sales flyers, and much more. The site can also be your direct login to H3MLS and Account Services. We are excited to launch, and will keep you informed of the actual changeover. Keep an eye out for notices and the complete new look coming mid-summer.
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| Third Party Listing Transfers |
We continually strive to bring you the best options for additional marketing exposure of your listings both locally and nationally. We are pleased to announce the addition of Vast.com and MyAgentBook.com to your listing transfer options in H3MLS. Look for even more exciting marketing partners coming soon.
On April 17th, MLS PIN launched its official partnership with The Boston Courant's Open House. This Boston publication has been a wonderful success, and we would like to remind all of our Boston customers that in order to have their open houses appear in this publication they must not only opt-in for a transfer of their data to the Boston Courant, but must enter their open houses into H3MLS no later than noon on Thursday of each week.
If you are a broker and would like assistance with opting-in to have your office listings appear free of charge on Vast.com, MyAgentBook.com, Zillow, Trulia, Cyberhomes, Homescape, or any of the many others available to you, please contact our technical support department at 800-695-3000 option 2. Remember that only the broker of each office has the ability to make a transfer of office listings to any third party using their own id number.
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New Vermont Keypad Reciprocal Agreement |
We are pleased to announce a new reciprocal keypad access agreement with the Vermont Real Estate Information Network (VREIN) who also utilizes the GE Security/Supra electronic keybox system. VREIN joins the current reciprocals we share with Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Please remember that keypad reciprocation is not an automatic offer of cooperation or compensation, and that such offers must be established separately with the listing office.
If you have an active MLS PIN electronic keypad and are licensed in CT, NH, RI, or VT it can be utilized to work in any of these states at no additional charge.
Keep in mind that existing keys do not automatically contain the VREIN code. Any Keyholders who wish to work with VREIN need to have their keypad physically programmed in person on a base with the VERIN system code, and also need to complete the appropriate form found on our website (Click here for form). Please note that Vermont has two separate GE/Security electronic lockbox systems in use, so to gain access to the entire state you will need to complete both the VT and NNEREN forms found on our website. If you have any questions, please contact our membership department at 800-695-3000, option 3.
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Holiday Hours |
 Our office will be closed during the hours of noon to 2:00 p.m. on Thursday, July 3rd for our annual staff appreciation barbeque. We will close at 4:00 p.m. on that day, and will be closed on Friday, July 4th in honor of the Independence Day holiday.
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As always, we thank all of our customers for your continued participation in MLS PIN and wish each of you a safe and happy long holiday weekend.
Best Wishes,
Kathy Condon President/CEO
MLS Property Information Network, Inc. |
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MLS PIN Subscriber Update
