The multiple listing service has always been a simple concept. But like a lot of straightforward ideas, everything gets a lot more complicated once you need to address competing interests, stakeholder priorities and operational requirements. Even so, MLSs remained a relatively unquestioned foundation of real estate for decades—until now.
For the first time in the digital age, brokerage leaders and other industry power players are questioning whether real estate needs MLSs, at least in their current form, and at least some MLS executives appear ready to seek a new role for their organizations as the tide of private listings and portal pre-marketing rises.
Jessica Edgerton is a litigator who worked for the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) but most recently served as EVP and chief legal officer at independent brokerage network Leading Real Estate Companies of the World®. Edgerton will be taking the reins at the Council of Multiple Listing Services (CMLS) at a time when that organization faces a largely unprecedented set of challenges, and contends with the most significant industry shifts in its 24-year history.
Edgerton tells RISMedia that it was exactly this situation that drew her to the role, which she will officially assume on July 1.
“As an antitrust attorney, I love all of the competition. I love watching these really robust discussions and fights and battles happen,” she says. “But we cannot catch the MLS in the jaws of these battles and break it, because we will end up being siloed.”
Those MLS battles—over private listings, governance, state regulations and business interests—are likely to have a huge impact on the future of the whole industry, as brokerages, portals and outsiders push their own priorities. How much can CMLS be involved in the often starkly different approaches MLSs have taken to these issues, and what can it do to keep MLSs relevant—or help the industry “outrun extinction,” as one major MLS CEO recently said?
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
RISMedia: The debate about the role of the MLS that started after the NAR settlement has gotten more serious. What do you think about the current back-and-forth over the role of MLSs?
Jessica Edgerton: I think there was a wake-up call (after the NAR settlement) for a lot of folks who said, “Oh wait, no, cooperation really is essential.” The MLS isn’t going to shatter and go away simply because that compensation element dropped from its interface.
I think now is the time for MLSs to really elevate a couple of things. One is their engagement with innovation and cutting-edge technology, which is one of the things that the MLS community is going to need to do. And at the helm of CMLS, that’s one of the areas that I really want to help them with: how to have those conversations, how to work that engagement when it comes to the technology that is driving them as companies, and the tools that they are able to provide for their primary stakeholders.
And then the other one is ensuring clarity from the industry that with all of these big behemoth competitive discussions that we’re having, battles that are being fought, we cannot break or silo what has driven our industry to the place where it is now, which is truly the envy of so many other real estate industries around the world.
We have cohesive data. We have so much power behind having a really robust, complete picture at any given moment of what the data and what the listing environment looks like. That’s the MLS.
RISMedia: Prominent brokerage and MLS leaders have said that some level of fragmentation is acceptable, or even positive as an element of increased competition. How do you respond to that?
JE: On the competition front, let’s take a snapshot of where we are. We are in a time of massive competitive upheaval in our industry. It’s because we’ve got major M&A among brokerages. We’ve got the technology element when it comes to what AI is doing. We’ve got new announcements from Google. So whether it is good or not for the consumer, I think it is inevitable that there is going to be some siloing and fractionalization, at least in the immediate term.
Let’s battle it out, and if that involves some fractionalization, so be it. I’m not going to say that that’s good or not, though. I think that having a full, robust, complete snapshot (of listings) is probably the best thing.
So I’m going to disagree a little bit on that front. However, in massive, fast-moving competitive environments, I think there are also going to be some missteps, there’s going to be some litigation—counterintuitively, I am trained as an attorney, but I actually think that politics and battles in the courtroom, and business via motion, is not efficient. So I would like to sort of see more of this (debate) through competition, and less in the courtroom.
If we are going to see some fractionalization of our datasets, I would like to see that be temporary through this time of change.
RISMedia: MLSs are currently very divided, with MRED and NWMLS on opposite sides of the private listing battle, while many seem to envision the evolution of the MLS playing out differently. What is CMLS’s role as those disagreements play out?
JE: CMLS just hired somebody who’s been helping my brokerage community navigate antitrust for the last several years. But I’m not going to comment on any specific litigation.
What I envision CMLS doing is providing grounds for robust discussion, first of all, discussions that are productive—overall and long-term—for our industry. I deeply respect and appreciate that we are engaging in really difficult, industry-changing discussion. I know a lot of these players, and I know that all of the MLS community is deeply grounded in wanting to provide a platform—and ultimately an outcome—that will best serve our industry, and most importantly, ensure that real estate consumers, both on the buyer and seller side, are as well serviced as they can be in what is a very difficult real estate ecosystem.
RISMedia: Does CMLS have any role in discussing or advocating for how MLSs should be structured? Do you see the governance or ownership structure of MLSs changing in the near future?
JE: I see CMLS as an organization that is here to support and help support all MLS models. We currently have around half of the close to 500 MLSs in our footprint—it is my goal to welcome and include in our membership all MLSs.
I think we are going to continue to see different organizational and ownership models for MLSs expand. I think we will continue to see MLSs that are owned by and affiliated with Realtor® associations, but I think that we are going to continue to see expansion beyond that.
RISMedia: How do you respond to people who say certain MLS models or approaches to policy aren’t viable anymore? Does CMLS have a role in helping MLSs decide structure of governance, or best practices?
JE: We will continue to build out best practices, I’ll tell you that for sure. So yes, we will continue to build out and innovate when it comes to the best practices that we’re putting out.
RISMedia: Consumers and lawmakers still don’t understand the role of the MLS. How does CMLS approach that, and what is the most important goal in advocating for the MLS in government, and with consumers?
JE: The most important goal is, I think, exactly what has already been identified as a big missing piece—our lawmakers both at the state and federal levels don’t necessarily have a full picture of the way our industry works.
Washington—that is one of only a number of states that are in the process of legislating around private listings, around how our data ecosystem is going to function at a state law level.
And I think some of those laws are being crafted with that lack of understanding. It is one of my goals to ensure that CMLS either is directly in front—whether that’s me in person, or one of our members having been empowered by materials that we provide—in those rooms, educating those lawmakers on the vital nature of the MLS and how important it is for our consumers to have the MLS remain a vital part of data flow.
States attorneys general—they meet, they talk to each other. We need to get in front of those laws to ensure clarity and protection of the MLS as a body and thereby the protection of our consumers.
RISMedia: Are there specific legislative priorities that CMLS plans to focus on with advocacy, along with private listings and data flow?
JE: I would like to ensure that our members and our constituents and the industry that we’re helping amplify is in the inventory discussion, that we are providing materials. And also to the extent that CMLS itself can help with some of the policy and regulatory elements that can help increase inventory, both new and existing.
I also feel to the extent that there is a direct line between transparency and completeness of industry data and information as it ties to fair housing and accessibility issues—that’s clearly directly in our wheelhouse. So I plan on being part of those conversations at all levels—state, local, federal—and again, empowering our members with the tools they need to take action at their state and local levels as well.
