Reclaiming the Realtor Movement, Part 4: Governance Reforms, MLS

The MLS is not a charity, but a business; govern accordingly.

In my last post, Reclaiming the Realtor Movement, Part 3: Governance Reforms, Associations, I mentioned that I would deal with reforms for MLS governance separately because the two are so different. We get into that topic now.

As may be evident from that post, and from my VIP podcast on the topic, the reason why the governance models have to be different is that the two organizations are dramatically different in purpose and reason for existing.

The Association is, at its heart, an aspirational voluntary membership organization — a fraternal order, or perhaps a guild of craftsmen. The MLS, on the other hand, is a utility for conducting business. It was, is, and will likely be heavily invested in data, in technology, and in delivery of services to real estate practitioners. The two require very different governance.

Again, because of the narrowness of this topic, I’m reserving this for VIP members only. Also, once again, my goal here is not to be right, but to spark discussion and debate. That discussion can be right here with me and members of the Notorious VIP community, but it really should be at your local MLS level with your peers and your MLS leadership.

Let’s get into it.