One of our MLS Subscribers was recently contacted by the representative of an out-of-state company who wanted to gain unauthorized access to Realcomp. In exchange for our subscriber’s help in getting this person setup with a Realcomp login, the representative offered to pay our subscriber a handsome fee with the promise of confidentiality regarding the arrangement and no further follow-up with the agent.
We are thankful that our subscriber not only shared this information with Realcomp for follow-up, but also recognized the potential legal ramifications of the scenario. We wanted to raise your awareness of this request and share the reasons why unauthorized access to Realcomp is illegal. They include:
- Realcomp’s MLS Rules provide the following as part of our definition of “MLS Participant”:
- Where the terms subscriber or user are used in connection with a multiple listing service owned or operated by an association of Realtors®, they refer to non-principal brokers, sales licensees, and licensed and certified real estate appraisers affiliated with an MLS participant and may, as a matter of local option, also include a participant’s affiliated unlicensed administrative and clerical staff, personal assistants, and individuals seeking licensure or certification as real estate appraisers provided that any such individual is under the direct supervision of an MLS participant or the participant’s licensed designee.”
- If such access is available to unlicensed or uncertified individuals, their access is subject to the rules and regulations, the payment of applicable fees and charges (if any), and the limitations and restrictions of state law. None of the foregoing shall diminish the participant’s ultimate responsibility for ensuring compliance with the rules and regulations of the MLS by all individuals affiliated with the participant.”
- All subscribers of Realcomp and users of RCO3® agree to abide by the CoreLogic End User License Agreement (EULA). This EULA bars MLS subscribers from granting access to third party licensees. It also states that Realcomp ONLY has the right to sublicense system access and approve of anyone using its systems. The EULA includes these specifics:
- Under no circumstances shall you make available for access or otherwise transfer directly or indirectly to a third party, in whole or in part, the RCO3® System or the associated documentation, without prior written consent.”
- The RCO3® system may give you the capability to export, copy, compile, print or report certain System Information. Neither this Agreement nor the presence of any features implicitly or explicitly grants you any rights to use such System Information in any way other than permitted by the owner of such System Information.”
- The RCO3® System access does not grant you any right to re-commercialize data, in whole or in part, by selling, licensing, renting, distributing or otherwise transferring rights in the System Information to any other party for any purpose whatsoever, except with respect to MLS Data in accordance with the MLS Entity’s Rules & Regulations and Policies & Procedures, including but not limited to any Virtual Office Website (VOW) or Internet Data Exchange (IDX) rules.”
- Should CoreLogic or Realcomp determine that a subscriber has violated the EULA, that subscriber’s license to access the system could terminate automatically in accordance with the EULA.”
Between Realcomp’s MLS Rules & Regulations and the CoreLogic EULA, there are many legal issues pertaining to the proposal our MLS subscriber received. If you were not aware of this, we are pleased to bring this matter to your attention. In short, Realcomp does not permit subscribers to engage in granting MLS access to unauthorized parties.
If you ever have questions about this topic or any related-information, please contact our Customer Care Department for clarification at support@realcomp.com. Thank you!
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