Realtors Entering False Or Misleading Information In MLS

[J Grant]

that's nice of you to spend your time correcting MLS errors.. it truly is, though as you see, they keep entering errors anyway... imo not my job to police MLS, if another appraiser relies on bad information not my problem...(my pov, you may be more civic minded to do what you do , I am more cynical, having spent first 5 years selling RE as an agent before switching to appraisal)

 

[mb1243]

Is it factually incorrect information, or is it an over-emphasis on some marketing point?

If factual and habitual, I would let the board know.
If a sales hype, I would make sure to confirm those agents' information on the MLS (condition, view, etc.) with the other agents in the transaction.

Factually incorrect information such as excluding concessions paid by the seller; knowingly entering the wrong gross living area, overstating bedroom and bathroom counts, etc. It goes on and on. We have gone to our board and had this person removed only to have her go into membership with another neighboring association. It just seems as some of this should be illegal.

 

[gregb]

The code of ethics would apply to Texas Realtors-

https://www.texasrealestate.com/about-us/what-is-a-texas-realtor

 

[Joe Flacco]

My MLS has tax records living area and the agent can also input their own living area data. Some of the agents like to report the GBA as living area. Most of the time I use the tax records data unless I have reason to believe it is incorrect like if there is a addition on the house. But even tax records living area data needs to be looked at closer because sometimes they include the attic level and sometimes they don't but note it separately. It's pretty rare to see wrong bathroom counts.

 

[DJBanas]

that's nice of you to spend your time correcting MLS errors.. it truly is, though as you see, they keep entering errors anyway... imo not my job to police MLS, if another appraiser relies on bad information not my problem...(my pov, you may be more civic minded to do what you do , I am more cynical, having spent first 5 years selling RE as an agent before switching to appraisal)

Yeah, I am doing some policing but it helps me in the future as it cleans up the data a little bit. If this was a 5-10 process I probably wouldn't do it but it rarely takes more than 60 seconds. Not advocating for all appraisers to do this but just illustrating what some options, on some MLS's, is.

Agree with mb1243, realtors, and I have a brother-in-law and a nephew who are, should be held legally accountable for factual errors. Saying that the kitchen is a "cook's delight" when it is small and aged is one thing, saying the GLA is 2400 sf when tax records and appraiser measurement is 2100 sf is just criminal.

 

[J Grant]

Yeah, I am doing some policing but it helps me in the future as it cleans up the data a little bit. If this was a 5-10 process I probably wouldn't do it but it rarely takes more than 60 seconds. Not advocating for all appraisers to do this but just illustrating what some options, on some MLS's, is.

Agree with mb1243, realtors, and I have a brother-in-law and a nephew who are, should be held legally accountable for factual errors. Saying that the kitchen is a "cook's delight" when it is small and aged is one thing, saying the GLA is 2400 sf when tax records and appraiser measurement is 2100 sf is just criminal.

Wish it were criminal... but we can use it to our advantage in countering why a high sold price (or subject contract price) does not represent a well informed /well advised buyer,...since they believe the hype and trust the RE agent. Note when an agent's hype and Appraiser's factual reality clash, the agent says to borrower " that appraiser does not understand the market " ,

 

[Elliott]

If realtors didn't post wrong information it wouldn't make me look so smart when I get stipped and have to explain to an AMC why the information they developed from "other public source" is wrong. Because of a lazy programmer, GIS doesn't cull out basement levels in totally GLA and there are some realtors who blindly copy it.

It is the appraiser's responsibility to find, obtain, and verify the information in the report.

 

[Joe Flacco]

It is the appraiser's responsibility to find, obtain, and verify the information in the report.

 

[TRESinc]

it's just a fact we have to deal with - agents don't always post correct info or do things they way they should. a few months back my MLS had a notice that popped up when you logged in stating that all agents had to use ANSI standards when reporting the GLA of a listing and should not rely solely on public records. to date i have not seen one new listing reference ANSI, and in fact they all still have the same disclaimer -

SqFt Approximate FINISHED / Source:
Above Gr: 814/Auditors Website
Below Gr: -
TOTAL: 814
Information is Believed To Be Accurate But Not Guaranteed


this listing went active on a condo 11 days ago. ya, that screams that they measured by ANSI standards...

 

[TC]

Our local MLS is one of the few not run by Realtors, not really much of a difference. A few years back they finally started stating if the sale had concessions or not, BUT, would not put the amount. Now they do, that took another year to convince them. Just recently they announced that agents will be putting in square footage. Having dealt with assessors and agents, I wouldn't trust either. The best you can hope for is to get the on-line building diagrams and figure it out yourself. However, if it was my listing I would state "estimated" in 36 block letters.