Cooperative Compensation Specified on Each Listing
(Article 4.18)
In filing a property with MFRMLS the Participant makes a blanket unilateral offer of compensation to the other Participants, and therefore specifies on each listing the compensation being offered by the Listing Participant to the other Participants. The Listing Participant shall specify on each listing filed with MFRMLS the compensation offered to other Participants for their services in the sale of such listing. This is necessary because the cooperating Participant has a right to know what their compensation shall be prior to commencing their endeavor to sell. The Listing Participant retains the right to determine the amount of compensation offered in other agency or non-agency capacities which may be the same or different.
MFRMLS does not have a rule requiring the Listing Participant to disclose the amount of total commission in the listing contract, and MFRMLS will not publish the total commission. The compensation specified by MFRMLS shall be shown as a percentage of the selling price or a dollar amount. This shall not preclude the Listing Participant from offering any Participant compensation other than the compensation indicated on any listings as published by MFRMLS provided the Listing Participant informs the other Participant in writing, in advance of their producing an offer to purchase and provided that the modification in the specified compensation is not the result of any agreement among all or any other Participants in MFRMLS. Any superseding offer of compensation must be expressed as either a percentage of the sales price or as a dollar amount.
While offers of compensation through MFRMLS are unconditional, the obligation to compensate a Participant who was the procuring cause of sale (or lease) may be excused if it is determined through arbitration that, through no fault of the Listing Participant and in the exercise of good faith and reasonable care, it was impossible or financially unfeasible for the Listing Participant to collect a commission pursuant to the listing agreement. In such instances, entitlement to cooperative compensation offered through MFRMLS would be a question to be determined by an arbitration hearing panel based on all relevant facts and circumstances including, but not limited to: why it was impossible or financially unfeasible for the Listing Participant to collect some or all of the commission established in the listing agreement, at what point in the transaction did the Listing Participant know (or should have known) that some or all of the commission established in the listing agreement might not be paid and how promptly had the Listing Participant communicated to other Participant that the commission established in the listing agreement might not be paid.
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