Method · Checked 1 November 2026
How we check a rule before publishing it
A rule page is only as good as the document behind it. This is the process, including the part where we decide not to publish.
The five steps
Find the board’s own document
The rulebook, the rules and regulations article, or the compliance knowledgebase. A vendor summary or a Facebook post is a lead, not a source.
Quote it verbatim
The sentence goes on the page in quotation marks, with a link to the document it came from. Paraphrase is where a wrong rule becomes indistinguishable from a right one.
Record the version and the date
Rule number where one exists, the page’s last-updated date, and the date we checked. If the document has no date, we say so.
Test the negative
If a board does not mention staging, we search the whole document for it before writing that it says nothing. A verified absence is published as a finding.
Separate statute from board rule
California’s AB 723 binds brokers and the people acting for them regardless of MLS membership. Mixing it into an MLS column would mislead anyone listing outside CRMLS.
What we will not publish
- A board rule we have only seen summarised by someone else.
- A fine amount without the document that states it.
- A “compliance” claim that every board requires the same thing; they do not.
- A page for a board whose rule we could not read. Bright MLS, MIAMI REALTORS, NWMLS, HAR and UtahRealEstate are in that group right now.
Recheck cycle
| What | How often |
|---|---|
| The five boards on the rule list | Each quarter, or sooner if a board announces a change. |
| California statute | Against the chaptered bill text each quarter. |
| Unverified boards | Retried each quarter; published only when the primary document is readable. |
Questions
Who writes these pages?
The pages are compiled from the boards’ published documents. The site does not claim a licensed author on the rule pages, and you should weigh that when you rely on them.
Why publish the boards you could not read?
Because a list that silently omits them implies coverage it does not have. Naming the gap is the honest version of a coverage claim.