The National Association of REALTORS® in May announced a new cooperative agreement with the Council of Multiple Listing Services, a professional trade organization representing the MLS industry, to leverage the expertise and experience of CMLS members on several key NAR committees and launch new MLS-focused programs. Many REALTOR® MLS executives are also CMLS members.

NAR CEO Dale Stinton characterized the agreement as “a partnership built on a common interest to serve REALTORS®.”

In the past, NAR had no organization to interact with that spoke collectively for those in the MLS community, Stinton said. “We believe CMLS has grown and matured to the point where the exchange of issues and information can now be very productive and have credibility.”

Under the agreement, NAR will appoint three CMLS-specific seats to the NAR MLS Technology and Emerging Issues Advisory Board; two CMLS members will join the AE Institute Curriculum Advisory Board; and one CMLS member will hold a seat on the NAR Association Executive Committee.

NAR and CMLS will establish a program (and funding) for exploring and executing on potential MLS mergers and consolidations.

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