COOPERATIVE COMPENSATION SPECIFIED ON EACH LISTING. The listing Participant shall specify, on each listing for which a Property Data Sheet has been submitted to the Association, the compensation offered to other Participants for their services in the sale of such listing. Such offers are unconditional except that entitlement to compensation is determined by the cooperating broker's performance as the procuring cause of the sale (or lease) or as otherwise provided for in this rule. The listing Participant's obligation to compensate any cooperating broker as 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 MLS 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 cooperating brokers that the commission established in the listing agreement might not be paid. In filing a property with the multiple listing service of an association of REALTORS®, the Participant of the service is making blanket unilateral offers of compensation to the other Participants, and shall therefore specify on each listing filed with the service, the compensation being offered to the other Participants. Specifying the compensation on each listing is necessary, because the cooperating broker has the right to know what his compensation shall be prior to his endeavor to sell.* *The compensation specified on listings filed with the Association shall appear in one of two forms. The essential and appropriate requirement by an association multiple listing service is that the information to be published shall clearly inform the participants as to the compensation they will receive in cooperative transactions, unless advised otherwise by the listing broker, in writing, in advance of submitting an offer to purchase. The ...
