Business Rules: The Unsung Hero Of MLS Success

What are Business Rules and why do they matter?

At Ocusell, we live and breathe the business rules that MLSs, brokers, and vendors have to ensure a strong foundation for a fair and equitable housing market. Yet, as crucial as business rules are, they are often some of the most overlooked parts of the industry. We provide an in-depth audit of each implementation’s laws on the books. But the problem we keep encountering is that ‘the books’ exist in several places and don’t always agree with each other. We’ve encountered discrepancies as high as 30% and rarely is there a single source of truth for the entire ruleset that subscribers should abide by. 

MLS vendors state that the MLS owns the data, but the real question is, who owns the rules? Ocusell believes the MLS owns its data and the rules that make it consistent and a source of truth across decades of practitioners. Sometimes, the leading MLS vendor has the bulk of the regulations in place, but ancillary vendors who came on board later have a subset of rules that the leading provider hasn’t been aware of. Or other times, when the rules get updated, only the significant changes make their way to downstream vendors, and the minor changes aren’t implemented. Over time, these omissions can lead to problems and possible fines for agents or brokers and can gradually erode the sense of trust we all work so hard to maintain with the public. 

We often compare the business rules that underpin real estate to a nation’s electrical grid or clean water supply. Nobody thinks much about them until something goes wrong. However, real estate has entered an era of greater scrutiny over how we conduct our business, and having a solid set of rules is one of the gaps we need to address before it reaches a crisis level. The good news is it doesn’t have to take more training or time. With Ocusell, it is easier than ever to ensure your rules are consistent across different sources, and your subscribers can adhere to them without hassle.