If you’re getting ready to list, two related changes are worth knowing before you sign a listing agreement: a national NAR policy affecting how buyers work with their agents, and a separate, later change specific to Boston’s own MLS, MLS PIN.
The buyer side: a signed agreement before touring
Since August 17, 2024, an MLS Participant working with a buyer is required to enter into a written agreement with that buyer prior to touring a home, including in-person and live virtual tours, according to NAR’s ‘Written Buyer Agreements 101.’ Under Policy Statement 8.13, that agreement has to include a specific and conspicuous disclosure of the compensation amount or how it’s determined, state the amount in a way that’s objectively ascertainable and not open-ended, cap what the buyer’s agent can collect from other sources beyond what the agreement states, and carry a conspicuous statement that broker fees and commissions aren’t set by law and are fully negotiable. This is a national requirement, unrelated to MLS PIN’s own timeline for the change below.
The seller side: Boston’s MLS took a later, separate path
Nationally, NAR’s Policy Statement 8.11 says the MLS must not accept a listing that contains an offer of compensation to other MLS Participants and Subscribers, and most REALTOR-affiliated MLSs adopted that in 2024. Boston’s own MLS, MLS PIN, is broker-owned and independent; it wasn’t automatically bound by NAR’s settlement. MLS PIN kept allowing compensation offers on listings, with a seller-rights disclosure attached, until a separate antitrust settlement, Nosalek v. MLS PIN, led it to remove compensation fields from its Pinergy platform in September 2025, with final court approval that same month.
What this means for a seller
A seller can still agree to pay a buyer’s broker. That offer just can’t show up in an MLS PIN listing anymore. Ask your listing agent exactly how any such payment gets handled and disclosed, and get the terms in writing before you authorize anything.
Before you sign a listing agreement
Ask exactly how a buyer-agent payment, if any, will be handled and disclosed, and get it in writing rather than take it on faith. Listing this fall? Let’s walk through what applies to you. Diana Kim, REALTOR®, eXp Realty.
Questions
Common questions
Can a seller still offer to pay the buyer's agent?
Yes. Nothing bars a seller from agreeing to pay a buyer's broker. What changed is where that offer can be advertised: on MLS PIN, Boston's own MLS, it can no longer appear in the listing data itself, as of a separate settlement that took effect in September 2025.
What does a seller have to sign now?
There's no separate national form tied to MLS PIN's September 2025 change. The practical step is to ask your listing agent exactly how any buyer-agent payment will be handled and disclosed, and get the terms in writing before you authorize anything.
What changed for buyers?
Since August 17, 2024, an MLS Participant working with a buyer has to sign a written agreement with that buyer before touring a home, per NAR's 'Written Buyer Agreements 101' and Policy Statement 8.13. This is a national requirement, unrelated to MLS PIN's own timeline for the compensation-display change.
What does the buyer's agreement have to say about compensation?
Policy Statement 8.13 requires a specific and conspicuous disclosure of the amount or how it's determined, an objectively ascertainable amount that isn't open-ended, a cap on compensation from other sources beyond that amount, and a statement that compensation isn't set by law and is negotiable.
Where do these rules come from?
The buyer-agreement rule comes from the National Association of REALTORS®' Handbook on Multiple Listing Policy. The compensation-display rule works differently by MLS: most REALTOR-affiliated MLSs adopted NAR's Policy Statement 8.11 in 2024, but Boston's own MLS PIN is broker-owned and independent, and it only stopped carrying compensation offers after its own separate 2025 settlement.
Sources
- NAR Handbook on Multiple Listing Policy, Policy Statement 8.11 (No Offers of Compensation in MLS): 'The MLS must not accept listing containing an offer of compensation in the MLS to other MLS Participants and Subscribers.'
- Policy Statement 8.12 (Required Consumer Disclosure): Participants must 'disclose to prospective sellers and buyers that broker compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable,' and give sellers written notice, with seller authorization obtained beforehand, 'for any payments or offer of payment that the listing Participant or seller will make to another broker, agent, or other representative,' stating the specific amount or rate.
- Policy Statement 8.13 (Written Buyer Agreements Required) lists four required disclosures in the agreement: '(a) a specific and conspicuous disclosure of the amount or rate of compensation the Participant will receive or how this amount will be determined; (b) the amount of compensation in a manner that is objectively ascertainable and not open-ended; (c) a term that prohibits the Participant from receiving compensation for brokerage services from any source that exceeds the amount or rate agreed to in the agreement with the buyer; and (d) a conspicuous statement that broker fees and commissions are not set by law and are fully negotiable.'
- NAR consumer page, 'Written Buyer Agreements 101': an MLS Participant 'working with' a buyer is required to enter into a written agreement with the buyer prior to touring a home, including both in-person and live virtual tours, effective August 17, 2024.
- MLS PIN's own about page: 'MLS PIN is one of the largest broker-owned multiple listing services in the nation.' It is broker-owned and independent, not owned by a REALTOR association and not automatically bound by NAR's national settlement.
- 'Effective September 2, 2025, MLS PIN removes all compensation fields from Pinergy (your entry-only listing),' following final court approval of the Nosalek v. MLS PIN antitrust settlement on September 29, 2025, about a year after NAR's national MLS policy changes took effect elsewhere on August 17, 2024.
Written by Diana Yeji Kim — REALTOR® at eXp Realty, serving Greater Boston in English, Korean, and Japanese.
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