Denver Realtor groups REcolorado board members

The boards of directors of the Denver Metro Association of Realtors and the South Metro Denver Realtors Association have a decides to immediately dismiss all REcolorado board membersescalating a heated dispute between the three groups.

REcolorado, the state’s largest multiple listing service or MLS, called its two owners into the national trade press earlier this week for selling it to an out-of-state private equity buyer after rejecting a buyout proposal REcolorado made earlier this year that would have kept the property in local hands.

Four of REcolorado’s eleven board members resigned this week in protest against the group’s action. On Friday, the two associations fired the remaining seven MLS board members.

“Although we are disappointed, we have come to this decision based on the blatant breach of confidentiality and the signed Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) executed by a representative(s) of the REcolorado Board of Directors,” the two associations said in a statement. a statement. “Combined with the response from REcolorado’s board of directors in recent days, we have made this decision, which we believe is in the best interests of our collective membership, long-term ownership and operating objectives.”

DMAR and SMDRA also announced late Friday afternoon that they had signed a letter of intent to sell REcolorado to MAZL LLC, a recently formed company led by J. Bruks, a 40-year real estate industry veteran.

“With this change in ownership, our commitment to providing a broker-centric platform remains steadfast,” Burks said in a press release. “We assure subscribers that REcolorado will continue to operate as a Multiple Listing Service, maintaining its core mission of providing exceptional data, tools and resources to brokers and licensees.”

Members of real estate agent associations contribute their listings to a common platform or MLS, which the associations typically own. Real estate agents can access that information, and so can the public through online platforms like Zillow and Realtor.com.

Real estate agent associations, however, are trying to distance themselves from their various listing services following legal settlements reached by the National Association of Realtors and some of the nation’s largest brokerage firms in recent months regarding buyer agent commissions.

Listings can no longer reveal whether a seller is willing to pay a commission to a buyer’s agent, overturning decades of industry practice. Eliminating MLS ownership is seen as a way to counter allegations of undue influence and prevent future lawsuits.

REcolorado said it understood why a separation was necessary and that earlier this year it partnered with DMAR and SMDRA to acquire full ownership of the nation’s 16th largest MLS, which amassed lists of 26,000 members, according to the listing. a statement REcolorado issued on Tuesday.

The two associations cut off communication and REcolorado leaders said they were “blindsided” when they learned that DMAR and SMDRA had reached a deal to sell the listing service to a private equity firm.

They allege that the associations acted in bad faith, as MAZL LLC was formed in January while negotiations with REcolorado were still ongoing.

“This was done without our knowledge, without our input, and we were not given the opportunity to compete,” Shelly Vincent, vice chairman of REcolorado and vice president of operations and broker for HomeSmart in Colorado, told HousingWire, a industry publication.