The paperwork has been filed to dissolve Sandicor, our local MLS company.
http://www.nsdcar.com/announcements/mls-faq.pdf
A bitter fight among the three partners has been brewing all year. Two of the three associations of realtors, NSDCAR and PSAR, want to join the efforts of CRMLS and their 80,000+ agents and help create a statewide MLS.
Why join forces with CRMLS?
- Their MLS listings have more/better features.
- Their consumer-facing website is superior.
- Agents can have their listings uploaded to Zillow automatically.
- They have the size and power to fight Zillow if needed.
But the third partner, the Greater San Diego Association of Realtors, doesn’t want to join up with CRMLS, and instead wants to create their own consumer-facing portal. Earlier this year they filed a lawsuit against NSDCAR and PSAR in order to gain full access to Sandicor’s listing data.
It’s a mess.
Like with most divorces, the people involved decide to part ways, rather than to keep bickering when there are fundamental differences in place.
What will the dissolution of Sandicor mean for consumers and agents?
There might be some uncertainty about having reliable access to the MLS over the next 6-12 months. For now, the plan is to keep Sandicor up and running while a data-share agreement is implemented with CRMLS, which will give agents access to a second MLS.
As long as SDAR cooperates with that effort, everything should be fine.
However, the SDAR lawsuit is likely to linger. According to their complaint, they have spent hundreds of thousands of dollars building their own consumer-facing website, only to be denied access to MLS data.
The courts are being asked to find a solution.
The biggest problem – which was solved by the creation of Sandicor in 1991 – is to have all of the San Diego County MLS data in one place. If Sandicor is dissolved, and SDAR won’t join CRMLS, then SDAR will be left to create their own MLS. Agents will have to go back to joining two associations, and working two different MLS systems, which isn’t the ideal solution.
What would I do if I were the judge?
I’d dissolve Sandicor, make SDAR join CRMLS, and then give them the data feed to create their own consumer-facing portal.
It might sound too simple, but in the long run, it is what’s needed.
One fear is that the access to the database of sold properties gets interrupted. If that happened, agents would be forced to find their comps at Zillow – wouldn’t that be a fine kettle of fish!
But we would survive. Agents would migrate to the CRMLS – the only alternative solution – and within six months we would have a new database of sold comps. Today there are over 300 active San Diego listings in CRMLS, so it is already happening.
I commend Raylene Brundage and other leaders for taking this dramatic step. It will probably get messier over the next few months, but in the long-term, agents want and need one solid, reliable MLS with a collective voice that is powerful enough to take on the outside disrupters.
Buying and selling homes is a big deal for the consumers. They deserve to have the option of hiring agents who can guide them through the process in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible.
Having a robust statewide MLS with a voice will help agents do just that.
I don’t know much about this fight, but its just a database. So what’s the real issue? Dues and who gets the profit off running the system and selling the data? I guess the cut of the pie and control offered by CRMLS isn’t big enough to satisfy SDAR? Big fish small pond syndrome? Any leverage they might have had to negotiate with CRMLS is basically gone now, no? The idea of hoarding data for themselves and keeping those pesky LA Brokers out of SD is pretty much over I guess. Adapt or die.
CRMLS is a very unfortunate acronym. I’d find a way to change it to GDGYZ.
The fight is between three realtor associations who compete for members (brokers and agents). SDAR membership has grown to about 2/3 of the SD agents, so they want more control of Sandicor – and to create their own portal so they can recruit more agents away from the other associations.
The judge should make all three merge into one – they are supposed to be helping agents sell houses, not try to snuff out each other.
SDAR’S FULL STATEMENT:
The SDAR focus and intention is to insure that nearly 13,000 real estate professionals who rely upon us as members for service and support, continue to have that service and support without distraction or interruption. Our goal is seamless resolution.
Unfortunately, the future for 19,000 MLS subscribers in our area will be greatly impacted by the actions of both Pacific Southwest AOR and the North County San Diego AOR. SDAR has for many years, worked to resolve service issues at Sandicor despite having a minority of votes, (with 12,889 members SDAR has 4 of 11 votes, PSAR has 2,201 members and 3 votes, and NSDCAR with 4,628 members has 4 votes). We know that Sandicor is a shared and valuable resource to our community of REALTORS®, and we have constantly worked to re-focus Sandicor to its core mission of serving REALTOR® members and real estate professionals, while guarding against excesses and mismanagement of our shared MLS. In the end, SDAR’s stewardship obligations necessitated formal measures, when informal measures and proposed controls were rejected.
Inexplicably, the other two shareholders seek to dissolve Sandicor. We believe their actions negatively impact the MLS and further distract and drain its limited resources. As we are advised, laws governing the agreement, and the parties’ shareholder agreement prevent a dissolution of Sandicor. It is also important to note that if those two shareholders make the unfortunate decision to leave, SDAR stands prepared to exercise the buyout provisions of the governing documents and to continue to operate Sandicor for all of the MLS’s subscribers. There will be no interruption of services.
Most unfortunate is that the other two associations, which have already merged in all but name, are using their MLS control, and now their attempt to destroy Sandicor altogether, as mere cover for a membership fight, one which is endangering our member’s primary business tool in the process. They cannot survive alone, and cannot formally merge or they give up control of Sandicor, so they are attempting to destroy our members’ most valuable business tool rather than compete on a level playing field with SDAR.
For all of those reasons, SDAR’s pending federal litigation is proceeding. Nine of SDAR’s claims are moving forward, and the court is evaluating two additional issues. As the other two shareholders disclose information regarding their roles in Sandicor’s management and the other issues in the lawsuit, and we are hopeful that this first step to transparency will aide in our continuing effort to protect the MLS for all of its members.
https://therealdaily.com/board-associations/san-diego-area-real-estate-associations-sue-dissolve-local-mls-sandicor/
Boom – there’s the answer. Sell Sandicor to SDAR and let them run it. It’s the way it will end up anyway, so let’s cut to the chase.
Agents will then choose to input listings onto Sandicor, CRMLS, or both.
Sandicor especifically Paragon is a substandard system, CRMLS Matrix is a faster more reliable system, CRMLS already has access to Sandicor data vice versa.