"Nar and the state associations do not impose any lock box requirements. Even if the local board wants lock boxes on a property the property owner can refuse."

I know of at least one local board that is now REQUIRING GE electronic Supra boxes (only choice) on all MLS-listed properties that have a lockbox. This means if the agent currently has a combo box on the property, they will need to purchase an electronic Supra box and put it on the property also. If agents don't comply, they will receive a "citation". what comes after the citation I don't know.

Perhaps that board can dictate the use of the Supra lock box but I'm confident it is still subject to the property owner's permission to have any lock box.

Lockboxes Locally a lockbox is not mandatory, but some years ago when it was announced that the electronic lockbox would soon be available, I made a telephone call to the national distributor and was told, to my surprised, that the local board had purchased quite a few of their lockboxes with the intention of selling them at a profit to their members and to subsequently follow up with subscriptions fees from their members.

Subsequently, the Board was promoting these new lockboxes and offering a credit to the members who turned in their current lockboxes, but never did they mention anything about the forthcoming subscription fees.

Basically, this credit was an effort to remove all the current lockboxes from the local market, with the only alternative being the new electronic ones.

The older and wiser brokers retained their older combination lockboxes and have never regretted doing so.

Important Notice: This information is provided as basic educational information by the author and is not a substitute for the advice of an expert and/or the advice of a lawyer. There is NO epresentation as to legality, accuracy, correctness of the herein information and the reader is strongly urged to consult a lawyer in the relevant jurisdiction to ensure accuracy before acting on this information .

^^^

yes, a manipulative tactic characteristic of the existing Board/MLS systems.

the bottom line is...the local board has no business telling local brokers and agents what lockbox they should use, while forcing them to pay more for eKey subscription fees.

that decision is a matter strictly between the broker and the client.

Amen. Revolt against the machine.

It is at the sellers option to use a lockbox or not, any type.
Obviously you don't care about the additional security features that the Supra boxes provide for your clients.

Are you saying combo boxes are not as safe as Supra boxes? Shouldn't a broker/agent have the choice to which they use?

Yes.
and
Yes. Brokers should have the choice of lock boxes, to NOT provide the best and safest method available if they so desire. (until they get sued by the seller or are not covered under their E&O for not providing the most secure method available)

http://www.srcar.org/supra_faq.asp

http://tinyurl.com/gymf5

this is a ridiculous requirement, and should be of no concern to the local Board. The broker/agent is responsible for the management of the property. It is the broker/agent's and client's decision to determine which type of lockbox is appropriate. Any benefit accrues strictly to the local Board and GE, their exclusive vendor.

Shana

This requirement from the Board of Realtors in Las Vegas stems from the reality that a lot of agents give the MLS printouts to their buyers and if there is a combo lock box the buyer will have easy access to the house. This does not satisfy the requirement to ensure that only Realtors have access to the house.

That is a BS reason! I use many combo lock boxes but never publish the code in MLS, showing instructions are for the agent to contact me for the lock box code.

^^

exactly. lockbox codes must be put in the "agent only comments" field of the listing, which is not visible in a client printout. MLS members are required to distribute ONLY the client printouts to clients.

for REO brokers, electronic lockboxes are usually an unnecessary expense.

If the bank or client doesn't require them, then yes, the broker will use his discretion. the point is, this is the broker's decision. the local Board committee should not be making those business decisions for the broker. It's not the purpose for the Board's existence.

Do you have a link to your boards policy manual showing the required use of the SUPRA lockbox?
I can't believe it's in there.

Here is a link to ours.

http://www.pikespeakrsc.com/PPMLSRULES.pdf