When the National Association of Realtors moved last week to let local multiple listing services decide whether to give MLS access to non-Realtors, it was catching up with recent changes and discussions already underway at some of the nation’s largest MLSs.
In fact, a number of the nation’s largest multiple listing services have either long provided access to non-Realtors, recently made that change, or are moving in that direction, according to an analysis by Inman.
And the number is growing.
In NAR’s case, the Executive Committee voted at its recent annual NXT conference to repeal MLS Policy 7.7 and others focused on control over MLS access. The change seemed to target the common practice of having real estate professionals join state, local and national Realtor associations in order to gain access to the MLS and conduct everyday business.
But Inman’s analysis shows that hundreds of thousands of real estate agents can already join their MLS without becoming a Realtor, and more are gaining that access.
“Starting Jan. 1, you will no longer have to be a member of the Association of Realtors” to access SmartMLS in Connecticut, Michael Barbaro, the MLS’s president, told Inman.
“Up until our vote on Sept. 30, SmartMLS had a requirement that in order to be a member, you had to be a Realtor member in good standing,” Barbaro said.
The change followed feedback from brokerages who were unhappy about the commission litigation and ensuing settlements, Barbaro said.
NAR’s Board of Directors at NAR NXT in Houston, November 2025
“I also heard from small brokers who were just disgusted at the way they handled the case and said, ‘We don’t want to be members anymore,’” he said.
“We just felt it was the right time to revisit this. Our membership passed overwhelmingly,” Barbaro added. “We don’t anticipate a mass exodus.”
SmartMLS is one of the nation’s largest multiple listing services to move forward with providing access to agents who aren’t NAR members. But it’s hardly the only one.
“We have added an MLS-Only Subscription on October 1 this year,” Andrea Presnal, Doorify MLS spokesperson, told Inman. Doorify MLS serves North Carolina.
CanopyMLS, in the Carolinas, has been an “open MLS” since January, though the group didn’t elaborate on the change.
Those MLSs and others also join the nation’s top five largest MLSs that have already provided non-Realtor access to the MLS.
The California Regional Multiple Listing Service (CRMLS), the nation’s second-largest by subscriber count, has offered access to non-Realtors for decades.
“In California, as a result of a case from the early 80’s, Realtors orgs in California have not tied MLS membership to Realtor membership, so no changes necessary at CRMLS,” CEO Art Carter told Inman.
That’s also the case with Bright MLS, the nation’s largest MLS, which provides access to non-Realtors for a higher quarterly fee than Realtor members, and with the Houston Association of Realtors.
“We removed the Realtor membership requirement in 2005,” HAR Chairman Mario Arriaga told Inman. “We allow MLS only. Realtors and Non-Realtors get the same level of MLS access.”
Many MLSs that allow for some form of non-Realtor access charge a higher fee for non-Realtors. (For instance, Bright MLS charges $174 per quarter for non-Realtors and $120 per quarter for Realtors.)
Non-Realtors also might not get access to forms that are vetted and used in everyday transactions.
The Arizona Multiple Listing Service is owned by Realtor associations but is governed independently, according to ARMLS CEO Matthew Consalvo. And ARMLS has offered access to non-Realtors for nearly 30 years.
“As long as you are licensed by the Arizona Department of Real Estate, you have the potential to be my subscriber,” Consalvo said. “If you’re not, we do not have a membership category for you.”
Non-Realtor access is called MLS-Only (MLSO), and while Consalvo wouldn’t discuss how many of ARMLS’s roughly 40,000 subscribers were non-Realtors, he said the group was “not materially significant.”
“Are there more today than a year ago? Sure,” he said. “But out of 40,000 subscribers, it’s not a significant number.”
While many agents and brokers have MLS access, many don’t. But, Consalvo said, it may be time to change that.
“There’s a lot of MLSs that have never been open to non-Realtor ownership,” Consalvo said. “My response is maybe it’s time.”
Update: Inman updated the attribution of HAR’s statement after publication of this article.
