Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed into law on Monday a rule regulating how real estate listings are marketed in that state.
Ferguson signed SB6091, which would restrict the use of private listing networks in Washington when it takes effect in three months.
The new law adds a section to the state’s real estate brokerage law requiring properties to be marketed broadly to the general public.
“A broker may not market the sale or lease of residential real estate to a limited or exclusive group of prospective buyers or brokers, or any combination thereof, unless the real estate is concurrently marketed to the general public and all other brokers, except as reasonably necessary to protect the health or safety of the owner or occupant,” the new law says.
The law doesn’t require sellers to permit prospective buyers to enter their homes.
The law also stands in contrast to new proposals in other states, which allow for sellers to opt out of broad public marketing of real estate listings after acknowledging that doing so may come with negative consequences like lower sales price and fewer potential buyers seeing the listing.
Windermere President OB Jacobi wrote in an exclusive op-ed for Inman that the new law in Washington was a win for transparency in real estate and called for other states to follow suit.
“This bill didn’t emerge from political theory or academic debate. It arose from a real tension in the real estate industry: whether openness and equal access to listing information remain core principles, or whether the market fragments into private networks that benefit only a select few.”
Inman has previously reported that several other states have either already approved or are debating proposed laws that generally target and restrict private marketing of real estate listings.
Zillow and Realtor organizations have been supportive of the measures moving forward in various legislatures.
“Ultimately, we feel like the use of private listing networks is at odds with our goal of being the most consumer-friendly state in the nation to buy and sell real property,” Ryan Beckett, president of Washington Realtors, said around the time SB6091 was filed.
“We believe that the potential growth of private listing networks poses a threat to the transparent marketplace that ultimately benefits both consumers and Realtors,” he added, “and it could move us backwards in fair housing practices.”
