Advertising Before the Effective Date of a Listing Contract

Per Wisconsin State Statute 452.136(3), an agent cannot advertise a property unless their firm is the listing firm or has permission from the listing firm. The firm does not become the listing firm until a listing contract has been executed and the term of the contract has begun. This date (also referred to as the effective or list date) can be found on line 311 of the WB-1:

Because state law is not well-defined in regard to what is considered advertising, the MLS Board of Directors created the following rule to stop violations internally & reduce the risk of our members being sanctioned by the DSPS:

If any detail of a specific property, sufficient to activate the interest of a potential buyer, is publicly marketed* before the effective date of the listing contract for said property, the listing agent shall be fined $200 per day, from the time of advertisement until the effective date of the contract. This fine will not exceed $5,000. 

*Public marketing includes, but is not limited to: flyers displayed in windows, yard signs, digital marketing on public facing websites, brokerage website displays (including IDX and VOW), digital communications marketing (email blasts), multi-brokerage listing sharing networks (ex: Realtor® Facebook groups), communication which introduces the property to agents outside the listing firm, and applications available to the general public.

If you are unsure if something is allowed, please call 608-240-2800 & ask for Heather or Patty.  We would much rather talk to you ahead of time than have to issue a fine.