Fines & Violations FAQs

Like most MLSs nationwide, the board of directors has adopted a policy of fining users who enter incomplete or inaccurate data, or fail to enter critical and essential listing information.

The sole purpose is to ensure you can trust the accuracy and reliability of the information when assisting your customers.

We use Listing Data Checker (LDC), an automated database scanning system, that is programmed to catch most instances in which the data is not in compliance with our rules and regulations. We also receive confidential agent reported violations, for which our Data Integrity staff will confirm and follow up on.

For automatic first time violations, you could have up to 24 hours to correct the violation before a fine is imposed.

For a non-automatic fine, you will receive 2 notifications before a fine is imposed.

For an immediate fines there are no warning notification and a fine is immediate. When a violation constitutes a potential violation of state or federal law, or it raises concerns about unauthorized use of, or access to, the MLS database, the board of directors considers these serious enough to warrant immediate and substantially heftier fines, ranging from $500 to $5,000, with no courtesy warning.

Please contact our admin team at 1-800-686-7451, or at Admin@stellarmls.com, if you need help making corrections.

Click here to view the Stellar MLS Rules & Regulations.

If a violation is not corrected within the grace period stated on the notice, you will incur a fine as outlined in Article 11.4: Penalties for Inaccurate or Incomplete Data.

Additionally, a $25 fine is issued for each week that the violation is not corrected (for up to 30 days). If the violation remains uncorrected after 30 days, even if you have paid all fines, your Stellar MLS access is suspended.

If all fines are not paid within 30 days of the invoice date, your Stellar MLS account will suspended and a reinstatement fee of $250 will be applied to your account. Your broker will be notified, and your invoice(s) will then be applied to your broker’s account.  Your broker will then have 30 days to pay it.  Should the invoice remain unpaid, your broker and all those in your office risk losing Stellar MLS access until the fine is paid.  

Stellar MLS® Participants and Subscribers may challenge a Listing Violation Fee* or Reinstatement Fee by submitting a written explanation requesting a refund.  Requests will be reviewed blindly and independently by a team composed from members of the Stellar MLS® Board of Directors.  Submitting a refund request does NOT guarantee approval of the refund. 

Members of the Stellar MLS® staff, CAN NOT refund fines. 

If you would like to request a refund: 

All fine and/or fees MUST be paid before submitting refund request.  If you have not paid the fine and/or fee, your request will NOT be reviewed by the CART. 

The listing MUST be corrected (if applicable). Stellar MLS® staff will gladly assist you in correcting any violations. 

The request MUST be submitted within 20 days of the payment date. 

For more information on the CART process, please review our Operating Policies and Procedures. 

Please complete the following form (Compliance Audit Review Team (CART) Refund Request Form) to request a refund of a Listing Violation Fine* or Reinstatement Fee that you believe was imposed in error by Stellar MLS®. Please provide a detailed explanation and justification for your request.  Include any supporting documentation or evidence that can help substantiate your claim.  

* Please note that certain violations of the Stellar MLS Rules & Regulations do NOT warrant courtesy notices and are subject to automatic fines.  To familiarize yourself with the Stellar MLS Rules and Regulations, please visit our Rules and Regulations page 

The option to confidentially report a violation is found as an active link on the bottom of the broker synopsis report.

The Data Integrity team is then notified of the reported violation, and then researches and sends out the appropriate notice. This process could take 5-7 business days for a resolution.

Yes, but please be courteous when informing a fellow professional of a possible violation. Remember, the next time it could be them calling you!

Yes. We prefer you to use the report a violation button in Matrix, but we will always accept a report over the phone.

Yes. The "Agent Report" system is confidential. We do not disclose the identity of those reporting possible violations under any circumstances.