Hey Realtors - learn to spam on your own and stop asking the company to do it!

Jeff - You're missing my entire point.  SPAMMING other Realtors isn't justified by what you are saying.  The law is the law.  If people realized that fact, we wouldn't have an internet teaming with 89% of the bandwidth being eaten by crap emails 99.9% of people don't care for.

I don't need anything other than our MLS system.   Realtors sending me 76 emails every other day is a waste of my time.  Hitting delete actually takes TIME and no one has any, remember?  Besides, your flyer just repeats what the MLS system already has shown me 5 seconds after the agent signed in and dropped the price at 2am on a Saturday morning.

Also, if my market is $200,000 to $350,000....why do I need to see $800,000 flyers???   It's not productive for me to again, waste my time reading listing information I don't ever need.

As much as people berate MLS systems, they do have their powerful uses. Our MLS system allows all members to setup saved auto-prospecting searches for clients.  Anytime a price drops on a home and either is in my criteria for my client or pushes it down into my client's range, I'm instantly emailed the listing.  Without all the BOLD text, PDF file attachment, or rediculous PRICED TO SELL 'buy me now' nonsense.

Thomas- NICE!   But if you really want to be a pain, take note if they use any official service (icontact, constantcontact).  If so, and you didn't sign up for their crap, don't unsubscribe...go to the service website, find the abuse department email contact, and then forward the email to them with your concerns.

It's quite amazing how you never get an email again from that person or entity.

Jeff - Your point is taken, but it doesn't provide legitimate reasons for Realtors to engage in spamming practices. You may have a few people who do it in a professional manner, but it's still wrong if I never asked for it.  My biggest gripe, as an I.T. professional working in the industry, is when other agents see these emails...so many of them then look to me or the company to provide the same service, without a care of how it's done and whether or not you should.

If an agent wants to do such a thing, they do so without our approval.  Especially if it's from simply hand-picking recipients who never asked to be emailed.  Again, I understand your point, but there's never been an exception for Realtors to spam their flyer's and announcements.

I would love to see your local board rules and regulations regarding their viewpoint on spamming Realtors...if they even have one.  I've found out that ourlocal board and it's MLS system really wants no part of enforcing how agents follow those spam laws, it's the broker's responsibility in their eyes.

Our MLS only has an email opt-out policy for sent emails from the board, it's not a blanket opt-out for realtors in general.  What kills me is they still print email rosters for anyone to convert into an Excel spreadsheet in under 5 minutes...if you are technically savvy or have access to a good OCR program.

Again, I understand why you want the emails, and how they could affect your business...but I still do not approve of how Realtors go about getting their information to others via this spamming method.

Tom - You can't.  There's no way.  That mindset though does show you just a tiny piece of why and how we are in the spam fix that we are, around the globe.  People don't care, they are greedy, and it doesn't matter the cost of making a buck....from a small Realtor sending out 10 flyers to the King Spammer sending out BAJILLIONS.  They both think the same...sooner or later I'm going to get some idiot to click the link....or open the flyer.

Julie -I would love to see your MLS rules and regs on that specific statement. The federal laws for CAN-SPAM have no exceptions, including if a STATE decides to write their own rules.  The fed laws always win.  What constitutes a business relationship between two people is clearly written in the law.  I strongly suggest you read it.  Realtors are no exception simply due to their title or the fact others share a business career with them. With a tiny MLS system, maybe it works, but when you have thousands of members, forget it.  The abuse is rampant.

Chris- Excatly.  It amazes me how "we have to do this for the seller" comes up.  How about you educate the seller and inform them how stuff like this is a total waste of time?  But...most will not, because it causes confrontation and most have now clue how to properly explain technology. (hence why soooo many still pitch newspapers as a successful advertisement medium)

Mary - Isn't that why there is an MLS system??  Any agent "up on their stuff" should have bleeding edge skills with their own MLS and how to track changes and updates associated with the listing information needs of their clients.  Getting spammed flyers and stupid PDF attachments wastes my time, floods my inbox with crap, and wastes more time for those who actually spend time creating them.

Sandy - I hear ya. 

Bill- Way ahead of you, say about 13 months.   I quote (roughly) "The MLS association is not in the business of enforcing spam laws.  We provide the information necessary for agents to do their work and it's the responsibility of the broker to train their agents to work within the law".    Ya see...no one wants to properly enforce, what I feel is an extreme nuisance to most Realtors, especially ones in large populated MLS areas of coverage.  I even called a lawyer, multiple times out in PAR and it got no where.  He basically reiterated the same stuff.   One funny thing did come out of that conversation, "Nick, I get phone calls from Brokers who actually have the nerve to ask, 'Do I need to make our agents give out a consumer notice?'"    I couldn't believe it...Spam is obviously the least of his worries.