Washington is set to become the second state to ban private listings following the bipartisan support and passage of Senate Bill 6091. Governor Bob Ferguson signed the bill into law on March 16.
Washington’s anti-pocket listing legislation follows Wisconsin’s Assembly Bill 456, which was published into law in December. Similar legislation is on the table in Illinois, Hawaii and Connecticut.
Although private listings were already effectively banned statewide by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service, SB 6091 takes a firm stance against private listing networks, with the new law’s most noteworthy section requiring all properties be broadly marketed 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.
SB 6901 also includes updated guidelines for professional conduct, with fines up to $500 per violation and license revocation. The legislation was supported by Washington REALTORS®.
Zillow called the legislation a win for “free and fair” access to the housing market, criticizing private listing networks for creating “manufactured scarcity.”
Furthermore, the policy won’t conflict with the new Zillow Preview pre-market listing option, a spokesperson told Seattle Agent, because those listings are broadly available to the general public.
“When homes are kept off the open market, it limits the ability of American families to compete for homes that fit their budget and needs,” Zillow said. “It also causes sellers to lose out on the best potential offers by artificially narrowing their buyer pool and extending time to sell.”
That’s a sentiment shared by Realtor.com Senior Economist Joel Berner.
“If all the private listings in Washington suddenly became public, there would obviously be an uptick in available inventory, which would give buyers more options and potentially more time to shop for the right home in the public channels,” Berner said. “It would diminish the perceived scarcity of homes for sale, as the general public would now have access to the entirety of the for-sale inventory.”
The bill will go into full effect on June 10.