Most coverage of the NAR settlement treated it as a commission story. Two years on, for a broker of record, it is a document story. The practice changes that took effect under MLS policy on August 17, 2024 did not just change how compensation is negotiated. They added items to every buyer-side transaction file, and the file review desk is where a brokerage’s adherence is actually proven or lost.
Why it matters: the settlement moved the riskiest part of buyer representation from conversation to paper. What used to be an understanding is now a required document with required contents on a required timeline. That makes it a file-requirements question, and file requirements are checked one file at a time, forever.
What the practice changes put in the file. Under NAR’s published FAQs on the settlement, MLS participants working with a buyer must have a written buyer agreement before touring a home. The agreement’s compensation terms must be specific (in NAR’s language, not open-ended and “objectively ascertainable”), and a participant “may not receive compensation for services from any source that exceeds the amount or rate agreed to in the buyer agreement.” Offers of compensation no longer appear on the MLS, which means compensation agreed off-MLS has to be documented deal by deal. And both listing and buyer agreements must carry a conspicuous disclosure that compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable. Every one of those sentences is a checkbox on a file review.
The operational translation. For the review desk, the buyer-side file now has to answer: is there a written buyer agreement, and does its date precede the first tour? Do its compensation terms compute to a specific amount? Does the compensation actually collected match the agreement, from all sources combined? Is the negotiability disclosure present and conspicuous? Where compensation was agreed off-MLS, is that agreement in the file? A brokerage that cannot answer those questions from the documents alone is relying on memory for the exact obligations the settlement put in writing. At Empower we review on the order of 12,000 transaction files a month, and on a buyer-side file the agreement and its date are now among the first things our reviewers go looking for. This is also why compliance starts at the offer now more than ever: the buyer agreement and its compensation terms are settled before an offer goes out, so the file’s hardest questions are answered, or fumbled, before the file exists.
Who can handle it for a brokerage: the checking is operational work, the same completeness-and-consistency pass a review desk runs on every other required document. It can sit in-house, with a delegated supervisor, or with an outside operation like ours, with the final determination staying with the broker of record. What matters is that someone owns the pass on every buyer-side file, because the requirement arrives with the deal, not with the audit.
The honest limits on this piece: the requirements described are NAR’s MLS policy changes as described in NAR’s own published settlement FAQs, read in August 2026. Several states have since added their own written buyer-agreement laws with their own terms, and state law governs where it applies. Nothing here is legal advice. Empower is not affiliated with, certified by, or endorsed by NAR, any MLS, any REALTOR® association, or any state real estate commission; our reviews are built to the requirements our partner brokerages are subject to.
Where this lands: the settlement converted buyer representation into a set of documents with contents and timing that can be checked. Adherence is now a property of the file rather than a policy statement. The brokerages that treat it that way find out about a missing buyer agreement while it can still be fixed. The ones that do not find out from someone else’s file request.
Frequently Asked Questions
What did the NAR settlement change in a brokerage’s transaction files?
Under the MLS policy changes effective August 17, 2024, buyer-side files must show a written buyer agreement entered before touring, with compensation terms that are specific and not open-ended, a conspicuous disclosure that compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable, and documentation of any compensation agreed off-MLS. Compensation collected cannot exceed what the buyer agreement states, from any source. State laws may add further requirements; this is not legal advice.
Does every buyer need a written agreement before touring a home?
Under NAR’s MLS policy, MLS participants working with a buyer need a written buyer agreement before touring a home. Several states have also enacted their own buyer-agreement laws with their own triggers and required contents, which govern where they apply. The operational implication is the same either way: the agreement is a file document with a date that must precede the first tour it covers.
Who checks NAR settlement compliance on transaction files?
The brokerage’s own file review is where adherence is verified: the buyer agreement’s presence, timing, compensation terms, and disclosures are document checks like any other required-document check. That review can run in-house or through an outside operation, with the final determination remaining with the broker of record. NAR and MLSs set the policy; the brokerage’s files prove the practice.
What should a buyer agreement say about compensation after the settlement?
Per NAR’s published FAQs, the compensation must be objectively ascertainable and not open-ended (an amount or a formula that computes to one), and the agreement must conspicuously disclose that compensation is not set by law and is fully negotiable. The broker may not collect more than the agreed amount from any source. Exact drafting belongs with the brokerage’s counsel and its state’s forms.
