Canopy MLS CEO Anne-Marie Decatsi doesn’t see her organization’s recent expansion as an effort to create a national MLS, but she does see it as a sign that the traditional geography of the MLS business is under pressure.
In a conversation with Inman, Dekazie said that while brokerages have become national and regional businesses, many MLSs remain bound by geographic boundaries that consumers and brokerages are increasingly unaware of.
“Consumers don’t think about borders when it comes to their data, so it’s outdated for MLSs to lock themselves into their own territory,” Dekazie said.
Her comments came after Charlotte-based Canopy MLS announced this week that licensed real estate professionals and brokers across the country would be able to join its platform. The MLS also said brokerages will be allowed to list through approved third parties or their own systems, which Canopy said will allow companies to better leverage existing technology investments while maintaining standards of accuracy, compliance and data integrity.
Canopy stressed in its announcement that the move is “not intended to create a national MLS or favor any particular brokerage firm, technology provider or business model.” Rather, the MLS framed this change as part of a broader effort to give brokers more flexibility while maintaining the MLS as a collaborative marketplace.
For DeCatsye, the bigger question is not whether Canopy and other MLSs will go “national,” but whether MLSs can continue to be useful to brokers whose business no longer fits neatly within regional MLS boundaries.
“Brokers are expanding nationally or in large regions,” Dekazie said. “The securities industry has completely changed, and MLSs are now realizing that they probably need to respond to it differently than they have in the past.”
“Brokers are fed up.”
Canopy’s announcement comes amid swirling industry debate over MLS activities and private listings, marketing delays, broker technology, and MLS consolidation.
In recent weeks, MRED, Realtracs, and Bright MLS have all announced moves to expand access, listing networks, or services for brokers beyond traditional market boundaries. These movements are attracting attention, partly because Compass is involved. Compass has spent much of the past year lobbying the MLS to give sellers and brokers more control over how they list their listings before they hit the broader public market.
Canopy’s announcement didn’t specifically mention Compass, but it uses a familiar framework of broker choice, seller choice, flexibility, and proprietary systems that overlap with broader industry battles over private listings and MLS rules. DeCatsye said Canopy’s move should be understood less as a reaction to Compass and more as a response to long-standing broker frustrations with MLS fragmentation.
Large brokerage firms increasingly operate across multiple markets, but even local firms may need to belong to multiple MLSs with different property entry systems, data feeds, contracts, and rules. DeCatsye said Canopy is the owner of MLS Grid, which was created in part to address brokers’ problems with fragmented data feeds and inconsistent contracts.
But she said these efforts did not solve all problems.
“I have to believe that the brokerage is dissatisfied, because all the issues with the brokerage were not resolved,” Dekazie said.
He added that it is difficult to understand why some MLSs are resistant to accommodating brokers’ needs.
“I really have a hard time understanding that the MLS is imposing what it needs on brokers. I feel like they are, and brokers are fed up,” DeCuzzi said.
That frustration is part of the reason Canopy made it clear that brokers outside of its traditional service area could join the platform if they saw value, she added.
Canopy MLS serves more than 22,000 subscribers in parts of North Carolina and South Carolina, but broker and consumer behavior no longer stops neatly at the MLS’ borders, Dekazie said. He pointed to North Carolina’s mountain market, where five MLSs serve areas where consumers are less likely to understand or care about the boundaries between different regions.
“I don’t think consumers think there’s a border in the mountains of North Carolina,” DeCazier said. “I don’t think we’re treating brokers fairly by having so many MLS members, even local brokers who are not national brokers.”
Narrow view of seller selection
Still, Dekazie pushed back on the idea that Canopy is making a major transition away from going public.
Canopy’s announcement included support for “meaningful seller selection” and acknowledged that some sellers may have valid reasons to limit the marketing of their homes, such as privacy, security or unique personal circumstances. But the MLS also said sellers should understand that broad market exposure “offers the greatest opportunity” to attract qualified buyers, maximize competition and achieve the best possible outcome.
This is a meaningful distinction at a time when Compass and other private listing proponents are framing seller selection as a challenge to traditional MLS distribution rules. DeCatsye said industry discussions have focused too much on office-only products, pocket lists and private options.
“I agree that the emphasis is misplaced,” Dekazie said, adding that the focus on limited and office-only listings has been “blown out of proportion” by industry media. Canopy said he believes some sellers may have legitimate reasons to limit exposure. But she said such cases should not become the norm.
“Some sellers will have legitimate reasons to limit the exposure of their listings,” Dekatsi said. “However, we strongly believe that broader market exposure gives us the best opportunity to attract qualified buyers, sell at the highest price, and garner the most attention.”
The risk, he said, is that consumers become confused about whether limited exposure is actually in their best interest.
“It will work for some sellers,” Dekazie said. “That shouldn’t be the reason for all sellers.”
“Adjust” the architecture instead of changing it
Canopy’s latest announcement builds on changes to its listing options that MLS began rolling out last year.
MLS previously declined to adopt the National Association of Realtors’ delayed marketing exemption listing categories and instead advanced its own listing options, including private and corporate exclusive listing categories. These options allow you to withhold some listings from the public feed or limit them to agents within the same company.
Canopy also changed the Not Coming Soon status to suppress price history in certain situations. The changes place Canopy in a broader industry debate about whether private listings, constrained price histories, and temporary days-on-list calculations provide valuable flexibility to sellers, or favor companies with market transparency and large internal networks.
DeCatsye rejected the idea that Canopy and other companies taking similar steps are changing the entire architecture of the MLS system around a relatively small number of sellers that could prioritize privacy or limit exposure. Instead, canopies maintain broad exposure as standard while making narrower adjustments for specific situations, she said.
“I call it tweaking,” Dekazie said. “I’ll just fix it a little.”
He argued that office-only products and pocket listings have been around for years, and Canopy’s approach is to create managed options within the MLS, rather than ignoring these practices or pushing them out of the system entirely.
“We’re not necessarily maintaining the status quo, we’re just trying to be responsive if some of our business models change,” DeCatsye said.
Canopy’s goal is to balance the needs of buyer agents and provide options for sellers while maintaining access to listing information “as much as possible,” she added.
CEO says compass didn’t dictate this move
Canopy’s announcement comes after MRED, Realtrax, and Bright MLS each announced new initiatives related to Compass, raising questions about whether Canopy’s move was also shaped by the brokerage giant’s push for greater flexibility in listings and MLS participation.
DeCatsye said Compass’ recent moves with other MLSs are part of a broader industry conversation that Canopy has been keeping an eye on. But she said the compass did not dictate Canopy’s decision.
She, like many other MLS leaders, acknowledged receiving support from Compass CEO Robert Refkin last year and said she is in regular discussions with owners of major brokerages, including Compass. But he said Canopy is already considering its own listing policy and will make decisions based on its own market and subscribers.
“I’ll tell you, last summer I got the same email that everyone else got from Robert Refkin, and my response was that we’ve already looked into this issue and we’re going to do what’s best for Canopy,” DeCuzzi said. “I’m not going to be overseen by one company, and Canopy isn’t going to be overseen by one company.”
She said the distinction was important to the Canopy board because the board includes representatives from large corporations, small businesses, outlying counties, franchises and national companies.
“It was very important to the board to make a statement that we are not affiliated with a single broker,” Dekazie said.
Integration pressure will continue
Dekazie said the same forces that are pushing Canopy to open up its business beyond traditional borders could accelerate consolidation among MLSs.
She stopped short of calling out one of MLS’ domestic leagues, saying Canopy is not trying to become one. But he said the current map of hundreds of MLSs doesn’t necessarily reflect how brokers, brokerages and consumers experience the market.
“The moment of consolidation that we’re seeing with brokerages should naturally lead to consolidation in MLS as well,” Decatsi said.
DeCatsye previously said the industry should not have a single national MLS. He reiterated that view, but said the number of MLSs should be lower than they are now. Still, he said MLS integration is not moving fast enough.
The future she envisions is not necessarily one domestic league, but a more competitive MLS landscape.
“I hope this sends a signal that MLS, in some sense, needs to compete with each other, if not on a national level, then at least in a huge region,” Dekazie said.
Protect MLS
But Decatsi’s call for MLS to adapt was also a defense of MLS itself. Her concern is not that MLSs will cease to be central to the industry, but that MLSs need to be more responsive to brokers before they look for other ways to solve their own problems.
That means giving brokers more flexibility when it comes to technology, listing input and seller options, while maintaining a collaborative marketplace that provides buyers and sellers with access to reliable listing information, she said.
Dekazie said sometimes agents don’t fully understand their role.
“They have a certain responsibility to step back and understand the bigger picture of why MLS was created, why it exists, and who it protects from a consumer protection standpoint,” Dekazie said.
DeCatsye suggested that the challenge now is to consider how collaboration models should evolve as brokerage firms, technology platforms, and consumer behavior all transcend traditional geographic boundaries.
He also said the industry is at a “crossroads” as to whether NAR or the MLS Council should lead MLS policy, and that policy should not be driven primarily by fear of litigation.
“The NAR is also walking a tightrope,” Dekazie said, adding that he has some sympathy for the group’s risk-averse stance in a litigation environment. “My position is that we shouldn’t make policy decisions out of fear of being sued or not being sued.”
Canopy is prepared to make policy decisions that it believes are right for brokers and consumers, even if it means accepting legal risks, she said.
“If we’re doing the right thing and we can justify what we’re doing, that’s what’s best for all companies,” Dekazie said. “If a lawsuit is filed, we will deal with it then.”
Email AJ LaTrace
