C
anopy MLS is introducing two new listing options—“Limited Exposure” and “Firm Exclusive”—to give agents more flexibility and protect seller privacy. The changes, announced this week, will be live early next year for the MLS’s 22,000‑plus members.
**Limited Exposure** listings can be shown to buyers but will not appear in IDX, VOW or syndication feeds. Price history will be stored but hidden from other subscribers, and days on market will not be tracked. When the listing goes live, only the latest price will be visible; subsequent price changes and days on market will then be displayed.
**Firm Exclusive** lets a brokerage enter a listing into the MLS but restricts visibility to its own agents. Price changes are recorded, but the history is not shown in reports. Canopy also plans to modify its “Coming Soon‑No Show” status so that price history is suppressed until the listing becomes active.
CEO Anne Marie DeCatsy says the updates stem from subscriber feedback and aim to “provide relief for listing agents” rather than favor any single firm. “We want agents to meet client needs without being forced to choose between rules and client requests,” she explained. “These changes restore fairness for buyers and sellers.”
The new options echo the National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) “delayed marketing exempt listings” (DMEL) category introduced in March, but Canopy opted not to adopt NAR’s DMEL. Instead, the MLS board decided to pursue its own path, citing the need for a solution that fits Canopy’s market. Some other large MLSs have also declined to implement DMEL.
Canopy will, however, adopt NAR’s revised interpretation of agent communications under the Clear Cooperation framework. The MLS will allow “one‑to‑one” agent‑to‑agent and agent‑to‑client communications about listings without triggering a CCP violation, a change that DeCatsy described as a “change, not a clarification.” She noted that the original NAR guidance treated such communications as public marketing, making enforcement difficult. “The biggest frustration with CCP was that agents couldn’t call another agent to see if they had a buyer without violating the rule,” she said.
DeCatsy emphasized that the new policies give sellers more control early in the process while ensuring buyers and agents receive full, transparent data once the listing is on the open market. “It balances seller choice with the need for clear, accurate information that builds trust and maintains fairness,” she added.
Canopy’s updates come ahead of NAR’s September 30 deadline for Realtor‑affiliated MLSs to adopt the optional Multiple Listing Options for Sellers (MLOS) policy. By moving forward on its own terms, Canopy aims to keep the MLS independent from Realtor association control while addressing the real‑world challenges agents face in today’s market.
