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Listing Contract (BC Multiple Listing Contract)

Also known as: Multiple Listing Contract · MLC · Listing agreement · Seller representation contract

The agency contract a BC seller signs with a designated listing licensee, on the standard Multiple Listing Contract form. It sets the agency relationship, how long the listing runs, how commission works, and the authority to publish the property on the board MLS system.

The Multiple Listing Contract (MLC) is the BCREA-standard form a BC seller signs with a designated listing licensee to engage representation and authorize the licensee to publish the listing on the member-board MLS system. The MLC establishes (1) the agency relationship under BC's designated agency model (the licensee, NOT the brokerage, owes fiduciary duties to the seller); (2) the listing duration (typically 60-90 days, though 30-day and 6-month listings are also common); (3) the commission structure including the cooperating-licensee split that incentivizes member-board cooperation; (4) seller representations about the property and authority to act.

The Multiple Listing Contract is negotiable. Every term except the BCREA-prescribed clauses is negotiable, including duration, commission rate, the cooperating-licensee split, holdover-clause language (the period after the MLC ends during which the listing licensee still earns commission on a buyer the licensee introduced), and the early-cancellation-fee schedule. Read the holdover clause carefully: if you cancel and re-list a week later with a different brokerage to a buyer the first licensee previously showed, you can owe both commissions.

The cooperating-licensee split also affects buyer behavior: a 1.0%/0.5% structure (over $100K to first $100K, then 0.5%) materially under-incentivizes BC buyers' agents on the show list and reduces traffic.

Designated Agency — BC's real estate agency model since June 15, 2018: the agency relationship is between the client and the individual licensee, not the brokerage; dual agency is prohibited except in narrow remote-market exceptions.
BC MLS Rules of Cooperation — The rules governing how BC listings are shared between brokerages, and requiring single-agent designated agency in place of dual agency.
Buyer's Agency Contract (Exclusive Buyer's Agency Agreement) — The contract that names one licensee as your buyer agent, how long they represent you, where, and what happens if the commission offered falls short.
Disclosure of Representation in Trading Services (DORT) — A form a BC licensee has to walk you through and have you sign before doing any substantive work for you.

@misc{bronsonjob-bc_mls_rules_of_cooperation,
  author       = {Job, Bronson},
  title        = {{BC MLS Rules of Cooperation + designated agency framework}},
  howpublished = {BC Real Estate Codex},
  year         = {2018},
  url          = {https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#bc.mls.rules_of_cooperation},
  urldate      = {2026-11-06},
  note         = {Fact ID: bc.mls.rules_of_cooperation, version 1.}
}

APA — Press, journalism

Job, B. (2018). BC MLS Rules of Cooperation + designated agency framework. *BC Real Estate Codex*. Retrieved 2026-11-06, from https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#bc.mls.rules_of_cooperation

Plain link — Slack, email, Twitter

BC MLS Rules of Cooperation + designated agency framework — Bronson Job PREC, BC Real Estate Codex (2026-11-06). https://www.bronsonjob.com/codex#bc.mls.rules_of_cooperation

Fact id: bc.mls.rules_of_cooperation · v1 · machine-readable: /api/v1/facts/by-id/bc.mls.rules_of_cooperation.json

License: This definition is licensed under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: "Listing Contract (BC Multiple Listing Contract)", BC Real Estate Glossary by Bronson Job, https://www.bronsonjob.com/glossary/listing-contract.

Bronson Job PREC, REALTOR® at Momentum Realty Inc.. GVR Member #6015742 · FVREB Member #FJOBBR

Related terms

See also