Members Approve Revised Budgets & Bylaws
Posted on 06/22/2021
At the June 29 Special Called Board Meeting, which was announced a week prior per bylaws, membership approved revisions to HAAR & ValleyMLS budgets and ValleyMLS bylaws. Please read the June 22 announcement below for information on each action.
HAAR + VALLEYMLS
Special Called Member Meeting
Tuesday, June 29, 2021
10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Join us Tuesday, June 29, for a special-called meeting where Huntsville Area Association of REALTORS® Members and ValleyMLS Subscribers will vote to approve items for consideration below.
Register today to make your voice heard on these critical votes and stick around after Tuesday’s meeting to enjoy hot dogs (vegan option available), ice cream, and other refreshments with your colleagues and association staff.
Meeting Recap: Tuesday’s Board Actions
The HAAR and ValleyMLS Board of Directors approved several policies and updates that will move both organizations forward in innovative ways for years to come. Please be sure to update yourself below so that you can make an informed vote at the special-called membership meeting on Tuesday, June 29.
New Coming Soon Changes
Three additional changes were made to the Coming Soon policy, as requested from a membership-wide survey and crafted by the Board of Directors and the ValleyMLS Policy Committee. Those changes are below:
- Agents can enter up to 50 photos while in Coming Soon status. Paragon cannot accommodate the one photo request for Coming Soon without applying it to all statuses. This would cause confusion and lead to a high number of penalties.
- Coming Soon is once again limited to five (5) calendar days, as opposed to business days. Paragon uses only calendar days and not business days. To prevent confusion in the market, the policy will be limited to five calendar days.
- Coming Soon will roll to Active Status at the end of the 5-day period, as opposed to Expiring. If a property goes to the expired status at the end of the Coming Soon period, only a Broker or MLS staff are the only ones who can change it to active. A property that unexpectedly expires would cause problems for the agent and seller.
Strategic Business Plan Approved
The ValleyMLS Board of Directors also approved a new 2021 Strategic Business Plan to guide and grow the organization over the next two years. The plan focuses on expanding opportunity and sharpening communication to ensure existing subscribers know the tools at their fingertips. The plan’s 5 priorities are:
- Position ValleyMLS as a Business Generation Partner. ValleyMLS will continue to build on the strengths of ValleyMLS.com and attract new users while deepening engagement and lead generation capabilities; positioning itself as a Business Generation Partner to Brokers, Managers, and REALTORS®.
- Help Brokerages Become More Efficient and Profitable. As brokerage profitability is getting hit from all sides, ValleyMLS will ensure it is doing everything in its power to enable innovation and broker differentiation with its training, data services and integration capabilities. Broker Success will become an even larger focus moving forward.
- Lead/Join/Initiate National MLS Collaborations. ValleyMLS will position itself as an active national collaborator to build and support its own private solutions for core MLS functions like data distribution, operations and online marketing. This will open up opportunities, positioning ValleyMLS as an innovator that is willing try out new programs and concepts first, unlocking the newest features for subscribers.
- Expand Customer Opportunities. ValleyMLS will continue to focus its energies on the best ways to support success for Property Managers, Rental Agents, Appraisers and ValleyMLS Customer Segments. The incremental revenues generated from these efforts can be used to fuel additional business generation efforts.
- Reposition ValleyMLS as a Nimble Decision-Maker. Today, technology companies are structured to make nimble, real-time decisions to continually adapt to the changing needs of their customers and the clients they serve. To position ValleyMLS well for the future, the company will overhaul its governance, and most importantly, its ability to make quick, informed decisions and then put decision into action in real-time.
Changes to ValleyMLS Bylaws
The ValleyMLS.com Bylaws were amended to align with the strategic business plan outlined above. Please click ‘LEARN MORE’ to see the exact “redlined” changed
- Article 6.1: adds the CEO of HAAR as the CEO of ValleyMLS.com.
- Article 6.2: aligns the 12 directors from HAAR as at-large directors for ValleyMLS.
- Article 6.3 – A: eliminates language that the HAAR directors on the ValleyMLS board would be the same as the voting directors of HAAR.
- Article 6.4 – B: adds a transition policy to show how the directors will be elected to the ValleyMLS.com board in order to separate service on the HAAR board and ValleyMLS board, creating 2 completely separate boards of directors by 2023.
- Article 6.4: reinforces the duties of the CEO.
- Article 6.5 – 1: removes the $10,000 limit cap and replaces with $25,000 cap for the board of directors before finance committee requires approval.
- Article 6.5 – 2: removes the non-budgeted expense required vote by membership & increases the multi-year contract approval to $75,000
- Article 8.1: adds that the MLS committees be chaired by a member of the ValleyMLS board of directors, further solidifying the fiduciary role of directors as part of the business operations.
Members in attendance at next Tuesday (June 29)’s meeting will vote to approve these bylaw revisions. |
Juneteenth Recognized
The HAAR Board of Directors voted to approve Juneteenth, our newest federally recognized holiday, as a holiday at the association as well and provide a day off for staff.
Please click below for an article from NAR about how to celebrate Juneteenth in a meaningful way in your office.
The HAAR Board of Directors approved support for a new HAAR Good Neighbor Award. Modeled after the NAR program, the HAAR Good Neighbor Award recognizes REALTOR® members who have quietly, heroically, and positively changed our community.
Please stay tuned for the HAAR Good Neighbor Award launch announcement, and how you can nominate yourself or a colleague for the inaugural recognition.