A flyer in a window counts. So does an email blast and a post on your own page, and by the time most agents start counting the deadline has passed.
Jodie Cordell explains what a pocket listing really is. Holding one is legal in all fifty states. But if you are a Realtor, NAR's Clear Cooperation Policy applies, and it gives you one business day. The moment you market the property publicly, the clock starts. And "publicly" is broader than most agents assume — a flyer in a window, a yard sign, an email blast, a social post all count. The one way out is a certification signed by the seller saying they do not want it on the MLS, filed with the MLS anyway.
“However, the listing must be filed with the MLS, accompanied by a certification signed by the seller stating they don’t want the listing shared on the MLS.”
Two separate mistakes live in the same conversation, and agents make both at once. The first is thinking the seller's request is the exception. It is not. The exception runs on a signed document that goes to the MLS even though the listing does not get shared there. No signed document, no exception — you are just non-compliant with a friendlier name for it. The second mistake is what starts the clock. A yard sign is public marketing. So is a flyer taped inside a window. So is one Instagram post. Agents who "quietly" put a sign up while they work their buyer list have already triggered the one-business-day requirement and usually have no idea. The fix costs nothing and takes one conversation: ask your broker for the office exclusive form and its form number today, and keep a blank one in your listing folder so the signature happens before anything else does. **What we're assuming:** nothing about your specific MLS. This article describes the national policy as of April 2024, and local implementation varies. Read this alongside the newer post in this library on NAR's July 9, 2026 office-exclusive guidance, which is the current document and describes the same requirement as a signed seller disclosure form with three named elements. Where the two differ, the 2026 guidance is the one to work from, and your MLS's own rulebook beats both.