Vermont guide

Vermont MLS Compensation Rules and Antitrust Compliance Post-NAR Settlement

In Vermont, you can no longer see how much the seller will pay your buyer's agent inside MLS listings, because the August 2024 NAR settlement removed those offers from MLS data fields.

Reading as buyer.

TL;DR

In Vermont, you can no longer see how much the seller will pay your buyer's agent inside listings, because the August 2024 settlement removed those offers from data fields. The seller can still agree to cover your agent's fee, but it now has to be worked out in the purchase and sale contract or as a seller concession at closing. Your buyer's agent also has to give you a written disclosure showing where their pay is coming from when any part of it is paid by the seller side.

Before you start — 7 things to know

  • The settlement removed buyer-agent compensation offers from Vermont data fields starting August 2024, so you can't shop listings based on what the seller is offering your agent.

  • Even though the no longer posts an offer of pay, a Vermont seller can still agree to cover your agent's fee in the purchase and sale contract or as a seller concession at closing.

  • Your buyer's agent in Vermont must give you a written source-of-compensation disclosure that shows how much of their pay is coming from the seller side before the deal closes.

  • Vermont agents are required to set their own fees independently and cannot tell you that any number is the 'standard' or 'customary' rate in the market.

  • The fee inside your buyer representation agreement is the contract between you and your agent, and any seller-paid portion still has to match what that agreement says.

  • If the Vermont seller will not cover your buyer-agent fee, you may need to pay your agent directly out of pocket or fold that cost into the price of your offer.

  • Asking competing agents to compare or coordinate their rates is an antitrust risk in Vermont, so expect each agent you talk to to quote their own fee on their own.

The timeline — step by step

  1. Sign a written buyer representation agreement with your Vermont agent that spells out their fee before they show you any homes.

  2. Search Vermont listings knowing that, after the August 2024 settlement, no buyer-agent pay offer appears inside the listing data.

  3. When you find a home you like, ask your agent to contact the listing side and find out whether the seller is willing to cover all or part of your buyer-agent fee.

  4. Have your agent write any seller-paid buyer-agent fee or seller concession into your purchase and sale offer so it becomes part of the contract.

  5. Read and sign your agent's written source-of-compensation disclosure that shows how much of their fee is being paid by the seller side.

  6. Close on the Vermont home with the agreed buyer-agent compensation flowing through closing exactly as the purchase and sale contract spells out.

Common questions

Can I still see how much the seller will pay my agent on a Vermont [[MLS]] listing?
No, the settlement removed those compensation offers from data fields in August 2024, so any seller-paid buyer-agent fee in Vermont now has to be worked out off- through the purchase contract or a seller concession.
Does this mean I have to pay my buyer's agent out of pocket in Vermont?
Not always — you can still ask the seller to cover all or part of your buyer-agent fee inside the offer, but if the seller refuses you would owe whatever your buyer representation agreement says.
How will I know if part of my agent's pay is coming from the seller?
Your Vermont buyer's agent has to give you a written source-of-compensation disclosure that lays out how much they are receiving from the seller side and how it lines up with the fee in your representation agreement.
Why won't my agent tell me the 'normal' buyer-agent commission in Vermont?
Calling any rate 'standard' or 'customary' can be an antitrust violation, so each Vermont agent has to quote their own fee independently without coordinating with competitors.
What happens if the seller offers less than my agent's fee?
You and your agent can negotiate the gap — you might pay the difference yourself, lower your offer to free up cash, or ask the seller for a larger concession that fully covers your buyer-agent fee.

Glossary

2 terms
NAR — National Association of Realtors
The national trade group for real-estate agents. The 2024 NAR settlement is the legal deal that changed how buyer's agents get paid.
MLS — Multiple Listing Service
The shared database agents use to list and find homes for sale. Most homes you'll see online started here.

Sources

  1. [1]
  2. [2]

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