"I sent a letter to the board to tell them that I was resigning effective immediately just this morning," Kaye pointed out. "I had been thinking about it for several months and the decision was based primarily on my broker's influence."
"We are going on several newspaper Web sites and are currently on REALTOR.com in addition to having our own site," she continued. Kaye simply says her brokers voted to leave the site and she merely responded to their needs.
When pressed, Kaye refused to divulge the specifics of the letter she sent to the board, but GlobeSt.com has learned that there were several other reasons behind this move. In the letter Kaye detailed that the original effort to create an MLS has changed in part because the larger firms refuse to remain on the board at all should the issue of a complete MLS even be discussed.
Aside from the squabbles over the MLS, Kaye stated in her letter that the board has not committed any money to the site since it began. In addition, the site has not been properly promoted and firms have not updated the listings to make it effective.
Kaye is not alone in her complaints because Coldwell Banker Hunt Kennedy also left the board for similar reasons weeks ago. Coldwell's Joanne Kennedy put together a Powerpoint presentation detailing the benefits of an MLS when the larger firms declared that they wouldn't even consider it.
In fact, the site has lost more than half of the firms that originally contributed, according to circulating reports. Now several factions have formed to create an MLS of their own. Select firms are in the process of starting a Manhattan branch of NAR, members of the Downtown Brokers Association are gathering to create an MLS and some larger firms are allowing The New York Times to publish all of their listings on the newspaper's Web site.
Despite all of the positioning, Kaye is choosing to remain an observer. "I will abide by the agreement all the members of the existing site signed when the industry came together last year dictating that no firm join a new MLS for at least a year.
"I believe the board of directors have worked very hard but there are just too many challenges," she concluded. "Who knows, maybe LEX will grow into an MLS someday."
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