On Monday, December 14th, 2015, a new status became available in MLS called Active Under Contract. This status was approved in the MLS rules in September 2016 and is now available for use in MLS.

Definition of Active Under Contract:  An offer has been accepted but the listing is still on market, with the specific contingency to be noted. Any listings in this status must state the following at the beginning of the public remarks, "Under Contract Taking Backup Offers." Acceptable contingencies that can be used for this status include Right of First Refusal, Contingent on Lender/Bank Approval for Short Sales and REO properties, and Contingent on Corporate/Relocation approval.   

There are only three permitted types of contingencies that can be used for the Active Under Contract status, as defined in the status definition. If the listing has a contingent offer and does not fall under the three permitted types the listing will need to remain in Active status.

Marketing Remarks requirement:  An additional requirement for the new status is that the comment, “Under contract taking backup offers,” must be added to the beginning of the Marketing remarks of the listing. There is no exception for adding this required comment. If the character limit for the Marketing Remarks is already at the maximum character limit the listing agent will need to revise their comments to ensure that the “under contract taking backup offers” statement can fit in the beginning of the remarks section.

Changes to Pending Please Show Short Sale Listings (PPPSS) - The new status change on December 14 will also remove the Pending Please Show Short Sale status. All listings currently in the Pending Please Show stats will change to Active Under Contract on December 14. MLS users that have saved searches or auto-searches that currently include Pending Please Show Short Sale status will need to be revised after December 14.