Costa MLS Terms of Use and Co-brokerage

Version 1.0, dated 18 October 2026. Read them in full before accepting them. The Spanish version prevails (clause 14.5).

1. Purpose and parties

1.1 These terms govern the use of Costa MLS, a listing database shared between estate agencies, available at mls.costatropicalre.com (the "Platform").

1.2 The Platform is provided by [COMPANY_LEGAL_NAME], CIF [CIF] (the "Operator"). The estate agencies admitted to the Platform are the "Members".

1.3 Costa MLS is for professionals only. It has no public portal for buyers and is not a service for consumers.

1.4 The Platform covers the provinces of Granada and Málaga. Other areas may be added.

1.5 The Operator is also a Member and publishes its own listings. It receives no preferential treatment: the same rules, the same access and the same position in results as any other Member.

1.6 The Platform helps agencies get in touch. It is not a party to any sale or to any co-brokerage agreement between Members.

1.7 Whoever accepts these terms acts as a professional and declares that they can bind their agency.

2. Membership and vetting

2.1 An agency applies to join with the form on the sign-in page. Accounts are created by hand. There is no automatic sign-up.

2.2 Before opening the account, the Operator calls the agency and checks its CIF and that it exists as a company. Where a region requires an estate agent register number, the Operator also checks that number. [ABOGADO: Must the Operator check the register of estate agents of Andalusia, and does the decree that creates it exist yet? Are these vetting criteria (CIF, existence of the company, contact person, register number where required) enough to count as objective?]

2.3 The Operator applies the same objective criteria to every agency and documents them. It never rejects an application because of the agency's fee, pricing or co-brokerage policy. It gives the reason for a rejection.

2.4 Reciprocity: a Member sees other agencies' listings only while it has at least one active listing of its own. The rule is the same for everyone. It depends on contribution to the shared pool and not on fees. If the Member has no active listing, access to other agencies' listings closes until it publishes one. This is not a penalty, and its account and data do not change.

2.5 Each agency has several users with two roles. The admin manages the agency details, people, feeds and API keys. The agent searches, lists, registers clients and saves searches.

2.6 The agency is responsible for what its users do. It keeps its details up to date, does not share credentials, and reports any unauthorised access without delay.

3. Free of charge

3.1 The Platform is free for Members. There is no joining fee, no periodic fee, and no payment per contact or per transaction.

3.2 The Operator takes 0 % of any commission or other remuneration a Member earns. It takes no part in any transaction.

3.3 What each Member charges its client or another agency belongs to that Member. The Operator does not collect it, broker it or hold it.

4. Co-brokerage

4.1 Co-brokerage works like this: the agency that brings the buyer (the "cooperating agency") may receive from the agency that holds the listing (the "listing agency") the share the listing agency offered on that listing.

4.2 Only the listing agency sets, for each listing, what the cooperating agency earns. It may be a percentage of the sale price or a fixed amount, plus IVA or including IVA. It is that agency's own offer for that listing.

4.3 Each Member alone sets, freely and listing by listing, the commission it offers the cooperating agency. The Platform sets or suggests no level. No Member is required to cooperate with another Member.

4.4 On each listing, the Platform shows only the offer the listing agency has set for the cooperating agency. It does not ask for or show the total fee the listing agency agrees with the seller.

4.5 The right to the share arises only if the sale completes with the buyer brought by the cooperating agency and the conditions the listing agency stated in its offer are met. If the sale does not complete, nothing is owed.

4.6 Payment is a matter for the two agencies. The Operator is not a party to the payment or to the co-brokerage agreement, and does not collect, hold or guarantee it.

4.7 A buyer who comes through a Member's website, including costatropicalre.com, is that Member's client. The share follows the offer on the listing, as for any other Member.

4.8 Contact between agencies is direct. The listing card shows the listing agent's phone, WhatsApp and e-mail. The Platform has no chat. The agent gives the exact address when a viewing is booked.

5. Competition

5.1 Each Member sets its fees, rates and commercial terms freely and independently. No one may impose, recommend or agree them through the Platform, neither the Operator nor another Member.

5.2 Costa MLS does not set, suggest, pre-fill, default, publish, sort, filter or aggregate commissions. It publishes no statistics, averages or "usual" splits. There is no floor on commissions and no fixed or standard split.

5.3 Nothing in these terms coordinates fees. No Member is required to share information about its fees, except the offer on a specific listing addressed to cooperating agencies (4.2).

5.4 Members do not use the Platform, its contact details or its messages to discuss fee levels, splits or pricing policies, or to agree with whom they cooperate or not.

5.5 Reciprocity (2.4) and vetting (2.3) are objective, the same for everyone, and never depend on fees. Suspension (clause 11) is never used to enforce a pricing conduct.

5.6 In file S/0003/20, the CNMC fined the companies behind an MLS system in 2021. The rules were a floor on commissions, a fixed split between agencies, tracking of other members' fees, and suspension as a way to make members comply. These terms contain none of those rules. They apply together with Ley 15/2007, art. 1, and TFEU art. 101. [ABOGADO: Have a competition specialist review clause 5, the reciprocity rule in 2.4 and the suspension rules in 11. Is it lawful for each listing to show all Members the listing agency's offer, and are these safeguards enough so that the Platform is not a hub for information exchange between competitors?]

5.7 Anyone who knows of a breach of this clause reports it to [CONTACT_EMAIL].

6. Client registration

6.1 Each listing has a "Register a client" button. It records which agency introduced a buyer to that listing.

6.2 These are stored: the buyer's first name and surname, the date and time of registration (set by the server), a planned viewing date (optional) and a note (optional). The buyer's phone and e-mail are not stored. The note carries no contact details and no data that is not needed.

6.3 The first timestamp is the evidence of who came first.

6.4 The listing agency receives an e-mail and confirms the registration or declines it with the reason "already registered by another agency". Until it answers, the registration keeps its timestamp.

6.5 Disputes are settled between the agencies. Costa MLS is not a judge or an arbitrator: it does not decide who is entitled to the share. It can only show the two agencies involved the registration and its timestamp.

6.6 A Member registers a buyer only if it has dealt with that person. It does not register invented buyers or use the registry to block other agencies. It informs the buyer as required by GDPR art. 14.

6.7 Registration data is used only to prove the registration and to settle disputes between the two agencies. It is not used for marketing, the buyer is not contacted, and the data is not passed on.

6.8 Only the agency that made the registration and the listing agency can see it. [ABOGADO: Should the Operator be able to view registrations for support and compliance, and on what basis and with what safeguards?]

6.9 Registrations are deleted automatically after 24 months. The period is a configuration value. [ABOGADO: Is the 24-month period defensible against the limitation period for personal actions (Código Civil, art. 1964.2) and against the 10-year record keeping of Ley 10/2010, art. 25.1, which binds agencies in their own files? What period should be set?]

7. Anti-circumvention

7.1 This clause has a limited aim: that the agency that introduced a buyer through the Platform is not cut out of the share due to it.

7.2 For twelve months from the date of the registration, a Member does not close the sale with a buyer registered by another agency by going around that agency to avoid paying the share offered on the listing. [ABOGADO: Is the duration of twelve months from the registration proportionate? Should it be shorter, or run from the last activity?]

7.3 The clause covers only the registered buyer and the listing for which the registration was made. [ABOGADO: Is this scope narrow and proportionate, or could it be seen as a restriction of competition (Ley 15/2007, art. 1)?]

7.4 There is no exclusivity. A Member may offer the same property through other channels, withdraw its listings, work with other agencies and leave the Platform whenever it wants. It may deal with owners and buyers it already knew or who arrive by another route, and set its fees freely.

7.5 There is no circumvention if the Member proves it knew the buyer before the registration, for example through its own earlier registration.

7.6 The Operator imposes no penalty for circumvention. The consequence is the share owed between the agencies, and the conflict is settled between them (6.5). Suspension applies only under clause 11.

8. Listings, energy rating and member websites

8.1 Each Member warrants that the data in its listings is accurate, complete and current, and that it has the right to publish the property, the photos and the texts. It keeps the status up to date: available, reserved or sold.

8.2 Each listing carries this data: property type, price, town, built area (and plot area where there is one), bedrooms, bathrooms, at least five photos, description, energy rating, catastral reference, whether it is exclusive, and the information on the cooperating agency's share, which only the Member sets.

8.3 The energy rating is mandatory. RD 390/2021, arts. 15.2 and 17.3, requires the label in every offer and advert, and on whoever publishes or allows publication. Without it, the listing is not published. No Member removes or hides it, including in exports. The Member warrants that it is genuine and not misleading.

8.4 The catastral reference is entered in full and stored in full, to detect duplicates. Other agencies see only the first four characters. It is never exported.

8.5 The exact address is private. Other agencies see the town, the area and an approximate circle on the map. Costa MLS does not store the property owner's details, and Members do not enter them.

8.6 Each listing has one of two sharing options. "MLS and member websites" is the default. "MLS only" does not appear in any export.

8.7 Each Member receives an export feed (Kyero XML and API) with the listings of the other Members that allow it. In the export, the source agency's name, contact details and internal reference (agency_ref), the exact address, the catastral reference and the commission are removed. Photos are published with the Platform's own URLs, not those of the source agency. [ABOGADO: When listings are exported to Members' public websites, does the Operator remain a hosting provider or could it be seen as a publisher? Is clause 8.8 enough to allocate responsibility for the energy label?]

8.8 A Member that shows exported listings on its website is responsible for doing so. It includes the energy rating on each listing, does not change the price, area or status, and updates or removes a listing as soon as the feed changes or removes it. It does not show "MLS only" listings or private data.

8.9 Listings that arrive by feed sync every night. A listing that leaves the feed leaves the Platform. A manual listing is confirmed every 30 days with one click from an e-mail; if it is not confirmed, it is hidden.

8.10 When several agencies offer the same property, they are grouped into one card with "Also offered by". They are matched by catastral reference and, if needed, by address, size and photos. An exclusive mandate prevails. If there is no exclusive, the agency that uploaded first leads. A Costa admin reviews uncertain cases. These rules do not depend on fees.

9. Prohibited content and notices

9.1 It is forbidden to post or do the following on the Platform: illegal content; false or misleading listings; properties the Member cannot offer, for example without a mandate, already sold or non-existent; owner data or unnecessary personal data of third parties; photos, texts or marks of others without the right to use them; discriminatory or offensive content; malicious code; bulk or automated copying of data outside the export; passing access to third parties; and discussing fees (5.4).

9.2 Anyone who believes content is illegal gives notice to [CONTACT_EMAIL], in line with art. 16 of Regulation (EU) 2022/2065 (DSA). The notice explains the reasons, gives the exact location of the content, includes the name and e-mail of the sender and states their good faith.

9.3 The Operator acknowledges receipt, assesses the notice diligently and without delay and, where appropriate, hides or removes the content. It informs the person who posted it and the person who gave notice of its decision. It may hide a listing while it assesses it.

9.4 The Operator keeps a log of notices and decisions.

9.5 [CONTACT_EMAIL] is also the point of contact for complaints about the Platform. [ABOGADO: Is the Operator a mere hosting service or an online platform under the DSA? Does the exclusion for micro and small enterprises in art. 19 apply? Is the mechanism in clauses 9.2 to 9.4 enough?]

10. Data protection

10.1 The Operator is the controller of the data of Members and their users for joining, vetting (GDPR art. 6.1.b), operation and security of the Platform. Professional contact data is processed on the basis of legitimate interest (GDPR art. 6.1.f, and LOPDGDD art. 19).

10.2 Each Member is the controller of the personal data it enters, of its relationship with buyers and owners, and of GDPR compliance in them. Where the Operator only hosts data on behalf of a Member, it acts as processor (GDPR art. 28). Where the Operator and a Member decide the purposes and means together, they are joint controllers (GDPR art. 26) and make the essence of the arrangement available to data subjects. [ABOGADO: Is the Operator a controller, joint controller or processor for the buyers' names in the client registry? Is the legitimate-interest basis (GDPR art. 6.1.f) sound with its balancing test? Is an art. 26 or art. 28 agreement needed?]

10.3 Buyer data in the client registry is processed on the basis of legitimate interest, to prove which agency came first. The Member informs the buyer as required by GDPR art. 14. It is deleted under clause 6.9 (GDPR art. 5.1.e).

10.4 The full catastral reference is stored with restricted access and protected with the security measures for personal data. Showing only four characters is an access control and not anonymisation.

10.5 Members use other agents' contact details only to cooperate. They do not use them for marketing.

10.6 Each Member meets its own duties under Ley 10/2010, art. 2.1 l), as an obligated subject. The Platform does not replace its files, which it must keep under art. 25.1. The client registry is not a due-diligence file and does not store identity documents.

10.7 The Operator applies appropriate security measures. If there is a breach, the Operator notifies the AEPD and the people affected where required (GDPR art. 33). Members tell the Operator without delay of any incident that affects Platform data.

10.8 The rights in GDPR arts. 15 to 22 are exercised at [CONTACT_EMAIL]. A complaint can be made to the AEPD (GDPR art. 77). The privacy policy lists the providers and the transfers outside the European Economic Area.

11. Suspension and termination

11.1 The Operator may suspend or close an account only for objective causes: false data at joining or in listings; serious or repeated breach of these terms; illegal content not corrected after a notice; misuse, such as unauthorised access or bulk copying; a security risk; an order from an authority; or the end of the business.

11.2 An account is never suspended or closed because of the fees a Member sets, because of the commission it offers the cooperating agency, because it does not follow a pricing or splitting policy, or because it competes with other Members or with the Operator.

11.3 The measure is proportionate. Except in serious urgency, the Operator first gives notice with the reasons and a reasonable time to put things right. The Member may reply and the Operator reconsiders. Suspension is temporary, and termination applies only if the problem continues. The Operator applies the same criteria to its own account.

11.4 During suspension, access is closed and the Member's listings are hidden.

11.5 A Member may leave at any time, from its account or by writing to [CONTACT_EMAIL].

11.6 On termination, access is closed and the Member's listings stop being shown. Client registrations are deleted under clause 6.9. Obligations already arisen between agencies continue. [ABOGADO: What should happen to the account data after termination: deletion period and data that must be kept by law?]

11.7 Closing access for lack of an active listing (2.4) is not a suspension.

12. Liability

12.1 The Operator hosts information that Members enter. It is not liable for it if it has no actual knowledge that it is illegal, or if, once it has knowledge, it acts diligently to remove it or block access to it (Ley 34/2002, art. 16.1).

12.2 Each Member is responsible for its listings, its energy certificate, its website, its data and its dealings with other agencies and buyers. It holds the Operator harmless against third-party claims that result from them, as far as the law allows.

12.3 The Operator is not a party to any sale, rental or share. It does not guarantee that there will be buyers or that other Members' listings are accurate. Vetting at joining does not guarantee anyone's solvency.

12.4 The Platform is provided as it is. The Operator uses reasonable means to keep it available, but there may be interruptions, for example for maintenance.

12.5 As far as the law allows, the Operator's liability to a Member is limited to the direct and foreseeable damage it causes by breaching these terms. It is not liable for loss of profit or lost transactions. [ABOGADO: Is this limitation of liability valid between professionals? Should a maximum cap be added, and what should it be?]

12.6 Nothing in these terms limits liability that the law does not allow to be limited.

12.7 The information on the Platform is not legal, tax or professional advice.

13. Versions and acceptance

13.1 Each version of these terms has a number and a date. This is version 1.0, dated 18 October 2026.

13.2 Acceptance is by an affirmative action of the person representing the agency, who can read the full text beforehand. Contracts concluded electronically have full effect (Ley 34/2002, art. 23).

13.3 The Operator logs the user, the version, the date and time (server time) and the IP address of each acceptance, as evidence that it took place.

13.4 A durable copy is provided: the text of each version is published on the Platform and earlier versions remain available, so the Member can consult them and keep a copy. This meets the duty to inform the adherent, to give a copy and not to incorporate conditions the adherent could not know (Ley 7/1998, arts. 5 and 7).

13.5 Each new version requires new acceptance. The Operator tells the admins by e-mail, with reasonable notice and the changes marked. Until the Member accepts, access may be limited. If it does not accept, it may leave (11.5). A new version does not change rights already arisen between agencies.

13.6 The Operator keeps the acceptance log for as long as needed to prove the agreement (Código Civil, art. 1964.2). [ABOGADO: Is this acceptance by an affirmative action and its log (user, version, date and time, IP) enough as proof of the agreement between professionals, or is an advanced electronic signature advisable for the master agreement? For how long should the log be kept?]

14. Governing law and courts

14.1 These terms are governed by Spanish law.

14.2 Before going to court, the parties try in good faith to settle the dispute by writing to [CONTACT_EMAIL].

14.3 For disputes with the Operator, Members submit to the courts of Granada, as professionals (Regulation (EU) 1215/2012, art. 25). [ABOGADO: Are the courts of Granada the best choice, compared with the courts of Almuñécar or arbitration? Is the choice of court valid in these general conditions?]

14.4 Disputes between Members are not for Costa MLS to decide and are governed by the law and courts that apply to them.

14.5 These terms are published in Spanish and English. If they differ, the Spanish version prevails.

14.6 If a clause is void, the rest stays in force.