If you've received a SWMLS Compliance Notification this year, there's a good chance it was for the same reason: Pending Past Estimated Closing Date.

Year to date, this single issue accounts for 69% of all compliance notifications sent to SWMLS users. That's a big number for what is, in most cases, an easy fix.

So, let's clear up the confusion:

The Common Misconception

Many brokers believe that once a listing is marked Pending, the Estimated Closing Date in Flexmls is locked in — and that changing it requires a signed extension agreement between the buyer and seller. That's simply not the case.

The field is labeled "Estimated" for a reason. It's an MLS data field, not a contract term. It doesn't need to match the closing date written into your purchase agreement and updating it in Flexmls has no bearing on the legal terms of the transaction itself. The two are entirely separate.

 What the Field Is Actually For

The Estimated Closing Date exists to give the MLS — and everyone relying on its data — a reasonable, current expectation of when a Pending transaction is likely to close. It's a working estimate, meant to be updated as circumstances change, not a fixed deadline tied to your contract.

 What To Do When a Closing Date Is Approaching

If you're coming up on the Estimated Closing Date in Flexmls and you don't believe the transaction will close on time, the solution is simple: update the date in the system. You don't need a signed extension agreement to do this — you just need to reflect the new, realistic estimate. Making this update before the date passes is what keeps your listing out of Compliance Notification territory in the first place.

Why This Matters

MLS data is only useful if it's accurate and current. Buyers, sellers, brokers, appraisers, and market analysts all rely on Pending status and closing timelines to understand what's actually happening in the market. When Estimated Closing Dates are left stale and transactions sit flagged as past-due, it erodes confidence in the data set for everyone using it — not just the brokers involved. Keeping this field current is a small habit that protects the integrity of the MLS as a whole, and it's one of the easiest compliance issues to avoid entirely.