Are pocket listings legal: What is a Pocket Listing in Real Estate? Read This First

What is a Pocket Listing in Real Estate? Read This First

Posted on Sep 28, 2021

When you go to search for a home, most listings are available on a standard MLS (multiple listing service). However, some listings – known as pocket listings, or off-market listings – are not.

In this scenario, a potential home seller whose home has not gone on the market yet is approached by a buyer or a buyer’s representative and asked to sell the home without going through the process of listing it on the MLS/putting the home on the open market.

Are pocket listings illegal or unethical?

Pocket listings aren’t illegal by law, but were banned by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) in 2019. This means that licensed Realtors can no longer hold onto properties for longer than a day before adding them to the MLS. However, non-Realtor agents (all Realtors are agents, but not all agents are Realtors) can still do this.

Pocket listings are sometimes considered unethical for the same reasons dual agency is often considered unethical: if one agent is representing both sides of the transaction in order to receive a dual commission, it’s difficult (if not impossible) for them to fairly represent the best interests of both parties. There are also fair housing laws that govern how homes can be sold; by the very nature of keeping a home off the open market, pocket listings can get into murky legal territory when agents intentionally or unintentionally prevent certain groups of people (whether that’s race, economic class, religious groups, etc) from knowing the home is for sale.

What’s the problem with pocket listings?

When a home goes to market, especially in a seller’s market where multiple buyers are competing for every property, sellers stand to make the most money when demand sets the price. When you set a single price for a pocket listing, even though you can set the price you want, you ultimately don’t know whether you received the best offer possible.

“Most of the time, the best deals for sellers come by way of marketing the home on the open market, with competition among multiple buyers driving up the sale price and eliminating contingencies that could erode net profits later,” notes Philadelphia-based listing agent Chris Johnson. “We’re in a historic seller’s market and by doing a pocket deal now, sellers would be giving up the opportunity to get the highest price and best terms possible by working only with a single buyer.”

Normally when you list a home in a competitive market, receiving multiple offers allows you to choose your buyer based on additional factors like whether they can pay in cash, or if they’ll allow seller rent backs. When buyers know they’re competing against other buyers, they’re more responsive to scarcity and will be aggressive with their offer. That’s when sellers receive the highest price and the best terms. While the seller can request these terms with a pocket listing, buyers don’t have the same incentive to agree to them.

“If a seller is presented with a pocket deal before their home hits the market, it’s important for them to understand the motivation behind it,” explains Johnson. “The buyer wants to secure the home at a price and terms that are acceptable to them, knowing they may have to pay more or waive contingencies on the open market. ”

In other words, buyers like pocket listings because they’re cheaper: sellers should be wary of them for the same reason.

Why would someone do a pocket listing?

When allowed, pocket listings can be a good idea if you’re a buyer – since you’ll receive terms more favorable to you. If you’re a seller, pocket listings might be the best option for you if you need to truly prioritize time and comfort over profiting the most from your home sale. In rare cases, pocket listings are sometimes preferred when privacy is key – a celebrity, for example, might not want hordes of people coming through their listed home.

“Pocket deals might make sense if the seller can’t get their head around clearing out their house and getting it ready, and either the emotional, time, or financial impact of getting the home ready – that’s usually the biggest barrier,” says Johnson.

In a competitive market, though, sellers might be overestimating the time and energy involved in getting a home ready for sale. The biggest determinants of a home’s selling price aren’t the cleanliness of the closets or how guest-ready the living room is: factors like location, size, and overall condition will still reign supreme.

How to find pocket listings

For buyers who are interested in finding pocket listings, it’s almost impossible to do so without a real estate agent. Alternatively, you could go door-to-door in the neighborhood you’re interested in living in, and see whether anyone was thinking of selling their home. Foreclosures and short sales are also considered off-market properties and can be purchased without an agent, though there is additional risk involved with going that route.

For further reading

Thinking About Selling Your Home Next Spring? Here’s What You Need to Know
Can the Redfin Estimate be Trusted? What Home Sellers Need to Know
Is Now a Good Time to Sell a House? Winter 2021

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What Is a Pocket Listing? (& Are They Legal?)

A pocket listing is a real estate industry term for a property that a broker has been given the exclusive right to sell by virtue of a signed listing agreement. However, the property isn’t listed on a multiple listing service (MLS). Why would a real estate agent want to sell a home without listing and promoting it on the MLS? Is this practice even legal?

In this article, we’re going to dive a little deeper to discover why some real estate professionals pursue pocket listings. We’ll explore their positive and negative effects on local markets and the industry as a whole, and what the National Association of Realtors (NAR) has to say about pocket listings.

Are Pocket Listings Legal?

Yes, at the time of this writing, pocket listings are legal in all 50 states. No existing laws prohibit a real estate agent from representing a contracted seller while withholding that listing from the MLS.

However, through a controversial vote held at their annual conference in November 2019, NAR’s leadership effectively eliminated the practice of pocket listings starting in May 2020. Their decision requires NAR members to post listings to their local MLS within one business day of signing any listing agreement.

Did NAR make the right move by effectively banning pocket listings? We’ve got our opinion on it, but before you make up your mind, let’s dig a little deeper into the effect pocket listings have on local markets and the industry as a whole.

How a Pocket Listing Can Be a Good Thing

First, let’s talk about the benefits of a pocket listing. For real estate agents, having a listing in your “hip pocket” means you have exclusive control over it. Since our first duty as real estate agents is to protect our clients’ best interests, having the option to keep a contracted property off the MLS is a good thing. Here’s why.

A real estate agent can limit the property’s exposure exclusively to qualified buyers with a pocket listing. For this reason, pocket listings are most prevalent in higher-end markets. According to Los Angeles-based The Real Deal, upward of 22% of the deals closed in the second quarter of 2019 were pocket listings.

Christopher Dyson, director of the Estates Division and a broker with The Agency in Los Angeles, confirmed this for us. “When you get to $10 million properties and above, pockets are probably about 20 to 25% of those listings.”

Discretion is another reason real estate agents choose to pursue pocket listings. A client may not want their property publicly listed for sale for privacy or security concerns. In many markets like Los Angeles, the listing itself can turn into a media spectacle, especially if the seller is a celebrity, government official, or high-net-worth individual.

What Pocket Listing Critics Are Saying

Many critics of pocket listings claim that we’re not giving our clients the best shot at getting the highest and best offer when we opt out of the MLS, which offers exposure to the broader market and the full range of potential buyers.

However, before giving your client’s property full market exposure on the MLS, both you and your seller may decide first to test the waters at a particular price point. It’s a calculated strategy designed to secure the highest and best outcome for your client.

While the best price and the client’s best interest are often the same, the NAR Code of Ethics doesn’t specifically say that a Realtor’s obligation is to the highest price. Rather, it says that our obligation is to the best interest of our client. More on that later.

If your client clearly understands the potential impact on an offer price by keeping their offer of sale private and still chooses to withhold their listing from the MLS, one could easily argue that you, as their agent, have fulfilled your fiduciary responsibility.

Why Pocket Listings Are a Bad Thing

NAR’s rationale for blacklisting pocket listings was that some of the Realtors who used this practice were doing so in pursuit of their own best interests and not those of their clients—or at least that was the perception.

By restricting the field of potential buyers, an unscrupulous listing agent may simply be boosting their chances of closing a double-sided deal. Well-connected listing agents with extensive ties to potential buyers might find pocket listings a relatively easy way to double their income. Obviously, this practice isn’t kosher if the Realtor’s primary motivation isn’t their client’s best interest.

Pocket listings can also negatively affect local markets since they’re often not reported to the MLS once they close, meaning they’re not included in data used by area real estate agents when conducting CMAs and area appraisers conducting area appraisals.

It can be argued that pocket listings limit reporting accuracy, thereby limiting our understanding of our market. Without a clear and comprehensive view of all sales transactions in our market, we collectively have a harder time serving our clients.

Additionally, if the sale of a pocket listing is reported to the MLS, the listing real estate agent has no duty to disclose the “list price” of the home—only the sold price. Again, unscrupulous agents can report that the home sold for 100% of the asking price.

This subtle manipulation might seem trivial to some. But skilled buyers’ agents often use a neighborhood’s list-to-sale ratio as a factor in deciding on a fair offer price, exacerbating the potential damage of incomplete reporting.

Finally, pocket listings can be a tool of disenfranchisement for minority communities who are often less connected to agents who hold pocket listings. Qualified buyers in minority communities or groups may have fewer opportunities to make purchases of pocket-listed properties.

If Pocket Listings Have Been Banned, Are They Still Happening?

The short answer is yes. But in practice, pocket listings look and feel a little bit different than they did before NAR’s landmark decision in 2019.

Savvy listing agents have taken to listing such properties on Friday mornings. In doing so, they relieve themselves of having to file with their MLS until the end of the business day on the following Monday. Many agents have taken to calling this period the “coming soon” window.

While this seems like a short window, a lot can happen in a weekend! Open houses, phone calls, emails, texts—outreach to the pocket listing agent’s buyer sphere. Choosing a holiday weekend gives the agent an additional 24 hours to market the home for sale without exposing it to the MLS.

Whisper Listings vs Pocket Listings

The practice of “whisper listings” is starting to become more commonplace, especially in high-end markets. The major difference between a whisper listing and a pocket listing is exclusivity.

A whisper listing isn’t technically a listing at all. It’s more of a relationship or even a conversation between an agent and a property owner that goes something like this: “If you know someone interested in buying a home like mine, I might entertain an offer, but I’m not putting my home on the market.”

Sellers who have this type of understanding with an agent have no obligation to remain exclusive. Nor do they have any obligation to abstain from reaching out to an interested buyer themselves, and arranging a for-sale-by-owner agreement. They’re free to date other people, so to speak.

Whisper listing arrangements are built on trust, and while they may work for some real estate professionals, they are inherently risky. For obvious reasons, they’re unlikely to become a major trend.

What’s the Best Way to Manage a Pocket Listing?

If you’ve determined that a pocket listing is the best option for your seller—at least in the limited form now stipulated by the NAR—there are a couple of things you should do.

Open & Transparent Communication

First, you need to have a clear and explicit conversation with your seller about the decision to hold their property off the MLS for as long as is allowable. Talk through the benefits, the potential harms, and everything in between.

We’d suggest drafting an addendum to the listing agreement with an “MLS live date” specified, as well as a disclosure of the seller’s understanding of the circumstance. This document will be very valuable to you should someone from your local association question your decision. You’ll have a paper trail that clearly lays out your intent.

Lay the Groundwork for a Pocket Listing

Second, before you sign a listing agreement, make sure you’ve done everything you can to prepare for the listing to go live so that the “pocket period” can be spent doing outreach and buyer generation, not taking listing photos. Ideally, this period should be between Friday morning and Monday afternoon.

Choose the Best Tools

Finally, make sure you’ve got a strategy in place to reach out to the right people at the right time. Having prewritten, templated communication is a good practice and sets you up for success with pocket listings.

A good real estate CRM gives you these tools. If you’re a solo agent, LionDesk is a fantastic option. They’ve got a great starting price point, they offer a ton of automated email and text message communication options, and they have a 30-day free trial you can use to check out the platform to see if it’s for you. We’ve done a full review of LionDesk to help you evaluate it.

Whether you’re running a team or a brokerage, Realvolve is a great platform that offers lots of customization options, including lead routing, custom lead drips depending on the agent and lead source, and more. We’ve explored these in our review of Realvolve to help you learn more, or check out our guide to the Best Real Estate CRMs of 2021.

NAR’s Official Stance on the Pocket Listing

You’d think that NAR’s position on pocket listings would be crystal-clear considering their leadership decision to effectively eliminate the practice. However, in the eyes of many of their members, that isn’t the case. Here’s why.

Article One of the NAR Code of Ethics says explicitly that “When representing a buyer, seller, landlord, tenant, or other client as an agent, REALTORS pledge themselves to protect and promote the interests of their clients.” We’ve already shared some pretty clear examples of scenarios where a pocket listing best serves the client’s interests.

Article Three of the Code goes deeper on this. It states that a Realtor must cooperate with other brokers except in situations where cooperation isn’t in their client’s best interest.

In Standards of Practice 3 through 10, the Code further elaborates on the duties laid out in Article Three, indicating that any cooperation and sharing of listing information with other brokers is obligatory only when “it is in the best interests of the sellers/landlords. ”

By banning pocket listings, NAR effectively says that any potential benefit to property sellers is negligible compared to an agent’s obligation to cooperate with other Realtors in the professional community. But the NAR Code of Ethics seems to say otherwise. It gives priority to the seller’s best interests over any question of Realtor cooperation or sharing of listing information.

The Close Take on the Pocket Listing

We try hard to maintain an objective stance on things happening in the real estate industry, but occasionally, we weigh in with an editorial position. This is one of those times. NAR shouldn’t have banned pocket listings. While they can create situations where the client’s best interests aren’t being served, they are a tool that a real estate agent should have in their toolkit.

Are there problems with pocket listings? Absolutely. NAR’s policies force some of the more nefarious tactics and strategies to go underground and become unregulated.

Reporting

The lack of data reporting and the potential harm pocket listings have on minority communities are serious issues. But, the banning of this practice isn’t the solution to these problems, especially since the resulting rise in whisper listings actually magnifies these issues in those communities.

If we were making the rules, pocket listings would be allowed, but they would require significant documentation throughout their lifespan. They’d also be subject to as much review as a standard public listing.

Accountability

We’ll concede that the issue of accountability—the common complaint about pocket listings—is legitimate. They seem to happen in the shadows. However, real estate is a unique industry that involves nearly a dozen people in every two-sided transaction. Each one acts as an advocate for their side of the transaction and as a fail-safe against errors and impropriety.

Each transaction brings together a buyer, seller, at least two agents and brokers, mortgage company, appraiser, and title company—not to mention the leadership on local MLS boards and other governing bodies. As such, there are a lot of parties that monitor legitimate transactions.

By solving the accountability and transparency issues, the pocket listing as a practice could be made safe, less ethically risky, and a legitimate option for property owners.

So, do we agree that pocket listings are a good thing? Not necessarily. But should they be banned from happening? No.

Your Turn

We want to hear about your experience with pocket listings. Do you think they should have been banned? Have you had pocket listings before? Tell us in the comments below.

“pocket” distress signaling devices

We bring to your attention a translation of an article about portable SOS distress signaling devices (sometimes called “emergency signaling devices”), from the RECOIL OFFGRID website. Not all of the above devices may be available in our area, they are unlikely to be easily found for sale or ordered from the same Amazon. And some may not be particularly legal at all . .. However, the article sets the right accents, but just give our survivalist brother an idea – and the rest will follow. So.

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Self-sufficiency is a term that comes up often when discussing emergency preparedness. It’s just that it is used incorrectly from time to time. A self-sufficient person is one who does everything possible to avoid excessive dependence on external resources. He has a contingency plan for every emergency, as well as a contingency plan in case the first option doesn’t work. And all this does not mean at all that it is impossible to seek help if the situation has finally got out of control or threatens to get out of control. And it is for this that the means of sending a distress signal and emergency signaling are needed.

When might portable alarm devices be needed?

Let’s imagine a simple situation. You are going on a solo hike. And suddenly, on one of the sections of the route, you slip and fall into a ravine. It seems that you remain alive, but there is a suspicion that the leg is not just dislocated, but broken. If you use the wrong definition of self-sufficiency, then you have to make an impromptu crutch and try to get up on your own. Not the best tactic to be honest. Calling for help in this situation is much more effective and safer for health.

Electronic communication devices such as cellular and satellite phones, radio transmitters, personal beacons work well in such situations. However, they can lose the network, break down or run out of power. So you need something analog as a backup alarm. Something that will draw attention to you just as much as a hefty column of smoke.

“Pocket” distress signaling devices

In this article we will look at 6 signaling devices, each of which can easily fit in a pocket. All of them are capable of giving visual distress signals that are visible from a great distance. Ideally, however, they should also be supplemented with sound alarms – whistles or special sirens.

Hokena LED Road Flares Emergency Kit

Dimensions: 10x10x3.3 cm
Weight: 156 grams each and 559 grams pack of three
Price: $33

Hokena LED Road Flares at Amazon

This 7-piece car emergency kit was sold on Amazon under the label “bestseller”. It includes three hockey puck-sized LED lights, a carrying case, a screwdriver for changing batteries, two Mylar emergency blankets, and a “rescue tool” with sling cutter and glass breaker functions. Each “puck” is made of clear plastic and surrounded by a bright orange rubber shell.

On one side there is a power button that activates various flashing patterns – short flashes, a rotating effect or a constant glow. Plus, the ability to turn on three powerful white LEDs on the front panel – a full-fledged emergency flashlight. Each puck has a hook on the back for hanging and a magnet for fixing to metal surfaces. Power is supplied by AAA batteries. Approximate uptime is 35 hours.

Pros. Strong magnets allow you to stick flashlights directly to the car, which will greatly increase its visibility. The compact case will easily fit in the glove box. Excellent value for money.
Cons. Visibility is excellent at night, but not so much on a bright sunny day. The “rescue tool” included in the kit looks too cheap and not very reliable.

Orion Compact Aerial signal set

Dimensions: 19 cm long, 3.8 cm diameter
Weight: 119 grams
Price: $28

ORION Alertlocate Plus Flare Kit at Amazon

When it comes to signal flares, you will most likely imagine the classic orange flare guns that usually come with life rafts . This signal set serves exactly the same purpose, only it takes up much less space. It is housed in a waterproof and floating plastic container, and looks like a pen with three red light bulbs.

To fire the signal flare, screw it firmly onto the launcher and then pull the trigger button all the way out. Its release will cause the metal pin to hit the igniter capsule, causing the racket to fly up to a height of 90 meters, where it will burn for 6.5 seconds. However, be careful – such launches can cause forest fires.

Pros. The signal fire will fly higher than any trees and is visible from afar. And you will have three attempts to attract attention.
Cons. In drought conditions, it can cause a forest fire. 6.5 seconds is too short, so if the rescuers are distracted, they will easily miss your signal.

IWA International M14 smoke bomb

Dimensions: 12.2×6.6×4.6 cm
Weight: 153 grams
Price: $34

Smoke grenades are often used by the military to mark evacuation areas, as that there is even a special term for it – “pop smoke”. The M14 smoke grenade (or “smoke signal simulator” as it says on the label) is made in the UK by TLSFx. And IWA International just imported it to the US and got ATF (The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives) approval.

The operation of this device is quite simple – press the lever firmly against the body with one hand, turn the ring to release the fuse, pull the ring out. Now if you release the lever, the smoke grenade will launch with a delay of 3.5 seconds. For 60 seconds, thick smoke will pour out of the vents on the bottom of the case. The latest models have dual ventilation outlets for more effective smoke dissipation.

Pros. Allows you to attract the attention of aircraft during the day. Different colors of smoke – white, red, green and blue, so you can choose what will stand out best in the area in which you “plan to get lost.”
Cons. The device is disposable, and in windy conditions the smoke dissipates too quickly.

Signal mirror SOL Rescue Flash

Dimensions: 7.6x5x0.5 cm
Weight: 17 grams
Price: $10

900 35

SOL Rescue Flash on Amazon

Even if you use other flash tools from this article or any other means of giving light and sound signals, this signal mirror simply must be in your emergency survival kit. It easily fits in a jeans pocket or in a wallet, in the credit card section, weighs almost nothing, but is able to give a light signal at a distance of up to 48 km (at least it says so on the package).

It has an instruction on the back that explains exactly how to “aim” this mirror using the center hole and an outstretched hand with fingers spread out in a “V”. The material is durable polycarbonate, which will not break even when dropped. In addition, using such a mirror, you can send signals in Morse code. A list of the most important signals is included.

Pros. So light and compact you can take it with you and forget it even exists. If you aim correctly, it really allows you to send signals over very long distances.
Cons. Only works on a clear sunny day and requires the target to be on the same side of the sky as the sun. After removing the protective film, the mirror should be stored carefully to avoid scratches.

Princeton Tec Meridian Strobe Headlamp

Dimensions: 9. 6 x 5.6 x 2.8 cm
Weight: 99 grams
Price: $30

Princeton Tec Meridian at Amazon

Princeton Tec is known as a supplier of reliable lighting equipment for law enforcement, military and search and rescue. This flashlight was just designed based on their needs, as well as the needs of those who work in low light conditions and divers. Powered by three AAA batteries and able to continuously operate for 100 hours.

The switch allows you to switch between two modes depending on the specific model. Either white strobe/white light or white strobe/red light. The first option, however, is more convenient, since it can be used as an emergency flashlight or simply, if necessary, illuminate something for reading. The lens is protected by black or yellow plastic, and is also equipped with PALS compatible mounts for 1 inch. The kit comes with a Velcro strap, which makes it possible to carry the flashlight on your hand.

Pros. IPX8 – that is, the ability to immerse the flashlight in water. Compatible with popular mounting systems. The switch can be operated with thick protective gloves.
Cons. The switch, especially in strobe mode, is too sensitive. Can switch even with a light touch. Batteries cannot be replaced without a screwdriver.

Orion 15-Minute Flares

Dimensions: length 23.4 cm, diameter 2.8 cm
Weight: 187 grams one torch, 612.6 grams set
Price: $20 for 2 packs of 3 torches

Orion 15-Minute Flares on Amazon

that law enforcement officers throw signal flares on the road or begin to wave them in order to organize normal movement around the obstacle. These simple devices send out an obvious non-verbal “watch out!” signal. They work just as effectively in situations where you need to attract attention.

These torches are available in two versions – 15 minutes or 30 minutes of burning time. Supplied with a protective bag, instruction manual and a free HIS chemiluminescent stick.

Pros. Ideal for emergency situations on the roads – motorists are used to them. The bright red torch is clearly visible even in daylight.
Cons. The weight and dimensions make them more suitable for storage in the trunk, rather than in a backpack. Plus, they don’t last long and don’t recharge.

Original article – Pocket Preps: Emergency Signaling Devices

IMEI and Rossvyaz whitelists / Habr

Today is Thursday, which means it’s time for another “Reference”. Let’s clear up the IMEI situation. And not so much with the identifier itself, but with the issue of creating a “white IMEI” database in Russia. Information about the intention of officials to create such a database appeared not so long ago, and this issue causes certain concerns for many of us.

What is IMEI?

Most readers of Habr know perfectly well what it is, why and why. But just in case, let’s briefly go over what IMEI is.

IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identity) is an international mobile equipment identifier. This is a number consisting of 15 digits in decimal notation. There is an IMEI option with 17 digits. The identifier is assigned to devices in the GSM, WCDMA and IDEN cellular networks. In some cases, IMEI is also assigned to satellite phones.

The IMEI contains information about the origin, model and serial number of the device. The first 8 digits of the IMEI identify both the model and the origin of the device. The rest is the serial number of the device, which is determined by the manufacturer.

Who controls all this?

Several organizations are responsible for the “distribution”, including the GSM Association, BABT (British Approvals Board for Telecommunications) and others. The GSM Association in March 2018 released a new document on the rules for the distribution of IMEI, which contains all the necessary technical details.

Why do I need an IMEI?

IMEI is required for:

Identification in the carrier’s network;
Identification of the phone itself (for example, if it is stolen).

When connected to the network, the mobile device reports its IMEI to the operator’s network. If necessary, the telecom operator can determine the location of the device with an accuracy of up to several hundred meters.

If the device is stolen, the user can report the theft to the carrier. He blocks the phone, and he can no longer work on the network of the company that blocked him. However, in the networks of other companies can be no problem. In the USA, for example, stolen phones with IMEI blocked are often sold to other countries where they can work (provided that the phone is not tied to a specific US carrier).

In the case of some devices, such as the iPhone, the phone may be on the Global black list and will not work on most carrier networks. However, most telecom operators block the IMEI of specific devices only when contacted by law enforcement or a user who previously owned the device. Lost devices can also be added to the “black list” – simply so that the finder cannot use the gadget.

What about gray and white phones?

“White” is usually called phones that come to any country officially. That is, their seller draws up all the necessary documents, pays import tax and generally complies with legislative norms in every possible way.

“Gray” – phones that are imported into the country without the necessary documents, they are not registered. The media write that now almost every third smartphone is imported into Russia without certification and payment of customs duties.

Why do officials need an IMEI base?

The fact is that with such a volume of imports of “gray” phones, the state loses a lot of money due to unpaid taxes, registration fees and all other payments to the budget.

Officials have long been discussing the possibility of creating a kind of “white IMEI database”, which would automatically block stolen phones in the network of telecom operators, as well as devices imported into Russia (for example, bought in foreign online stores). Distributors believe that the share of gray smartphones in the sector of Chinese brands is now about 10%, but the total volume of “gray” imports may not even be 30%, but half of the total imports.

When can we expect the base to appear?

So far, the discussion stage is underway, but the project itself is becoming more and more clear – it is no longer just an abstract idea. The Association of Internet Commerce Companies (AKIT) has even developed the concept of regulating mobile devices by IMEI numbers.

ACIT has already sent a document describing the project proposal to Lyudmila Bokova, Chairman of the Interim Commission for the Development of the Information Society of the Federation Council, and Mikhail Abyzov, Minister of the Open Government. After reviewing the document, Rossvyaz representatives stated that the ACIT proposal was correct and justified.

This concept includes not one list, but three at once: white, gray and black.

White – these are officially imported devices that are allowed to be imported and used;

Gray – IMEIs that are temporarily not banned from use. If the user of a “gray” device wants to transfer his IMEI to the white list, the telecom operator must provide evidence of the legal purchase of the device.

Black – IMEI of stolen devices, or devices that are illegally imported.

The registry is planned to be created on the basis of the Central Research Institute of Communications at Rossvyaz (TsNIIS). ZNIIS is already acting as the operator of the database transferred when the subscribers change the number operator.

The probability that the base will still be created is very high. Legislative action in this regard is expected in the near future.

Is it just telephones?

No, it is planned to add any devices that work with SIM cards to the IMEI registry. And these are tablets, phones, routers, smart watches, various kinds of security systems and even smart gates.

Will it be possible to import phones from abroad?

If they accept the concept proposed by AKIT, then yes. According to it, no more than 1 smartphone per year is subject to transportation. You don’t have to pay for the first device. But for the second one you will need to pay $20 already. For the third and all subsequent devices, you will need to pay $30 already.

It is interesting that it will be possible to import even devices, the legality of which is not documented. In this case, you will have to throw in another $10 and pay for such a gadget (or rather, for the right to import it) about $40.

And yes, if the phone is imported from abroad, the user will have to register it in the white registry.

Okay, can I change the IMEI?

Yes. But just doing this can be quite difficult. This is especially true for Apple devices. Changing IMEI can be official and illegal. In the second case, it is a criminal offense.

For the iPhone, the legal way is to contact the Apple Service Center in your country. It is necessary to indicate the reasons for the change and attach the required documents (the list may be different for different companies).