1. Objective

This SOP defines how a Virtual Assistant (VA) reviews, extracts, and files a listing agreement once the agent receives a signed copy from the seller.

The listing agreement is the legal foundation of every listing engagement. Before a single marketing task, MLS input, or vendor call happens, this document must be verified as complete, correctly signed, and properly filed. A listing agreement with a missing signature or conflicting date is not a valid agreement — and proceeding on top of it creates legal and liability risk for the agent.

This SOP is not about reading legal documents. It is about verification against a checklist: does every required field have a value, does every signature line have a signature, and do the numbers match what the agent said they would be? When the answer is yes to all of those, you file it and extract the key data the rest of the listing workflow depends on.

Where this SOP starts: Agent sends the signed listing agreement to the VA (via email, e-signature platform, or shared drive).
Where this SOP ends: Agreement is filed in the transaction management system, key data is logged, brokerage compliance submission is complete (if required), and the agent has received confirmation.

Success looks like: Within two hours of receiving the agreement, it is filed correctly, the key data is logged in the transaction file, any compliance submission is done or scheduled, and the agent knows it's complete — without having to follow up.

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2. Your Role & Boundaries

2a. What you handle independently

• Reviewing the document against the completeness checklist in Section 4
• Extracting and logging key information (dates, commission, terms) per Section 5
• Filing the document with the correct naming convention and folder location per Section 6
• Submitting to brokerage compliance per the agent's documented process (Section 7)
• Sending the agent a confirmation that review and filing are complete
• Flagging red flags to the agent per Section 8 — clearly and immediately

2b. What requires agent approval before acting

• Any interpretation of whether a partial or ambiguous signature is sufficient
• Any decision about whether to proceed with an incomplete document
• Any contact with the seller or seller's representative about the agreement
• Requesting a corrected or re-signed agreement from any party

2c. What you never do

• You never negotiate on the agent's behalf under any circumstances.
• You never provide pricing, legal, or strategic opinions to any party.
• You never sign or initial any document on behalf of the agent, client, or any party.
• You never communicate directly with the other party's client.
• You never contact the buyer or the buyer's agent about this listing agreement — all communication with the buyer's side goes through the agent.
• You never make legal judgments about whether the agreement is valid or enforceable.
• You never contact the seller directly about the agreement — all seller communication goes through the agent.
• You never tell the seller or any external party what the commission rate is. Commission is a confidential business term.
• You never correct, modify, alter, or annotate the signed agreement in any way — including adding notes, highlighting, or filling in perceived gaps. The document stays exactly as received.
• You never proceed with listing marketing, vendor scheduling, or MLS input until this SOP is complete and the agent has been notified.

When in doubt: Stop, document what you're unsure about, and ask the agent before proceeding. An incomplete filing question answered in five minutes is better than a listing that launches on a defective agreement.

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3. Schedule & Trigger

This SOP activates when the agent sends a signed listing agreement to the VA. The signing may happen during or immediately after the listing appointment covered in Pre-Listing Appointment Prep, or at any point the seller executes the agreement. There is no fixed schedule — this SOP runs on-demand every time a new listing agreement arrives.

Trigger: Agent delivers a signed listing agreement (via e-signature platform notification, email attachment, or upload to the shared drive or transaction management system).

Expected turnaround: Complete review, filing, key data extraction, and agent confirmation within two hours of receipt during business hours. If the agreement arrives outside business hours, complete it as the first task the following morning.

Sequence context: This SOP runs after Pre-Listing Appointment Prep and before Property Intake & Data Collection. Property intake and MLS data entry do not begin until this SOP is complete.

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4. Document Completeness Review

As soon as you receive the signed listing agreement, open the document and run through every item in this checklist before doing anything else. Do not skim — read each field against its corresponding item.

Signature & Initial Review
- ☐ All seller signature lines are signed (count the sellers — there may be more than one owner)
- ☐ All seller initial lines are initialed (check every page that has an initial box)
- ☐ Agent signature line is signed
- ☐ Any required brokerage or broker of record signature is present (confirm with agent whether their brokerage requires this on the listing agreement)
- ☐ Any addenda attached to the agreement are signed or initialed by all required parties

Date & Term Review
- ☐ Listing start date is filled in and is a specific date (not blank, not "TBD")
- ☐ Listing expiration date is filled in and is a specific date
- ☐ The listing period falls within a reasonable range (typically 90–180 days — flag if significantly outside this)
- ☐ Start date is not in the past (flag if it is — this may indicate a backdated agreement, which requires agent guidance)
- ☐ Execution date (the date the agreement was signed) is present

Pricing & Commission Review
- ☐ Listing price is filled in and matches the price the agent communicated to you
- ☐ Commission rate or dollar amount is filled in
- ☐ Co-op commission (the buyer's agent's share) is specified
- ☐ If any referral fee or split is noted, it is documented

Property & Party Identification
- ☐ Property address is present and complete (street, city, state, zip)
- ☐ Property address matches the county assessor record (cross-check against any prior property data you have; flag any mismatch)
- ☐ Seller names match how they hold title (check the county recorder or any prior title document if available; flag if you cannot verify)
- ☐ Agreement type is confirmed (exclusive right to sell is the most common — flag if a different type is used, as it has different implications for the agent)

What each item means

Signature completeness is non-negotiable. A listing agreement missing one signature is not a signed listing agreement. Do not move forward without flagging it. The agent may have intended to follow up, or the e-signature platform may have had an error.

Date accuracy matters because listing period, MLS input timing, and marketing launch all depend on these dates. A transposed date or typo creates errors downstream in every calendar-based workflow.

Listing price matching is a verification step, not a data entry step. The agent discussed a price with the seller — the document should reflect that conversation. If the price in the document differs from what the agent told you, flag it before assuming either is correct.

Seller names matching title is a compliance requirement. If the sellers hold title differently than their names appear in the agreement (e.g., a trust, an LLC, a name change), the agent needs to know before the listing goes live.

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5. Key Information Extraction

Once the completeness review passes (no flags), extract the following data and log it in the transaction file or the designated field in the transaction management system:

Field	Where to Find It	Where to Log It
Listing start date	Document field / signature date	Transaction file — Listing Dates section
Listing expiration date	Document field	Transaction file — Listing Dates section
List price	Document field	Transaction file + CRM contact record
Total commission rate	Document field	Transaction file — Commission section
Co-op commission (buyer agent share)	Document field	Transaction file — Commission section
Referral or split notes	Addenda or special terms section	Transaction file — Commission section, with note
Any special terms or contingencies	Addenda, special provisions section	Transaction file — Notes / Special Terms
Agreement type	Document header or type field	Transaction file — Agreement Type

Notes on commission logging: Log the exact rate or amount as written. Do not calculate splits or totals — log the raw terms and let the agent manage the financial calculation. If the commission structure is complex (e.g., tiered, net listing, or variable), flag it to the agent with a note: "Commission structure has special terms — please confirm how you'd like this logged."

Notes on special terms: If the agreement has addenda, list them by name in the transaction file notes. Example: "Attached addenda: Seller Possession After Close, HOA Addendum." You do not need to extract data from the addenda into separate fields — just confirm they exist and are signed.

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6. Filing Protocol

File Naming Convention

Save the listing agreement using this format:

[Address] - Listing Agreement - [SellerLastName] - [ExecutionDate]

Example:

123 Main St - Listing Agreement - Johnson - 2026-04-15

Use hyphens, not slashes or underscores. Keep the address in the format that matches how it appears in your transaction management system. Use the execution date (the date it was signed), not today's date.

Where It Goes

Save the file in the following locations:

1. Transaction folder — in the transaction management system (Dotloop, SkySlope, Brokermint, or agent's tool), under the property's transaction file, in the folder or section labeled "Listing Agreement" or "Contracts."

2. Google Drive (if used) — in the agent's Google Drive listing folder for this property, under the subfolder 01 - Listing Agreement or the equivalent per the agent's folder structure (confirm during onboarding).

The document should be in PDF format. If the agent sent a non-PDF version, convert before filing. Do not file in multiple formats.

Who Receives a Copy

After filing, the following parties receive a copy:

Recipient	How	Timing
Agent	Confirmation message (not the document itself — they already have it)	Within 2 hours of receipt
Brokerage compliance	Per compliance submission process (Section 7)	Per compliance deadline
Transaction file	Filed per above — no separate send needed	Immediately

The sellers already have their copy from the signing process. You do not send them a copy. If they request one, route that request to the agent.

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7. Brokerage Compliance Submission

Note: Agent-specific brokerage compliance requirements — submission deadline, portal access, and any brokerage-specific listing agreement fields — are documented in Listing Coordination — Client Setup. Review that document during onboarding to confirm the agent's requirements before this SOP runs for the first time.

Many brokerages require the listing agreement to be submitted to the brokerage compliance file within a set number of days of execution. This varies by brokerage. The agent needs to provide this information during onboarding.

If brokerage submission is required:

1. Confirm the deadline with the agent (typically 1–5 business days from execution — confirm agent's brokerage rules).
2. Submit via the brokerage's designated method (typically: upload to the brokerage's transaction management system, email to the compliance department, or use a compliance portal).
3. Log in the transaction file: Compliance submitted | Date submitted | Method.
4. If the brokerage sends a confirmation or stamp, save that confirmation to the transaction file as well.

If brokerage submission is not required (or you don't know yet):

Include in your completion confirmation to the agent:
"Does this listing agreement need to be submitted to brokerage compliance? If so, please send me the deadline and submission method and I'll take care of it."

Do not assume submission is not required. When in doubt, ask.

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8. Red Flags — Escalate Immediately

Do not continue to the filing step if any of the following are present. Stop, document what you found, and contact the agent immediately.

• Missing or incomplete seller signature — any seller who should have signed has not signed, or a signature line is blank, initialed instead of signed, or otherwise ambiguous
• Missing or incomplete agent or broker signature — if the agreement requires the agent or broker to sign
• Unsigned addenda — the agreement references an addendum that is attached but not signed
• Conflicting dates — start date is after expiration date; execution date is in the future; listing period is zero or negative
• Start date in the past — agreement is backdated (the execution date is before today) without prior explanation from the agent
• Price mismatch — the listing price in the document does not match the price the agent told you to expect
• Seller name mismatch — seller names in the agreement do not match public title records, or the agreement is signed by someone whose authority to sign is unclear (e.g., a power of attorney situation)
• Agreement type other than exclusive right to sell — exclusive agency, open listing, or net listing all have different implications; flag for agent awareness even if the document is otherwise complete
• Anything the agent described verbally that isn't in the document — if the agent told you there would be a referral fee, a possession period, or a specific price, and it's not in the document, flag it

How to escalate

1. Do not file the document or take any downstream action (no MLS prep, no vendor scheduling, nothing).
2. Send the agent an immediate message via their preferred channel (not just email — use WhatsApp or text if that's how they communicate urgently):

Hi [Agent Name] — I'm reviewing the listing agreement for [Property Address] and found something I need your help with before I can file it.

Issue: [One clear sentence describing exactly what's missing or wrong]
What I need from you: [Specific action — e.g., "a corrected signature page," "confirmation of the listing price," "clarification on the commission structure"]

I haven't taken any further steps on this listing until this is resolved. Let me know how you'd like to proceed.

[VA Name]

3. Log the issue and the timestamp of your message in the transaction file notes.

If agent is unreachable

If you send the escalation message and do not receive a response within two hours:
1. Try a second channel (if you reached out by text, try email, and vice versa).
2. Do not attempt to resolve the issue yourself.
3. Log that you attempted contact twice, with timestamps.
4. If the listing has a scheduled activity (e.g., a photographer tomorrow, an MLS input deadline) that is at risk, note that in your message and in the log.

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9. Completion Checklist

Use this checklist once the review is complete and no red flags were found.

Document Review
- ☐ Completeness review passed (all items in Section 4 checked)
- ☐ No red flags identified — or red flags were escalated and resolved

Data & Filing
- ☐ Key information extracted and logged in transaction file (Section 5)
- ☐ Document saved to transaction management system with correct file name
- ☐ Document saved to Google Drive (if applicable)
- ☐ Document is in PDF format

Compliance
- ☐ Brokerage compliance submission completed (if required) — date logged
- ☐ Compliance confirmation received and filed (if applicable)

Confirmation
- ☐ Completion message sent to agent (see template below)

Completion message template

Hi [Agent Name] — listing agreement for [Property Address] is reviewed and filed.

Listing period: [Start date] through [Expiration date]
List price: $[amount]
Commission: [rate/amount]
Co-op: [rate/amount]
Special terms: [note any addenda or special provisions, or "none"]
Brokerage compliance: [Submitted on [date] / Pending your instructions / Not required]

Ready to proceed to next steps — let me know if you'd like me to start on [vendor scheduling / MLS prep / property data collection].

[VA Name]

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10. Tools & Access

Item	Details
Transaction management system	[Dotloop / SkySlope / Brokermint / other — confirm during onboarding]
Access method	[Agent delegation / separate login — confirm during onboarding]
Google Drive listing folder	[Confirm root folder location and naming convention during onboarding]
E-signature platform (to receive documents)	[DocuSign / DotLoop / Authentisign — confirm during onboarding]
County assessor website	[Confirm state and county — varies by market]
Brokerage compliance portal	[Confirm portal name and access method during onboarding]
Agent's preferred urgent channel	[Confirm during onboarding — WhatsApp, text, email]