The primary tool for real estate professionals in Fresno and other parts of California to post listings and see what’s available for buyers was still out of commission Monday from a cyberattack that took down their vendor’s servers.
Rapattoni Corporation in southern California, which hosts multiple-listing services across the state and nation, was hit by hackers on Aug. 9, and its servers remained offline Monday, said Brian Domingos, president of the Fresno Association of Realtors. Rapattoni has not provided an estimate for when the system may be restored, he said, “just that they’re working around the clock.”
Inman, a real estate information website, reported that a ransomware attack was to blame, which is when a hacker takes control of systems until a ransom is paid. Inman cited messages from Rapattoni to its customers that said federal authorities were investigating and that its insurance company was “negotiating with the ransomware individuals.” The report added that the attack is affecting hundreds of thousands of MLS member agents nationwide.
The outage means that in affected areas, home sellers won’t have as much exposure for their properties and buyers won’t be able to see as easily what’s available. This doesn’t mean agents can’t call each other or use other digital methods to spread the word. Even so, MLS services for decades have been the primary vehicles for real estate professionals to do their jobs.
The cyberattack has been cramping the flow of the local real estate market, Domingos told The Bee. “It’s challenging, because the MLS is the traditional way we find out about listings, sold listings and homes under contract. All of that is not being reported.”
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Source: www.fresnobee.com
ENB
Sandstone Group
