What is Hawaii Information Service?

The official name of the corporation is MLS Hawaii, Inc.. MLSHI is a for-profit corporation created by the Hawaii Island, Kauai, and Kona Boards of Realtors® in 1984. MLSHI filed to operate as Hawaii Information Service in 1987 when the directors acknowledged that half of the revenue of the company came from non-MLS sources.

Who owns HIS?

HIS is owned by two not-for-profit Boards of Realtors®. The Hawaii Island Board of Realtors (HIBR) owns one class of stock and the Kauai Board of Realtors owns one class of stock. The staff of HIS has ZERO ownership in HIS.

Who runs HIS?

A Board of Directors made up of 7 directors .. 3 appointed by Hawaii Island board of Realtors and 3 appointed by the Kauai Board of Realtors plus the CEO who is automatically a member of the board of Directors. Every member of the Board of Directors is a Realtor® (including the CEO), but there are on-going discussions about expanding the Board of Directors to include non-Realtor® members who will offer expertise in non-MLS areas, such as finance or telecommunications.

HIBR directors are Gary Davis, Al Inoue, and Buddy Norwood.Kauai directors are Roy Morimoto, Roberta Charles, and Clifton Kukino.

Who decides what the MLS fees will be?

The Board of Directors of Hawaii Information Service.

Have MLS fees paid for software development?

No. Historically, only half of the company’s revenue is generated from MLS fees. The other half comes from the sale of products, such as the public records, to non-MLS customers.

Why does HIS have mainland customers? Why are they not concentrating on us?

The goal of the Board of Directors for the past 20 years has been to build the non-MLS revenue in order to even out the peaks and valleys in MLS subscribers that result from ups and downs in the real estate market. MLS revenue has declined more than $200,000 since 2006, but non-MLS revenue has increased more than $500,000 which has allowed continued improvements in customer service with no further increases in MLS fees.