Real estate markets scramble following cyberattack on listings provider

Home buyers, sellers, real estate agents, and listing websites throughout the US have been stymied for five days by a cyberattack on a California company that provides a crucial online service used to track home listings.

The attack, which commenced last Wednesday, hit Rapottoni, a software and services provider that supplies Multiple Listing Services to regional real estate groups nationwide. Better known as MLS, it provides instant access to data on which homes are coming to the market, purchase offers, and sales of listed homes. MLS has become essential for connecting buyers to sellers and to the agents and listing websites serving them.

“If you’re an avid online refresher on any real estate website, you may have noticed a real nosedive in activity the last couple of days,” Peg King, a realty agent in California’s Sonoma County, wrote in an email newsletter she sent clients on Friday. “Real estate MLS systems across the country have been unusable since Wednesday after a massive cyberattack against major MLS provider, Rapattoni Corporation. This means that real estate markets (like ours!) can’t list new homes, change prices, mark homes as pending/contingent/sold, or list open houses.”

Rapattoni does not provide a way for reporters to contact representatives. In a memo sent to regional MLS providers and reported by Cincinnati TV station WCPO, Rapattoni representatives wrote:

As we have previously communicated, Rapattoni’s production network was hit by a cyberattack and we are working diligently around the clock to get systems restored as soon as possible.

We are actively investigating the nature and scope of the event. The confidentiality, privacy, and security of information in our care is one of our highest priorities.

All technical resources are devoted to this effort. We do not have an ETA at this time, but we will continue to update you and keep you informed of our efforts.

On Sunday, Rapattoni wrote: “We are continuing to investigate the nature and scope of the cyberattack that has caused a system outage and we are working diligently to get systems restored as soon as possible. All technical resources at our disposal are continuing to work around the clock through the weekend until this matter is resolved. We still do not have an ETA at this time, but we will continue to update you and keep you informed of our efforts.”