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Putting
your license on inactive status? -- No CE is required to
renew inactive, but you must meet the CE requirement before you
reactivate your license.
Be sure to renew your license every 2 years so it doesn’t
expire and terminate.
Licensees
-- go online to renew your license, view your continuing education
records and E&O status, and change your
address.
Designated
brokers can renew a company license, change a company address, add
and remove associates, and view the CE and E&O records for all
associates in the office.
All
changes made online happen in “real time” so you don’t have to
wait! Please use our
website and online services whenever possible. It saves you time and helps
IREC save money, which helps keep your license fees
low.
If
you need help to register, log in, or use the new IREC online
services, please contact one of our friendly staff members at (208)
334-3285 or (866) 447-5411 (toll free in Idaho). |
HOT
TOPIC – Keeping Client Information Safe: Recently,
an Idaho lender went out of business. They failed to pay rent on
their mini-storage building, which contained old lending files. When the contents were
auctioned off, the winning bidder simply left all of the files
outside a recycling center!
The
files contained Social Security Numbers, birth dates, tax returns,
and other personal information. This is exactly what
identity thieves look for!
It could have been a very terrible situation for the clients
whose information was compromised, if the documents had fallen into
the wrong hands.
This
is a reminder that all licensees have a duty to account for property
of their customers and clients with reasonable skill and care. This duty extends to
confidential information or documents, no matter where they are
stored.
Brokers
must keep transaction files for 3 years after the year a transaction
concluded. Some sales
associates also keep copies of files and documents for their own
use. Current files
should be kept in a secure location. Old files should be
incinerated or shredded.
Taking files to the landfill won’t work – identity thieves
scour landfills for confidential information on a regular
basis.
Many
real estate licensees also keep files in mini storage buildings, and
sometimes brokerages go out of business. If a broker closes his
office, he has a continuing duty to make sure his transaction files
are maintained for the appropriate time and then properly
destroyed.
Let’s
ensure the consumers of Idaho real estate have their personal data
protected from identity thieves! |