As we attempt to become a valuable resource to real estate brokers across the U.S., we’re exploring various states and their record retention requirements. Today, we’re reviewing the state of New York. Here’s the link to a pdf that outlines the laws and regulations http://www.dos.state.ny.us/licensing/lawbooks/RE-Law.pdf. If you look at the first page, you’ll notice that it was updated in January 2011, so we’ve found a current resource document. Hats off to New York for being so efficient.

Section 175.23 outlines how a licensed broker in New York state must keep records for three (3) years for each transaction they are involved with. In comparison to other states we’ve researched; that’s about half what others require. Connecticut requires brokers to hold records for seven (7) years. Interesting how adjacent states have a pretty large gap in their real estate regulations.

Given that three (3) years is on the low end of the retention scale, it would seem that record retention is something brokers have to pay attention to if they are storing records as hard copies in boxes. Brokers would need to be good document managers because with a three year lifecycle, you’d almost always be worried about making new storage space or destroying old records.

We recommend going digital and digitizing your office because most documents are born digital anyways. If you have hard copies, scan them. This way you free up office space, you can manage your records easily because you get an automatic life-cycle management meter that’ll TELL YOU when a record reaches the end of it’s life-cycle with you. Much easier than shuffling cardboard boxes around.

Basically, if you want to satisfy the intent of the real estate license laws in New York, give us a call at 1 877 310-8224.

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Filed under: Business Backup • Business Compliance • Data Regulated Industries • Real Estate Commission • Storage Solutions

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