Today’s Blog will focus on the state of Georgia. Brokers in Georgia are required to retain transaction records for three (3) years according to the Georgia Real Estate Commission. We found the law in case you wanted to see it for yourself  http://rules.sos.state.ga.us/docs/520/1/10.pdf

In summary, the laws state that Brokers who must keep copies of documents include:

(a) any broker identified in a sales contract, brokerage engagement, closing statement, lease, or other document related to a real estate transaction;
(b) any broker firm that participates in the negotiations involving a sales contract, brokerage engagement, lease, or other contractual document related to a real estate transaction; and
(c) any broker required to maintain a trust account.

The law also states that copies of documents and other records which Brokers are required to maintain may be maintained in ANY records storage system that utilizes paper, film, electronic, or other media provided that:

(a) the licensee can produce true and correct copies of such documents and records and

(b) copies of documents and records can be made available to an authorized representative of the Commission upon reasonable request and at reasonable cost to the Commission.

OK, so now we know the lay of the land for the record retention requirements on Brokers in Georgia. What’s interesting is the statement above in bold…”in ANY storage system….” because this clearly gives Brokers options. We’ve created a video that outlines the disadvantages of some of the traditional ways you might have tried to store your data http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M43reV3ZqJw and also provided a suggestion for online backup. Here’s why…with Filetwin Online Backup, you get everything you need so you can stop worrying about data retention. Our software runs automatically at scheduled intervals. Our software stores data as long as it’s required to be stored (3, 5 even up to 15 years!). You can provide any authority a true copy of any record almost instantly. Remember this…the law specifically stated “at a reasonable cost to the Commission” meaning they’re willing to assume a cost to ask you to produce your records. Well imagine if it didn’t cost you anything yet you could add a reasonable cost for your efforts.

Frankly, this is the first time that we noticed such a stipulation in a regulation – so Georgia Brokers should capitalize on this because online backup might actually make you some money!! The traditional forms of media storage will cost you time because you’ll have to spend time looking through boxes or CDs but with our online backup service, these files will be at your fingertips anytime and anywhere.

If you’d like to continue this discussion in person, please feel free to contact one of our U.S. based customer service representatives at 1 877 310-2884 who’ll be glad to answer any questions you might have.

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Today’s Blog will take a different approach to helping you evaluate different providers on online backup services. We’re so sure that our service far exceeds that of any other online backup service that we’re providing a link so you can compare for yourself http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_online_backup_services. Now, we’re not listed on this chart so here’s our breakdown:

• You’re able to backup Windows desktops, laptops and servers.
• You can backup Linux.
• You can backup MacBooks and Mac servers.
• You get business grade encryption that’s computationally infeasible to crack.
• You’re able to store as much data as you need (notice the chart speaks in MB but we think more along the lines of GB and TB)
• You can choose from various plans that suit your needs and budget.
• You get unlimited bandwidth when you do backups.
• You can backup to a network drive or NAS device.
• You get version control which automatically detects changes to new, deleted or amended files.
• You can access your files from anywhere because we offer a secure environment to store and retrieve your documents.
• You can ask for us to send your data to you on an external drive or CD / DVD (and we won’t charge you like some of the others will).
• You can rest assured our servers are located in the United States.
• You can try the software for free for 30 days if you want.

So now that you’ve had a chance to compare apples to apples, it’s pretty obvious that we offer similar features in our product, however, what distinguishes us from the rest is our level of customer service. We’re so confident about this statement that we encourage you to call our offices at 1 877 310-2884 and find out for yourself. Give us a call and we’ll be happy to clearly answer any questions you might have.

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There are times when marketing and advertising throw terms around that can cause some confusion. Personally, we think unlimited online storage needs a bit of clarification.

Unlimited means that there is sufficient room in a data center to hold any amount of information you choose to backup. Often, online backup providers will charge for the storage you consume but they make any amount of space available to you.

We use the term in our trial promotion by saying FREE 30 Day unlimited trial. Some other providers will limit the storage space you can consume during their trial periods, however, we don’t think that’s an accurate way to “test-drive” a service. Sometimes we see providers offering 2 GB of space??? If you look at your iTunes library, you’ll see you probably have more than 2 GB in music. So what are you really testing in a limited trial? Not much. That’s why we offer you the ability to store your entire backup set during our trial.

We’re confident you’ll see how easy the software is to install, how simple the backup process is (because it’s automatic – you don’t do anything) and you’ll experience the feeling of peace-of-mind begin to settle in. One of our customers told us… “Now that I use your software, I’m not so worried about my PC crashing anymore”. We love to hear this because that means she feels the security our product offers. Obviously, the data is highly encrypted and therefore secure, but the sense of security that our product delivers is probably something you’re likely to experience on a daily basis.

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