If you are an avid follower of our blog, you already know that the information we at Filetwin aim to provide, although a bit boring, is a necessity for doing business.  Today we discuss record retention requirements for the Apple Blosson State, Arkansas, corporate home to global business giant Wal-Mart.  It is relatively easy to find a retention schedule for veterinary records or tax records for Arkansas.   However, it’s somewhat more challenging to pinpoint how long Brokers should retain documentation for real estate transactions.

We did manage to find a reference on page 56 of this book:  Arkansas Real Estate Basics, from Dearborn Financial Publishing, 86 pages, available on Amazon.com.   “Brokers should retain copies (of executed instruments) in their files for at least three years”, at least being the operative words here.

As good journalists, we did some fact checking and went directly to the source, the AREC.  Well, also because we didn’t see the need for you to spend $208.51 on the paperback version.  Not having much luck deciphering the Arkansas Real Estate Commission (AREC) website, we resorted to old-school methodology and put a call into the AREC main office in Little Rock, 501-683-8010.  A very helpful clerk at the Investigations Department, did indeed confirm that Broker Records must be retained for at least the three year period, referencing Page 64, Section 10.4, Law and Regulations:  Broker Responsibility (2010 version).   Further research brought us to page 12 of the Arkansas General Records Retention Schedule Procedural Handbook, which suggests that “land title and real property records”, because they have historical value, should be included in the Permanent Records category, known in layman terms as the do-not-destroy category.  Digging deeper still, the table on page 15 denotes that Legal Records, that is any document of legal importance, should be retained at least 3 to 5 years.

Regulatory requirements for records retention is serious business.  Whether you are a global giant like Wal-Mart or a local real estate broker, we can help your company stay in compliance.  Our Back-up Specialists are ready to answer your questions.  Call us at 877-310-2884 for a no-cost evaluation of your back-up needs.  Filetwin, because you need two.

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Most brokers are required to maintain a complete record of real estate transactions. All moneys received or escrowed on real estate transactions, including the sources of the money, the date of receipt, depository, etc., are required to be maintained for a period of three (3) to five (5) years.

There really isn’t a range per se. Each State’s Real Estate Commission has a different period of time they impose. For example, in Florida, the FREC requires brokers to retain files for five (5) years, whereas in Colorado, their Commission only requires four (4) years.

To help out, we’ve created what we think is the most comprehensive directory of Real Estate Commission web sites across the U.S. Find your state below and click on the link to be taken to your state’s web site regarding rules and regulations of record retention.

Generally, this is where you’ll find out how long your state requires you to retain files. Telephone numbers are included on these web sites, so if you don’t find the information in a timely manner, just call their office. We found the average wait time to be about 8 minutes :-/ but when we called a few offices and asked if a broker could store information digitally, the response was “Yes” – as long as the records could be produced in a timely manner.

Regardless of the length of retention your state requires, Filetwin can retain files as long as you need us to. We like to think that once you make the decision to install Filetwin, you’ll find that you’ll satisfy the intent of any Commission’s Rules & Regulations.

Alabama – http://www.arec.state.al.us/

Alaska – http://www.dced.state.ak.us/occ/prec.htm

Arizona – http://www.re.state.az.us/

Arkansas – http://www.arec.arkansas.gov/Pages/default.aspx

California – http://www.dre.ca.gov/

Colorado – http://www.dora.state.co.us/real-estate/

Connecticut – http://www.ct.gov/dcp/cwp/view.asp?a=1624&q=276076

Delaware – http://dpr.delaware.gov/boards/realestate/index.shtml

District of Columbia – http://www.pearsonvue.com/dc/realestate/

Florida – http://www.myfloridalicense.com/dbpr/re/frec.html

Georgia – http://www.grec.state.ga.us/

Hawaii – http://hawaii.gov/dcca/real

Idaho – http://www.idahorealestatecommission.com/

Illinois – http://www.idfpr.com/dpr/re/REALEST.asp

Indiana – http://www.in.gov/pla/real.htm

Iowa – http://www.state.ia.us/government/com/prof/sales/about.html

Kansas – http://www.accesskansas.org/krec/

Kentucky – http://krec.ky.gov/Pages/default.aspx

Louisiana – http://www.lrec.state.la.us/

Maine – http://www.maine.gov/pfr/professionallicensing/index.shtml

Maryland – http://www.dllr.state.md.us/license/mrec/

Massachusetts – http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=ocaconstituent&L=2&L0=Home&L1=Licensee&sid=Eoca

Michigan – http://www.michigan.gov/dleg/0,1607,7-154-35299_35414_35475—,00.html

Minnesota – http://www.state.mn.us/portal/mn/jsp/content.do?subchannel=-536881389&id=-536881352&agency=Commerce

Mississippi – http://www.mrec.ms.gov/

Missouri – http://www.pr.mo.gov/realestate.asp

Montana – http://bsd.dli.mt.gov/license/bsd_boards/rre_board/board_page.asp

Nebraska – http://www.nrec.ne.gov/

Nevada – http://red.state.nv.us/

New Hampshire – http://www.nh.gov/nhrec/

New Jersey – http://www.state.nj.us/dobi/division_rec/index.htm

New Mexico – http://www.rld.state.nm.us/realestatecommission/index.html

New York – http://www.dos.state.ny.us/licensing/re_broker/re_broker.html

North Carolina – http://www.ncrec.state.nc.us/

North Dakota – http://www.realestatend.org/

Ohio – http://www.com.ohio.gov/real/

Oklahoma – http://www.ok.gov/OREC/

Oregon – http://www.oregon.gov/REA/index.shtml

Pennsylvania – http://www.parealtor.org/content/

Rhode Island – http://www.dbr.state.ri.us/divisions/commlicensing/realestate.php

South Carolina – http://www.llr.state.sc.us/POL/REC/

South Dakota – http://sdrec.sd.gov/

Tennessee – http://www.tn.gov/commerce/boards/trec/index.shtml

Texas – http://www.trec.state.tx.us/

Utah – http://www.realestate.utah.gov/

Vermont – http://vtprofessionals.org/opr1/real_estate/

Virginia – http://www.dpor.virginia.gov/dporweb/reb_main.cfm

Washington – http://www.dol.wa.gov/business/realestate/realestatecommission.html

West Virginia – http://www.wvrec.org/

Wisconsin – http://www.drl.state.wi.us/

Wyoming – http://realestate.state.wy.us/

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