If you’re a real estate broker in the Hawkeye State, you are required to retain your records for a period of five (5) years according to the Iowa Professional Licensing Bureau

We found the Administrative Rules (Chapter 193E for Real Estate Brokers and Salespersons) which clearly outlines the rules that pertain to record retention. Review the Iowa Real Estate Commission Rules in this PDF document and scroll down to page 71 for Rule 193E-13.5(543B).

In summary, every broker must retain, for a period of at least five years, true copies of all:

• business books
• accounts, including voided checks;
• records;
• contracts;
• closing statements;
• disclosures;
• signed documents;
• the listing;
• any offers to purchase;
• and all correspondence relating to each real estate transaction that the broker has handled and each property managed.

The files, records, and other documents required by this chapter may be stored in electronic format for convenience and efficiency in a system for electronic record storage, analysis, and retrieval. Given that’s the case, then Filetwin is a great solution because we specialize in online backup for regulated businesses.

A.    A record required by this chapter may be retained as an electronic record only if the record storage medium can be easily accessed and the records can be readily retrieved and transferred to a legible printed form upon request.

B.    The scanning or electronic generation of a record must be monitored to ensure that the copy is clear, legible and true before the original is destroyed.

C.      Once the original record is transferred to the appropriate electronic storage medium, the commission no longer requires the retention of the record in its original medium. If the above process if followed properly, electronic records are considered the same as originals.

The records shall be made available for reproduction and inspection by the commission, staff, and commission authorized representatives at all times during usual business hours at the broker’s regular place of business. Even if the brokerage closes, the records shall be made available for reproduction and inspection by the commission, staff, and commission–authorized representatives upon request for five years.

If you’d like to continue this conversation in person, please feel free to contact one of our Backup Specialists who can answer and compliance related questions at 1 877 310-2884.

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011

Today, we focus our blog about online backup on the state of Louisiana and particularly on the real estate industry. If you are a real estate broker in Louisiana, you are required to retain most of your administrative files for a period of five (5) years according the Louisiana Real Estate Commission.

If, we’d like to say that their web site was one of the easier sites to research record retention rules. Here is a link the actual PDF you’d want to review if you needed to find out more http://www.lrec.state.la.us/pdf_files/46v67.pdf.

Given that there is concern about the flood waters and we are about to enter into hurricane season, we think people living in the Pelican State should seriously consider online backup for their electronic files. Watch our short video that describes the benefits of online backup versus traditional storage media.

Since we know everyone is cost conscience right now, here are a few points that address the financial aspects of online backup:

1. You DO NOT have to invest in major capital expenses. You’ll just receive a monthly bill for the storage space you use.

2. If you have a Blackberry, iPhone or HTC smartphone device, you’re probably paying as much monthly for that phone as you would to backup your entire real estate form – just to draw an immediate comparison most people will understand.

3. Filetwin is a U.S. based company with ALL of our customer support specialists located here in the United States. We don’t profess to be the cheapest option on the block, but our outstanding customer support skills WILL DEFINITELY become noticeable to you if or when you experience a data loss due to natural disaster or human error.

If you’d like to learn more about how our company can help you, please contact us directly at 1 877 310-2884 and one of our Backup Specialists will be pleased to assist you.

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011

Today our blog focuses on the State of New Mexico. According to the New Mexico Real Estate Commission if you are a broker in New Mexico, you’re required to retain your records for three (3) years. We always include the actual regulation itself because we know our readers often need to see the actual research itself. So, if you need to see the law, then click on this link http://www.nmcpr.state.nm.us/nmac/parts/title16/16.061.0023.htm and scroll down till you see section 16.61.23.9 on Record Maintenance.

Three years isn’t that bad. Most external hard drives would probably suffice. So what’s the advantage of using an online backup service? And what’s the advantage of using Filetwin? Two good questions, so here’s our answers:

1. Online Backup turns a manual process into an automated process. Right now, you have to remember to do the backup – and this is where most problems stem from – people forget to do the backup and that’s when your files will decide it’s time to get corrupted. With online backup, the process happens automatically. Now, this might not sound like a big deal, but once you get to see the software in action, and see that it does what it’s supposed to do, all your data is safe and you DON’T HAVE TO DO ANYTHING. There are many other virtues to online backup but this is the most popular we keep hearing feedback on.

2. Why Filetwin? Because we focus on regulated businesses. We don’t charge absorbent pricing to help you during an incident of data loss. We’ve hear story after story about low cost online backup providers who, once an incident happens, tried to charge a client $300 to help them restore their data. Ya see – there’s always a catch when a service charges under $10 to safeguard your critical digital files. Would you feel safe if the bank where you stored your jewels locked up the front door with a padlock??

In summary, Filetwin knows your industry. We know how to deal with customers in distress. In fact, we train our Backup Specialists in Escalated Customer Service Strategies so they’ll remain on-the-ball when crisis hits your company or office. To continue this conversation in person, please feel free to contact us at 1 877 310-2884. All of our Backup Specialists are located in the U.S. and we also offer bi-lingual speaking Customer Service Representatives.

  Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011