Reminder! Shred Your Documents!

Transaction Desk allows us to be a little bit "greener" with the ability to go paperless. But we want to warn you to be careful when you begin to get rid of all that paper containing sensitive information, such as client social security numbers, loan information, etc.

In 2005, The FACTA Act (Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act) was put into place by the Federal Trade Commission.  This Act is to protect consumers from identity theft and requires that any association that is governed by the FTC is required to follow this rule.  This includes the REALTOR® organization.  The Act stipulates requirements for information privacy, accuracy and disposal of consumer information collected.  Which (in layman's terms) means that you are required to destroy (shred) this paper before you stick it in the trash can. If you are REALTOR®, then you must follow this act or risk being fined by the FTC.  These fines are $2,500 by Federal for each violation and $1,000 by State for each violation.  Ouch!

Therefore, this blog post is serving as a reminder. If you are putting all of your real estate transactions into Transaction Desk and getting rid of the paper in your office, then this reminder is to make sure that you are properly disposing of these documents.  Happy Shredding!