Archived News Items
REALTOR® Alert! Rental scam in beach areas
SDAR was notified of a rental scam taking place in the beach areas including La Jolla, Pacific Beach, Mission Beach and Ocean Beach. Someone has obtained the lockbox access codes for combination lockboxes located on vacant rental properties. These are not SentriLock lockboxes, but simple combination lockboxes that can be obtained from retail stores. With a list of properties and lockbox combinations in hand, the scam artists list the properties for rent on Craig’s List, show the property, take a deposit and then take off with the deposit money.
Steps that can be taken to limit this type of activity are:
Use SentriLock lockboxes on your rental properties. They require a keycard and a PIN to access them. Never give out your keycard or PIN to anyone.
If you must use a combination box, do not share your combinations with anyone and do not put the lockbox combination in your advertising – especially not on Craig’s List. Do not use the same lockbox combination on all of your combination lockboxes.
Important information about business tax notices
The City of San Diego has been sending a Notice of Tax Liability (NTL) to individuals reporting business activity to the State Franchise Tax Board using a City of San Diego address. Some real estate agents have received these notices despite not having received them in the past and despite the fact that their Broker already pays a fee on their behalf.
According to the Office of the City Treasurer, current policy exempts real estate agents from the Business Tax assessment. If you receive an NTL, contact the City Treasurer’s office at (619) 615-1500 and ask that your account be cancelled. If you are an agent who has formed a corporation and received an NTL, you should call the above number and ask that your account be placed “under review” until they determine whether the existing policy applies to an agent-formed corporation. For more information on the City of San Diego’s Business Tax Certificate, click here.
SDAR’s Government Affairs Department is following this issue closely and will be working with the proper city officials to make sure that such fees are not unfairly targeting real estate agents. If you are an agent and have received an NTL, please contact SDAR. If you are a Broker and your agents receive these notices even though you already paid a tax on their behalf, we would appreciate hearing from you as well. You may e-mail Government Affairs or call (858)715-8026.
C.A.R. Tech Hotline discontinued as of April 1
The C.A.R. Tech Hotline has been discontinued as of April 1, 2007. However, assistance for WINForms® product-related inquiries is available through the C.A.R. Customer Contact Center at (213) 739-8227 or RE FormsNet at (586) 840-0140. RELAY® product-related inquiries should be directed to (586) 840-1168.
WINForms® does not currently work with Windows Vista™
WINForms® Desktop and WINForms® Online do not currently work with the new Windows operating system, Vista™.If you plan to use WINForms® on your computer, we encourage you to wait for an updated version of WINForms® that is compatible with Vista™.
If you have or are planning to purchase a new computer with Windows Vista™ software, it will not work with WINForms® until a new version is released.
The software developers at the California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.) are working to find a solution, and we will keep you informed.
Internet Explorer 7 & SANDICOR
If you wish to upgrade your Internet Explorer to version 7.0, it is safe to do so. You can also turn back on your Automatic Updates, which is going to install the 7.0 Browser update for you unless you choose to not allow it to run. More
'Eye on the Hill' Newsletter from NAR
To contact the California Association of REALTORS® (C.A.R.) Executive Offices (213) 739-8200 C.A.R. Legislative Offices (916) 444-2045
To contact the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) (800) 874-6500
To access the SDAR 2006 News Archive, click here