You are currently browsing the monthly archive for July 2017.
Criminals continue to hack email accounts and many are targeting REALTORS® and their clients. This scam is especially alarming in the Bay Area because home prices are high, inventory is low, and buyers are trying to close deals quickly because of the competitive market.
According to a recent news report, the email of a REALTOR® was hacked by criminals who had monitored the REALTOR®’s correspondence with her client. When it came time for the client to wire the remainder of the down payment to close escrow, the hackers sent an email message from the REALTOR®’s account to her client telling them to wire the money to a fraudulent account. Luckily, the amount was off and the client called the REALTOR® to verify the amount.
REALTORS® and their clients need to be on high alert for email and online fraud. The Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® is asking REALTORS® to follow and share with their clients these prevention tips issued by the National Association of REALTORS®:
- Immediately contact all parties to all of your upcoming transactions and inform them of the possibility of this fraud. Attorneys, escrow agents, buyers, sellers, real estate agents, and title agents have all been targeted in these scams. You can also download and distribute NAR’s online fraud prevention handout, accessible here.
- If possible, do not send sensitive information via email. If you must use email to send sensitive information, use encrypted email.
- Immediately prior to wiring any money, the person sending the money must call the intended recipient to verify the wiring instructions. Only use a verified telephone number to make this call.
- Do not trust contact information in unverified emails. The hackers will recreate legitimate-looking signature blocks with their own telephone number.
- Never click on any links in an unverified email. In addition to leading you to fake websites, these links can contain viruses and other malicious spyware that can make your computer – and your transactions – vulnerable to attack.
- Tell your clients that if an email or a telephone call ever seems suspicious or “off,” that they should refrain from taking any action until the communication has been independently verified as legitimate.
- Clean out your email account on a regular basis. Your emails may establish patterns in your business practice over time that hackers can use against you. In addition, a longstanding backlog of e-mails may contain sensitive information from months or years past. You can always save important emails in a secure location on your internal system or hard drive.
- Change your usernames and passwords on a regular basis, and make sure your employees and licensees do the same.
- Make sure to implement the most up-to-date firewall and anti-virus technologies in your business.
Today more than one-third of all Americans are minorities. In fact, in California 43 percent of families speak another language at home other than English. You can maximize your earning potential by learning to work in Silicon Valley’s culturally diverse market. Enroll now in the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) At Home With Diversity® certification course which SILVAR is offering on Monday, September 18, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
This six-hour course taught by NAR certified international instructor David Wyant will teach you how to access and analyze demographic data to assess cultural attributes in your local market; how to attract and serve multicultural and international clients; and how to develop a business plan to address specific needs of those clients.
Earn the confidence of your potential buyers and obtain the At Home With Diversity certification. You will also obtain a pin and logo to add to their website and business card.
Cost of the course is $110 for members and non-members. Registration is on a first-come first-served basis. Register at ims.silvar.org or call SILVAR at (408) 200-0100.
Join “Learn to be a Leader,” a workshop that will help develop and enhance your leadership skills in real estate and in your community. The leadership workshop will be held on Thursday, September 7, from 9:30 a.m. (check-in) till 3:30 p.m. at SILVAR. The workshop will include guest speakers and the National Association of REALTORS® Leadership 200 Program, which will be facilitated by Steve Francks, RCE, CAE, CEO of the Washington Association of REALTORS®.
Steve Francks is an innovative leader recognized for his contributions on a regional and national level and has served as 2011 National Association of REALTORS® (NAR) Association Executives Committee chair. Francks is a NAR Leadership Program facilitator. He will be facilitating this interactive course that will prepare you to assume greater leadership responsibilities within your association and beyond.
The following special guests will share their leadership experiences:
Linda Lee is a 2011 graduate of the NAR Leadership Academy and holds various leadership positions at local, state and national levels – as president of Greater San Diego Association of REALTORS®, state secretary and 2015 president of the Women’s Council of REALTORS® California chapter and NAR national chair of Conventional Financing and the lending policy committee. Lee is also NAR’s President Liaison to China.
Joe Simitian is a Santa Clara County Supervisor who represents the Fifth District, which includes Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Saratoga, Stanford, and portions of Sunnyvale and San Jose. His public service includes stints as a member of the California State Senate and California State Assembly, mayor of Palo Alto, and president of the Palo Alto School Board. He served as an election observer/supervisor in El Salvador and Bosnia. His community involvement includes service with Adolescent Counseling Services, Acterra, Leadership Mountain View, and the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.
At the leadership workshop you will learn to:
• Develop your leadership style
• Participate effectively in meetings
• Learn conflict resolution tools
• Develop strategic planning skills
• Manage risk
This leadership workshop is being coordinated by SILVAR’s Global Business Council and is open to all real estate professionals. Cost, which includes lunch, is $25 for members and $40 for non-members. There is limited seating for this course, so register today at ims.silvar.org, or call SILVAR at (408) 200-0100.
Silicon Valley’s economy is booming, but pockets of poverty exist. Non-profit agencies that provide housing and support services to the low income and homeless say despite the region’s economic prosperity, they are seeing more families and youth in need.
“Life can change suddenly for anyone. When crisis hits, things happen and a family can become homeless,” said Kohinoor Chakravarty, director of Development and Communications for West Valley Community Services (WVCS).
At a meeting held in the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® (SILVAR) office in Cupertino, Chakravarty said the agency, which serves underprivileged families and the homeless in Cupertino, Saratoga, West San Jose, Monte Sereno and Los Gatos, provides 672,380 pounds of food to low-income and homeless families and $167,829 in emergency assistance for rent, utilities and deposits. Its food pantry provides 1,223 individuals with groceries, household items, diapers and personal care items. The agency also has special programs that help families during the holidays and school year with holiday food baskets and shopping spree, its backpack program and back-to-school event, which helps over 100 children shop for clothes for school.
WVCS has also opened food pantries in De Anza and Foothill colleges for about 200 students who are homeless, with no food or place to live. “High rents forced their families to move out of the area, but these students chose to stay because they know finishing their education is the only way to get out of the cycle of poverty,” said Chakravarty.
Marie Bernard, executive director with Sunnyvale Community Services, told REALTORS® that homelessness and hunger in Santa Clara County are exacerbated by skyrocketing rents. One-bedroom apartments are renting for $2,542 on average, and two-bedroom apartment rents average $3,228.
“For many families, it’s a choice of rent over food,” said Bernard.
Like WVCS, SCS is the first stop for families seeking help. Last year, the agency helped 7,991 low-income residents, a 16 percent increase from 2015. The agency has also extended its help to the Alviso area, where there are many people who are underserved and families whose homes are red-tagged because their utility bills are backed up for six to eight months.
“Keeping people fed and housed is the best economic investment our county can make,” said Bernard. She said while it costs to feed and help the poor, it would cost more if the county did not provide the help.
Chakravarty and Bernard said the non-profits cannot provide their services without help from residents who volunteer to help sort the food and distribute them to needy families. Local grocery stores donate food to their food pantries.
“Without volunteers uniting behind us, we cannot do this work. You can make it happen because you are our community,” Chakravarty told the REALTORS®.
SILVAR’s Cupertino/Sunnyvale District, through the Silicon Valley REALTORS® Charitable Foundation, has donated $750 to West Valley Community Services. The donation will be used to purchase backpacks for WVCS’s Back-To-School Backpacks program. Pictured above with the big check are Cupertino/Sunnyvale District tour director Mark Burns with Chakravarty.
Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS® says ... 