Three town hall meetings drew 60 RAHB members for updates on the upcoming RAHB GMM, Scout Remediation and the CREA Futures Initiative and for discussion about the proposed RAHB dues increase.
The town hall meetings took place in Waterdown, Stoney Creek and Dunnville on April 18 and 19. RAHB President Cameron Nolan, Membership Area Representation Committee (MARC) chair Tom Peddle, President-elect Bruce Moran and RAHB CEO Ross Godsoe went to the community meetings to talk about current issues and field questions from members.
Scout Remediation
What is “Scout Remediation” and what is it remedying?
Scout Remediation is the process undertaken to ensure security protocols are being followed by all MLS® users. As part of Scout for SAFEMLS, Scout Remediation detects users who are -contrary to RAHB Rules and Regulations – sharing their access codes, or “login credentials”, as Scout for SAFEMLS refers to them.
RAHB’s MLS® Rules and Regulations very specifically state that a member’s access codes “are for the Member’s sole and exclusive use and their sale to, distribution or disclosure to, or use by any other person is prohibited.” The Rules and Regulations further go on to say that “[p]ersonal computer access codes are the sole responsibility of the Member and disclosure to anyone is prohibited.”
Clearly, login credentials may not be shared with anyone.
Because members sometime require their assistants or office managers to do research for them, assistants and office managers have their own login credentials to access MLXchange and Fusion. They are subject to the same rules as members- they may not share their access codes with anyone.
One of the features of Scout, RAHB’s new authentication system, is that it can identify users by the patterns established by, among other things, the user’s keystrokes, service provider, login location, computer hardware ID and operating system they use to log in to MLXchange and Fusion. From that and other information, Scout identifies when the user has logged on and when someone other than the user has logged on using the same access codes. The program stores and analyzes the data over a period of time and produces reports that flag users who are definitely sharing their login credentials and those who are suspected of sharing.
Using the information compiled by Scout, RAHB is now working with members and other users of MLXchange and Fusion to bring them into compliance with the RAHB Rules and Regulations. This is done through a series of steps that make members aware that their login credentials are being used by others and if they are sharing their codes, they must stop. The intent is to have members understand they may not share their codes and they must at all times ensure they are logging in and out of MLXchange and Fusion in a way that others cannot be using their accounts.
There are a number of steps to the process, and users are left with no doubt as to what is required of them. Members who go through the process but continue to share their access codes will face significant consequences: their access to the MLS® system will be suspended and they will face investigation by the Professional Standards Committee and possible discipline by the Discipline Committee.
Check out what’s new on the CREA Futures Initiative!
CREA presented a report, Organized Real Estate Collaborative Strategy: Map to the Future, at the March 25 Annual General Meeting, where delegates supported the directions set out in the report.
The report laid out the four strategic focus areas to be addressed, the goals in each area, suggested objectives and proposed actions to achieve the goals and objectives.
Read the report at http://futuresavenir.realtorlink.ca/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Futures_Map-to-the-Future_2012a.pdf#view=FitV (or go to CREA’s page in REALTOR Link® and use the “Map to the Future” button on the right hand side of the page).
Read what other REALTORS® across the country are saying about the CREA Futures initiative – go to http://futuresdiscussions.realtorlink.ca/ (or go to CREA’s page in REALTOR Link® and use the “Discussion our Future” button).
More discussion is also taking place on CREA’s LinkedIn page – join the group and take part in the discussion.