dollors

A Message from our President

March will be our last meeting of the year. We have had only 15 renewals and the board decided to suspend operation for the rest of the year. The Oakland REIA has started a group for advanced investors and I am encouraging all DOLLARS members who want to meet with experienced investors to give the Oakland Group a try. They are just starting up their advanced sub group so in all fairness we should give them a couple months and see if it is a forum that our members enjoy. Since DOLLARS is suspending they will be meeting on the 3rd Thursday of the month. Check out their web site at REIA of Oakland.com.

I want to remind everyone of the Institute of Real Estate Management Annual Trade Show on March 18th. It is held at the Burton Manor on Schoolcraft in Livonia. It is a good place to find vendors that cater to the rental property business. The show is free.

Our meeting this month will be an open format. This is the time to get your questions answered by the other attendees. I want to hear from all as to what worked and didn’t work for you last year, what you learned from last years experiences, what problems you are having now, and what course of action you are taking now. The open format meetings are where we learn the most.

Since this is the last meeting I would really like to see all past and present DOLLARS members this Thursday.

SEE YOU ON THE 19th.
Don

business

After a year of delays, the Federal Trade Commission’s new FACTA Red Flags rules that have caused great fear and confusion among small and medium businesses, are in effect as of November 1, 2009. The FACTA Red Flags rules will require millions of businesses (large and small) that grant credit to establish and implement identity theft safeguards for customers. This could include auto dealers, jewelers, furniture companies, health care companies, mortgage brokers, doctors, dentists, equipment leasing dealers and suppliers of various types — many of which are still unaware of the looming compliance issues.

The FTC itself has admitted the confusion caused by the FACTA law’s broad scope that has spawned great uncertainty over what businesses are covered, and what they must now do to comply. In short, the new rules require covered businesses to create a process for detecting so-called “Red Flags” in identity verification, such as :

• Discrepancies in address history
• Fraud alerts on credit reports
• Suspicious use of Social Security numbers
• Inactive accounts that suddenly become active
• Credit-freeze notifications
• Credit reports with suspicious activity patterns
• Notices from identity theft victims or law agencies, among others.

These so-called red flags are supposed to be an indication to your business that the person applying for credit may not be who they say they are. The rules are mandated by the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). These are the four basics of what a covered business must do:

• Develop and follow a clear verification process that helps spot and avoid identify theft;
• Create a written policy outlining your process;
• Apply your process to daily practices in your business;
• Follow your process in each transaction where credit is pulled, or where other credit file data is accessed.

Where to Get Help

The FTC’s Red Flags Web site, www.ftc.gov/redflagsrule, can help you determine if your business is covered, and what you’ll have to do to comply. It includes an online compliance template that lets you design your own Identity Theft Prevention Program through a fairly easy online form, as well as articles directed to specific businesses and industries, guidance manuals, and a FACTA Red Flags FAQ. Also check the FTC’s FACTA compliance How-To Guide for Business (PDF)

FACTA’s definition of “creditor” includes any business that regularly extends or renews credit – or arranges for others to do so – and includes all businesses that regularly permit deferred payments for goods or services. Accepting credit cards as a form of payment, however, does not, by itself, make you a creditor. “Financial institutions” include entities that offer accounts that enable consumers to write checks or make payments to third parties through other means, such as other negotiable instruments or telephone transfers.

Microbilt (www.microbilt.com), a leading provider of risk management information to small and medium businesses, has created a special FACTA Red Flags Center website, which features compliance information and a Red Flags Hotline that lets you submit specific questions about the new rules by email. Microbilt’s main Red Flags solution, called Red Shield, is designed to help with the more difficult front-steps in the compliance process. It analyzes the likelihood of identity fraud and provides a “Pass” or “Fail” grade. Those given a “Pass” grade are automatically guaranteed against fraud for up to $25,000.

Two other firms offering Red Flags compliance help, information and training include CompliancePal.com and CreditTechnologies.com. And be sure to check the special link for small business on the FTC’s Red Flags Rule website for further guidance.

Related posts

• ID Theft Prevention Rules Impact Small Biz
• Fearsome New FACTA Red Flags Rules Will Impact Small Business
• Feds Delay FACTA Red Flags Rules Again
• FACTA Fright is FTC Halloween Red Flags Trick

TRADE

The plight of innocent victims of human trafficking for sex has moved filmmakers enough to make movies addressing the issue. The last two in recent memory that I've watch are Your Name is Justine, and Lilya-4ever, both which put the spotlight specifically on the characters created, highlighting the abuse they receive and exposing some of the tricks that the conmen exploit in order to target and thereafter control their prey. Given that the viewpoint of the entire unfortunate ordeal from the perspective of the victims have been portrayed, and is easy and turning the same wheel if done again, Trade takes on a more macroscopic look, while still maintaining a finger in a more personalized tale, in order to ramp up the human drama and emotions.

While the other two movies mentioned take place primarily in Europe, Trade highlights a more international network involved in the supply chain, where increasing amounts of money get exchanged for women and children to feed the demand by perverts and paedophiles. While having its premise for the demand set in USA, it goes to show that the unfortunate victims come from all over the world, and suggests the use of Mexico as the proxy to get into the USA illegally, no doubt with the help of corrupted authorities. From then on, it's an established hush-hush protocol of transfers and transactions that take place in the most unseeming of places, and naturally technology comes to play in anonymous bidding on the internet.

Primarily, this story is a race against time, following a young Mexican boy, Jorge (Cesar Raoms), in his chase to rescue his sister Adriana (Paulina Gaitan) as she gets abducted randomly off the streets - being a young child, she is set to obtain record prices should she be auctioned off to be deflowered. While Adriana gets to enter USA through already established methods by the syndicate, Jorge has to rely on his street smarts, and unwittingly gets hooked up with US cop Ray Sheridan, played by Kevin Kline, who assists in Jorge's quest under moral circumstances rather than deporting Jorge straightaway for being a stray.

Like a buddy cop movie, Trade also looks at the unlikely partnership between street delinquent and tough nose cop with the heart of gold, as they try and penetrate the system, while leaving room for some clash of cultures and slightly comedic instances. The unfortunate circumstance of the victims are again getting a shiner in order to be subdued, and of course the weapon of choice, rape. And the movie results in you silently cursing the worst for those involved in the trade, and never sympathizing an iota with them when they receive their dues.

Technical wise, someone should tell the filmmakers that password fields are always asterisk, never in clear text, even the dumbest website programmer won't make that mistake. One of my other peeves here was the decision not to mount the camera on a tripod. While it's not the extreme kind of shaky cam like Cloverfield's, it did bring on some queasiness given the very minor movements, all of the time. I don't see the need for this, and wondered if it's because it might look cool and edgy with the fast cuts and all that the tripod was junked, wrongly.

Based on a New York Times Magazine article published on 25 Jan 2004 written by Peter Landesman, Trade offers to strike a balance between painting a picture of sympathy for the victims and disgust for the perpetrators. Unlike the other movies which has come before, Trade managed to spin a somewhat refreshing look at the worldwide sex slavery problem.

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