TECHNOLOGY
Photo credit: Jaslyn Thorne
Akash Sablok
Spring Tech! in keeping with the Real Estate Council’s objective of protecting the public by ensuring they remain well informed at every step of the process,” said Greg Dent, creator of ReallyTrusted.
ReallyTrusted App for REALTORS®
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he ReallyTrusted App is a made-in-BC technology solution designed to make some of the paperwork of being a real estate agent easier. Originally designed to assist agents with handling the Real Estate Council of BC’s Disclosure forms, ReallyTrusted recently launched a module to assist with agents’ FINTRAC obligations, too. In all cases, the App assists the REALTOR by asking for the minimum information necessary to create the form, causes the completed form to be emailed to the agent’s client (when a signature is needed), and then ensures that the form is returned in a timely fashion to both the agent and his or her brokerage. “I wanted to be able to create these forms in a way that didn’t interrupt my workflow any more than necessary, and I wanted to make sure that I did so in a way that remained
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Indeed, the emails I received when I sent myself the disclosure forms using the App were well written, professional, and provided an easy way for me (as the consumer) to sign the forms. Greg explained that the app is designed so that whether or not I sign the forms, my agent and his or her brokerage would have been emailed back the form in a timely fashion.
The ReallyTrusted App is available on the Apple App Store, Google Play store, or by going to https://app. reallytrusted.com. As easy to use as the disclosure forms were, the newest part of the App is the part that first got my attention. Using any smartphone, an agent can now scan a Driver’s Licence, answer four quick questions, and the App emails a complete FINTRAC ID record to the agent and the brokerage. It took me less than a minute to complete the Canadian Real Estate Association’s standard 4-page FINTRAC form, despite my not being familiar with the form previously. “Agents appreciate that there’s much less handwriting to do when you can just scan a barcode—a fact BC Notaries Association
that also results in complete data at FINTRAC audit time, but, the really interesting piece for a brokerage comes when you realize that we can now automatically flag when a transaction’s risk profile changes.” Indeed, having software supporting a brokerage’s FINTRAC compliance program makes a lot of sense when Greg started talking about the real-world challenges faced by brokerages. “If two agents are working with the same client at the same time on different properties, it’s entirely possible that neither agent knows that. FINTRAC not only expects the brokerage to be aware of that, however, but to treat the relationship with that person differently as a result. Without software flagging that for a compliance officer, I think it’s extremely likely that would be missed.” The ReallyTrusted App is available on the Apple App Store, Google Play store, or by going to https:// app.reallytrusted.com. An annual subscription for an agent costs $79.99 and is available monthly for $7.99. Brokerages interested in licensing for the entire brokerage can contact Greg through the App, too. Volume 29 Number 1 Spring 2020