In The Know

- Keeping you informed is what it's all about

The 2013 Annual Title Administrative Surcharge is Coming Up

Subsection 624.501(27)(e)2, Florida Statutes, requires any title insurance agency licensed in Florida on January 1 of each year to remit an administrative surcharge of $200 to the Florida Department of Financial Services. Therefore, we are reminding all title agencies that the 2013 administrative surcharge due date will soon be approaching. Any title insurance agency licensed in Florida on January 1, 2013, will be emailed an invoice a few days afterward to the agency's email address on file with the Department. To ensure you receive the invoice and avoid failing to pay by the January 30 due date, please log in to the MyProfile account for your title agency and make sure the correct email address is on file. While doing so, we also recommend you do the same for your individual MyProfile account. Failure to pay the surcharge on or before January 30 will result in administrative action and/or a fine of $500, in addition to the original surcharge. To assure that your payment is properly credited, please return all invoices covered with your check.

Testing and Fingerprinting at Pearson VUE Locations

If you ever go to a Pearson VUE testing site to take an examination or get fingerprinted, there are some requirements you should know ahead of time. You will need to provide two forms of signature identification at the time of your reservation. One must have a photo and be issued by a government agency, e.g., driver's license, military identification card, passport, etc. Also, you should not bring family members, guests, pets or others to the Pearson VUE site at the time of your reservation. If you do arrive with additional persons not associated with the reservation, you may be turned away.

Keeping Your Clients' Confidential Information Confidential

We'd like to remind licensees that many business equipment machines, particularly digital copiers and fax machines have hard drives - like the one on your personal computer - which can contain large amounts of data and images with sensitive and confidential information about your clients (social security numbers, bank account numbers and other financial information, medical records, medication histories, etc.). Obtaining the equipment's hard drive could be the one thing someone aiming to commit identity theft needs. We highly suggest that you make certain confidential information is destroyed or scrubbed before selling or returning the equipment to a leasing firm. Many of the major manufacturers offer security or encryption packages on their products. Please protect yourself and your clients.