(Anti trust, continue) Do not deceive yourself or let anyone else deceive you into believing that any transgression of the antitrust laws has little risk involved. The federal government possesses extensive investigatory powers, such as grand juries and civil investigative demands, as well as ingenious and dedicated investigators. Also, in private litigation, parties have litigation discovery tools to examine corporate or firm records and documents and to compel testimony. Even though an antitrust violator may not keep records, its competitors or the injured parties may. In this age of photocopying, it is difficult to restrict distribution. Unexpected records such as telephone bills, expense accounts, a secretary’s notes, engagement calendars or a forgotten written report may be uncovered. Also, your computer’s hard drive may be the source of potential information even when you think the information has been erased. If prosecuted or sued for antitrust violations, you may be faced with surprise witnesses such as former associates and employees and plea bargainers. Also, an alleged co-conspirator may take advantage of the antitrust division’s leniency program and confess, thus perhaps avoiding indictment, a jail sentence and fines and keeping the tax deductibility of civil damage payments.

Do not use such terms as "Please Destroy When Read", "For Your Eyes Only", "No Copies", or similar terms and phrases. Experience has demonstrated that even if no copies are made, the original of such documents eventually end up in somebody’s file. Even when marked "personal and confidential", the document is usually retained by the recipient and eventually filed. When an antitrust investigation is under way or documents are produced on a civil investigative demand or in private antitrust litigation, such terms and phrases are red flags for the investigator or opposing counsel.

Do not at any time use any of the words and phrases which IAR’s Program for Compliance designates ad dangerous. Since such statements are so dangerous, they need to be emphasized here along with some other similar words and phrases:

their listings."

John Doe; we just don’t show his listings."

Commission."

commission and make a living."

Chairman of the Board

Joe Goodman, GRI

The Holiday Party was terrific! Did you miss it? It was a huge success! Everyone had a good time, North Shore mixed with Barrington and vice versa -- it appears the merger is a success! Don't just take my word for it, ask those who attended!

A special Thank You to Libertyville Bank and Trust, David Luczak, for donating the band. We also want to thank those offices who donated baskets for the raffles:

Congratulations to Carol Santi of Coldwell Banker, Highland Park, on winning local portion of the Dues for 1999.

Again, thanks to all who attended. Let’s do it again next year!

We hope all of you will sign up for the Mini Convention to be held Friday, January 29. Throughout this publication you can find information pertaining to programs at the Mini Convention. We are looking forward to seeing many of our Barrington members.

Communications from the Board

We often hear that you did not receive various publications the Board sends out to you. We will list all of the items that we have sent out in the newsletter. Watch for it and if you did not receive any of the items, please call and we will see that you receive same.

Mini Convention Flyer 1/29/99

December Computer Classes Flyer

Dues Billing

Dues Explanation Flyer

Home Study Course Flyer

Newsletter

Holiday Party Flyer 12/8

Continuing Education brochure Jan.-March

12/5/98

Computer Club Flyer 12/10

Build Your Own Web Site Flyer 12/16

Letter to Manager/Broker re bill Payment

Billing

For those of you who attended one of the C.E. Forums in June, you are probably aware that it is the intention of the Office of Banks and Real Estate to have enforcement personnel out in the field to identify infractions of the law. It is our policy that the board/association monitors make information available prior to any C.E. session regarding continuing education time requirements. This should not be the responsibility of the instructor.

Please make arrangements for the person handling continuing education sessions at your location to notify all attendees that once an instructor has started speaking, no credit will be given if the student will not receive a minimum of 150 minutes of classroom instruction. Your board/association may choose to offer an individual who had an emergency at home study or pass to another C.E. session at no additional cost. If you wish to do so, we will leave that up to your discretion.

Hopefully this will alleviate any further problems regarding who makes the decision of whether to allow credit for someone who has not attended the required time commitment.

Consent Order: Probation; $1,000 Fine; Education

Ethics Provision (Conduct and Record Keeping Sections) and SR1-1(b) and 1-4(b)(iii) of USPAP. Respondent acted as an advocate for his client; failed to maintain appropriate records; committed a substantial error of omission that significantly affected an appraisal report; and, failed to collect, verify, analyze, and reconcile such comparable sales data, adequately identified and described, as available to indicate a value conclusion.

Consent Order: $2,500 Fine; Probation

Violations: Ethics Provision (Conduct Section) and SR 1 and 2 of USPAP. Respondent acted as an advocate for his client; failed to employ methods and techniques that produce a credible appraisal; rendered service in a careless and negligent manner; and, developed and reported an appraisal report in a manner that was misleading.

The value of courage, persistence, and perseverance has rarely been illustrated more convincingly than in the life story of Abraham Lincoln. Did you know that he:

Amanda Gedzyk

By

Lori Lasday, CRB, CRS, GRI

1. Be alert. Prevention is the best defense.
2. Trust your gut instinct. The minute you feel uncomfortable, get out of the situation.
3. Don’t wear flashy jewelry. Dress conservatively.
4. Don’t sit an open house alone.
5. Don’t list your home phone number on your business card.
6. Invest in a voice pager so you are never out of touch with your office.
7. Rent or borrow a cellular phone if you must sit a property that doesn’t have a phone.
8. Meet prospects at your office.
9. Never meet a prospect based only on a phone call.
10. Always take your own car when showing a property.
11. Let potential buyers explore the home by him/herself and follow behind. Don’t go into the basement or confined areas.
12. Leave word with someone in your office of where and with whom your appointments will be.
13. Always meet first time clients at your office.
14. Ask to show ID for sign-in sheets at your office or for open house guest registers. If you have doubts when meeting a prospect, state that it is company policy to ask for identification.

More Safety Tips next month…

Now that AOL has swallowed Netscape what's going to happen? At first blush, I think that AOL, which has been suffering from poor technology, gets a needed boost by implementing Netscape's browser technology. The main hope is that AOL will now have a "real" email service that can converse with other internet users on an equal basis.

I have been emailing to members who use AOL for their Internet access, and listings look great if you have AOL ver 4. Change the font of the listing in your email before you send it, to Courier New. It should look good to whom ever you sent the email to. The following method will print a highlighted, clickable link in an AOL Email for the recipient using AOL. First I list how a hyperlink is typed in regular email. That is you are sending to a person using an ISP and Netscape or MS Explorer email packages. The link will show up in a different color and the mouse pointer will change into a pointing finger on the link text. Clicking the link will send the user to the URL on the Web.

Regular Email link style

http://www.nsbr.org

AOL Email link style

http://www.nsbr.org

<A HREF="http://www.nsbr.org">Click Here</A

The latest "build" or version of PC Access is 4.3. The improvements are mostly for us Compass users. This update should be available by the end of this year (1998). I don't know for sure but we should be able to download the update from the Internet. I saw this version at the NAR convention last month. Emailing via the internet was good and there is a chance we'll get Flyer templates if MLSNI signs on for a license. We'll keep you posted when it arrives.

Please folks, when you log off of the MLS you must do it correctly or else you'll possibly be locked out. DON'T click the "Bye" button" in PC Access. Regardless of the software you use, always use <F8> to log off. If you find that you can't login because you get a message that says, "You're all ready logged in on another computer" call MLSNI to RESET your ID. Call MLSNI at 1(630)955-2755.

Due to problems I've seen with brand new Hewlett Packard PC's, I am no longer recommending them. I am back to my firm belief that anything but a mail order PC is trouble. IE: Gateway, Micron are the only computers to buy. The one exception is laptops. Toshiba makes a good laptop and appears to still support their equipment. We recommend you call CDW at 847-465-6000. Our contact at CDW, Rolando, no longer works there so you're on your own but I still think they are the best local store to try. Remember, Computer City closed. I called that event two years ago because their service was so poor. Don't underestimate service.

I no longer recommend Dell computers because they want to discontinue their support and are going after the business market. Support is a big deal to everyone and if Dell cuts back on their support I can't in good conscious recommend them. If you really want Dell I suggest you get in writing that they will answer your phone questions after one year. A couple of Realtors bought Dell lately and they told me that phone support now can be had for an additional fee.

By the way, At the NAR convention in California last November, the only computer maker that had a booth was Gateway. Seems they like Realtors.

Microsoft launched their much-feared foray into online real estate in mid-July. The site is WWW.homeadvisor.com. Microsoft wants Realtors to believe that they are a "Realtor friendly" site. Do check out the site because your customers are going to know about it. You should be familiar with it so that you can help the customer find truly helpful information using your services instead of being manipulated by a self-serving monopoly.

Some agents still don't know that MLSNI has made a change to the old mode of "Withdrawn". This is the status of a listing that is temporarily off market but still under the control of the listing agent. The new status name is the more sensible, TEMP, short for "temporarily off market"

If you need to change the status to TOM the mode name is TEMP.

As reported last month I spent a good deal of time at Moore's booth at the NAR convention in Anahiem. I was trying to see if the MLS Explorer software would work for MLS access via the Internet. I have been trying it for the past three months and there are problems. It's slow but that may improve. My main complaint is that the printing is a mess. Moore showed me that printing worked fairly well on their site in Atlanta. Granted, MLSNI is only testing the software so I'm keeping an open mind. Printing form MLSNI via the Explorer is still a mess.

The advantage of using this software is that it works with YOUR Internet browser. That means that either Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape's Browser will connect to the MLS. So if you're on the Internet then you're ready to go. The interface takes some getting used to, but you can download to a spreadsheet automatically which is nice if it worked for MLSNI. It worked great for Atlanta's MLS. For traveling Realtors, who spend time in other parts of the country, if your ISP is national then you have local phone access to MLSNI regardless of where you are in the country.

As of this writing, Moore may also allow us to use PC Access via the Internet. We'll let you know when that happens.

Another hot item at NAR was digital cameras. Boy they were everywhere. I think next year is the year that sees 35-mm film really start to fade. The key to buying a digital camera today is to make sure that you get a "megapixel" camera. That means that the quality has over one million bits of info per photo and the quality is very good. Close-ups of faces or interior house shots look great and print just as well.

These high quality cameras now start at about $500 and go up as high as you like. The key again is "megapixel". There are lots of ways to get the photo from the camera to the computer. The most popular is with a supplied cord. Sony does offer their Mavica camera that uses a regular floppy disk but the quality is not quite as good as others

The following information was obtained from Mr. Michael F. Bonamarte, Supervisor for Highland Park. Effective 10/29/98, Deerfield Township changed it’s name to

"Know The Neighborhood" Presentation

Holly Hedlund, BeautiControl

Image & Coloring

1. Agent Session with Kim Daugherty

2. Financial Planning & Investing with Christopher McCurdy & Karen Ueberwasser of Harris Bank

3. Managing Risk with Chris Eigel, CRS, GRI, VP & General Sales Manager, Koenig & Strey

1. " Real Estate Investing 101" with Paul Wells

2. "Go Digital!" with Pictureworks Software & Kodak Camera

Wellness

3:45 PM Raffles...plus Attitude Adjustment...Frank’s Place/ Northbrook Hilton

We mentioned an office address change but had the incorrect company name. Century 21 North Limited has moved to 1336 Shermer Road, Northbrook, 60062. Sorry for the typo.

Gold & Azen Realty

Coldwell Banker, Glenview #3970

Landmark Real Estate

Century 21 Shoreline

Prime Realty Group

Century 21 Shoreline

Suzanne Han – Realty One, Inc.

Anton, Kochis & Boothe

Prairie Shore Properties, Evanston #3145

Coldwell Banker, Deerfield #3910

Bradbury, Romey, Egan

Century 21 Jay C. Realty

Century 21 Jay C. Realty

Coldwell Banker, Highland Park #3640

Coldwell Banker, Glenview #3970

Koenig & Strey, Inc., Northbrook #3770

Reinstatements

L. Q. Needler and Co.

Landmark Real Estate

Coldwell Banker, Glenview #3970

The Preferred Realty Group

Coldwell Banker, Highland Park #3640 (Romanek Properties, Ltd.)

Leonard Golden – Re/Max Villager (Re/Max North Suburban)

Mary Ann Golden – Re/Max Village (Re/Max North Suburban)

Yuriy Kadukov – Prime Realty Group,Inc. (Gold & Azen Realty )

Mary M. Siegele – Baird & Warner, Highland Park #3104 (Coldwell Banker, Highland Park #3610)

Koenig & Strey, Glenview

Stuart Berry – Baird & Warner Residential, Inc., Glenview #3120

Koenig & Strey, Lake Forest #3750

Re/Max North

Lorenz Garcia – Farnsworth Hills

Coldwell Banker, Lake Forest #3950

Irene Groebner & Associates

Irene Hasdan – Gold & Azen Realty

Daniela Iliev – Baird & Warner Residential, Inc., Glenview #3120

Juanita Kraft – Baird & Warner, Highland Park #3104

Randy Larusso – Coldwell Banker, Northbrook #3940

Milton Leeds – Coldwell Banker, Highland Park #3960

Joanne Hagee Matik – Koenig & Strey, Inc., Glenview #3740

Julie Miller – Coldwell Banker, Northbrook #3940

Valerie Ornstein – Coldwell Banker, Glencoe #3630

Lois Rogatz – Koenig & Strey, Inc., Northbrook #3770

Heidi Simon – Baird & Warner Residential, Inc., #3106

Bea Taylor – Baird & Warner, Highland Park #3104

Alisa Weese – Koenig & Strey, Inc., Glenview #3740

Nina Mitkevich – New World Realty, 4905 Louis Street, Skokie, 60077.

Nina is the broker. She is in the business of residential real estate.

Bruce Real Estate Brokerage has changed its name. The new name is North Shore Preferred Properties, Inc. All other information remains the same.

The Coleman Group, Inc. has moved. Their new address is 2523 Woodland Drive, Northbrook 60062. All other information remains the same.

Fields Realty & Management, Inc. has moved. Their new address is 114 Dupee Place, Wilmette, 60091. Their telephone number is (847) 251-8350.

Irene Groebner & Associates has closed.

3 mandatory credit hrs. Lori Lasday, CRS,CRB, GRI Class 9:00am - noon., Northbrook

3 mandatory credit hrs. Marilyn Glazer, CRB, CRS, GRI Class 9:00 am - noon. , Northbrook

3 elective credit hrs. Marilyn Glazer, CRB, CRS, GRI Class 1:30-4:30 p.m., Northbrook

3 elective credit hrs. Carol Lindstrom, GRI Class 1:30-4:30 p.m., Northbrook

3 elective credit hrs. Terese (Terry) Penza, RCE, CAE Class 9:15 -12:15 p.m., Northbrook

3 mandatory credit hrs Lynn Madison, GRI, ABR (Barrington Library, 505 N. Northwest Hwy.) Class 9:30-12:30 p.m.

3 mandatory credit hrs Lynn Madison, GRI, ABR (Barrington Library, 505 N. Northwest Hwy.) Class 1:30-4:30 p.m.

3 Mandatory Credit hrs. Lori Lasday, CRS, CRB, GRI

Class 9 am - noon, Northbrook

3 Mandatory Credit hrs. Kerry Kidwell, CRB, CRS, GRI

Barrington Library, 505 N. Northwest Hwy.

Class 1:30-4:30pm

3 Mandatory Credit hrs. Lynn Madison, GRI ABR

Class 9:15 am - 12:15 pm., Northbrook

11 – Showing Property: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly RB 771 3 Elective Credit hrs. Lynn Madison, GRI ABR

Class 1:30 - 4:30 pm., Northbrook

15 – Intro. To Computers & the Internet for the Real Estate Industry RB 788 3 Elective Credit hrs. Dan Dlhy

Class 1:30-4:30 pm., Northbrook

Home Study includes cassette tapes and work sheets. Appointments must be made to take the course exam. Fees: NSBAR members - $40.00; IAR members, non-NSBAR members $50.00; non-IAR members - $60.00

Mandatories: 3 Credit hours each

AGY 449 Buyer Agency: It’s Not As Easy As It Looks - Marilyn Glazer, CRB,CRS,GRI

FH 305 Fair Housing - Bob Cichocki

FH 327 Aspects of Discrimination - Marilyn Glazer, CRB,CRS,GRI

LL 110 Agency, Antitrust and License Law - Stephen D. Bochenek

LL 119 All About Personal Assistants - Kim Daugherty

Electives: 3 Credit hours each

ENV 1229 Lead Paint Disclosure – It’s the Law - Marilyn Glazer, CRB,CRS,GRI

FI 1109 Creative Financing - Marilyn Glazer, CRB,CRS,GRI

Learn at home or office, wherever there’s a computer. Or, by appointment, use the computer here at our office. Call Lori at the Northbrook location, for a copy of system requirements to run the CD, and to reserve the course for use. (847) 480-7177.

Fees: NSBAR members - $32.00; IAR members, non-NSBAR members - $42.00; non-IAR members $52.00

Mandatories: 3 Credit hours each

AGY 463 Agency: Buyer, Seller, or Both - Bruce Adyt

FH 316 Fair Housing and Real Estate - Lynda McKay

Electives: 3 Credit hours each

RB 730 Environmental Hazards and Selling Real Estate - Laurence Hillman

ENV1236 LeadSmart™ Homes - Rick Fletcher

Jan. 14 Grievance B - 9:30 am

Jan. 20 IAR Professional Standards Workshop --

Arlington Heights, Registration 8:15am

Jan. 20 Commercial/Investment Forum 9:00 am

9:00-11:30am Pre-requisite: Must know how to use a computer mouse & have experience w/Windows 3.1/3.11

Pre-requisite: NONE! Come to learn the very basics about the Internet

* Classes are $39.00/each. Classes are "hands-on" taught by Charlie Nunemaker at our Northbrook location. Call Barbara for more information at 847-480-7177.

Don't forget! Jan. 29: 11^th Annual Mini Convention

If Real Estate is your Profession…

Politics is your Business!!

by Senator Phil

Senator Phil

We’re between the election and the swearing-in of new and reelected legislators. Not much of importance to our business is going on. This morning’s (12/8) NAR Legislative Network starts with the announcement that there are no active Calls-to-Action at this time.

Next year looks like an active one for REALTORS^®. A major effort in the Congress will be made to pass some kind of flat tax. Retaining the mortgage interest will be high on our list. Make a New Year’s resolution to (1) increase your RPAC contribution and (2) call JoAnn Eddy at the Board office and tell her you want to join the contact team.

Happy Birthday

Paul Axelrod

Constance Browne

Barbara Byrne

Anthony Danielak

Nancy Heiser

Sook Y. Kim

Cheryl S. Lettvin

Ethan I. Lewis

Ann Phillips

Jeraldine Schmidt

January 2

Mary Dallas Cole

John W. Gard

Richard A. Giese

Suanne Rayner

Susan F. Schwartz

Morton Whyte

January 3

Sa Han

Michael Mileykovsky

Barbara J. Redszus

Barabara Roseman

January 4

Toby Aronstam

Carol Rogulski

January 5

Virginia Balonick

Marjory Barnum

Kathleen Benoit

Aysen Civelek

Chris Clifford

Leslie Forman

Lenna Gelfond

Peggy Glickman

Nancy Mills

David Soifer

Pauline Squire

Mary VanScoy

Harriet Wulfstat

January 6

Deann L. Cohick

John Meehan

Carol Shoop

January 7

Phyllis Hollander

Beaty Nathan

Jerry Neighbors

Judith L. Newton

Pat Somers

Rachele Wright

January 8

Mary G. Crovetti

Emelie Lechtenberg

Jon M. Leverenz

Rebekah R. Riordan

January 9

Dori Bell

James R. Bond

Donald P. Davis

Susan Labow

Terry Penza

Perry M. Pierce

January 10

Betty Barnes

David L. Dyer

Steven C. Friedman

David Kogut

Everett Sandler

Darab Shahabi

Rosa Sukhman

January 11

Jean Burow

Delores Grigsby

Sue Hertzberg

Barbara Kucera

Susan Lagoa

Virginia MacDonald

Candy Papousek

Mary Schreibstein

January 12

Barbara Cohen

Michele B. Levine

Georgia S. Pierini

Frances Salvi

Gene Schuster

January 13

Leonid Eyber

Sheila Feinerman

Paul Jacobson

Mae Javid

Ed N. Koenig

Elizabeth Mirza

January 14

Linda R. Bradley

Inna B. Gashpar

Jisuza Ha

Gregory Opelka

Nikki Owens

James J. Passalino

January 15

Linda B. Antokal

Eugenie L. Cooper

Thomas R. Hair, Jr.

James D. Hemphill

Gwen Kukla

Nancy Kunz

Lillian Sherman

January 16

Ann Fitzgerald

Boo Y. Jang

Joanne Kahn

January 17

Phillip Bentley

Mary E. Borgstrom

Elyse A. Fisher

Cristina Loria

Donald Saltzman

Deborah Scully

Frederick Townsend

Helen Wolter

January 18

Denise B. Cooper

Suzy Sim Hong

Deborah A. McClain

Pauline Neophitos

Allie Payne

Louise Pomeranz

January 19

Beverly Harter

Joanna Luxem

Cornelia Steffes

Jean Wright

January 20

Monica Balder

Donald A. Behnke

Debra M. Coe

William G. Ehlers

Paula Michaels

Michael Schneider

Janie Westenfelder

David Zeller

January 21

John Dragic

Carolyn McLaughlin

James Park

Linda D. Pettit

Clifford Sears

January 22

Michael Bloom

John C. Bohan

W. Wickliffe Kelley

Judy Lowe

Steve Molitor

Melissa Spring

Michael Zakin

January 23

Stephanie Guilmenot

Jane Powell

Kathleen Pyle

Leslie Raugstad-Brown

Marilyn Sandt

Patricia C. Sullivan

January 24

Gene Fidelman

William K. Nash

January 25

Laurel Kay Ellwein

Lorry Friedlen

Judith Hara

Coleman Joyce

Lilly Pavkovic

Nicholas G. Powers

Francine Shapiro

Donald R. Stein

Khanna Youkhana

January 26

Martha Egan

Charlotte L. Hahn

Darush Mabadi

Avi J. Markowitz

Kate Winburn Smith

Brian A. Steigman

January 27

Margaret Baas

Carole J. Kathe

Anne Mullarkey

Lev Novoseletsky

January 28

David Monatelli

Bernice Sadkin

Joan Sedlacek

January 29

Bryan Pepper

Bettye Raglin

January 30

Don Bishop

Linda Kramer

Sue Nekritz

January 31

David Barros

Sol Klipstein

Barbara Pluschkell

Gilbert Poppenhagen

Ruth Tuzson

Joan Ushkow

Dona Ziegler