The statistics have been broken down by individual counties and compare January through June totals from 2002 though 2009.  Residential and Condo property types are included.

With the continued value the WRIST Directors have brought to the WRIST MLS, we have noticed an increase in security related issues. The major cause for these issues revolves around non members gaining access to the data. This affects every paying member in a number of ways;

1. Our bandwidth allowance is based on our current reported membership. The more members we have, the more bandwidth we purchase from Marketlinx. When there are non members accessing the system, our membership is forced to share less bandwidth and experience slowness within the system.

2. Non members who access the MLS have a competitive advantage over the membership that pay for the same access.

3. The MLS is a membership based organization. There is information within the system that is confidential to members which adds value to using a Realtor.

We assume that the majority of these security violations have been brought about by members accidentally allowing others to gain access to their password. Therefore, WRIST will be forcing the first password change in thirteen years.
The forced password change will take effect on August 25, 2009 and will be very easy for the membership to execute. The system will automatically lead the user through some quick steps before granting access. Should you forget your new password, the next time you log into the system you can easily click the “forgot your password” button on the login page, follow the steps and the system will automatically E-mail you your password.
This password change will also assist WRIST with the application of security software that monitors password abuse. This software can track unique hardware, IP address and log in attempts, making it very easy to highlight password abuse. Since allowing others to use your password is an automatically assessed fine of $1,000.00, you can understand why it’s vital that we wipe the slate clean, so to speak.
Please call the WRIST office if you have any additional questions regarding this matter.

WRIST recently received notice that a hotfix will be applied to MLXchange on Tuesday, August 18^th.This release will happen in the morning and should be completed by 10:00 am. If you try to log in between 7:00 am and 10:00 am, you could be denied access. Once the hotfix is applied, a few of our members may be asked to apply an Active X control to proceed (you’ll see an information bar with a blue shield up in the left corner). If you’ve not been asked to install the Active X files in the past after an upgrade, then most likely this will not affect you.

As always, if you’re having problems logging in, please contact WRIST for assistance.