FL - Oops! Glitch cancels Realtor licenses, records Noelle Haner-Dorr Staff Writer

ORLANDO -- Imagine Poul Hemminger's surprise when he received a letter from the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation telling him his real estate license had expired and had been inactive since December 2000.

In 2001, Hemminger was one of Windermere-based Main Street Realtors Inc.'s top sales associates with more than $3.3 million in sales.

Hemminger is just one of an unknown number of Florida's more than 250,000 licensed Realtors who are encountering problems with their licenses.

The reason: A computer glitch in the department's new database is wreaking havoc.

Some Realtors have been informed they have two active license numbers, never have been licensed at all or are licensed to work in more than one real estate firm -- which is illegal.

Hemminger was among the lucky ones. Others found out only when they went to renew their licenses.

"I hear about this stuff all the time," says Dick Fryer, president of IFREC Real Estate Schools Inc.

Compounding the problem is the recent restructuring of the department's call center and operational systems. They've been consolidated in Tallahassee. But Realtors say the call center isn't up to snuff yet. When Realtors call about their licenses, they cite excessive delays and call center information that turns out to be incorrect.

"People are answering the phones in Tallahassee who don't know what is going on," says Fryer. "That call center is a nightmare."

Old problems At the heart of both problems is the reengineering of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's database and operational systems. The two-part project has been underway for the last year.

According to Lonnie Parizek, a department spokesperson, the department's old way of doing business wasn't working anymore.

For one thing, the technical systems it was working on were antiquated. In fact, the department's divisions were working off of 65 different systems statewide, some of which were more than 20 years old. "We couldn't find people that still worked in the languages some of the systems used," explains Parizek.

There were other problems. Many of the department's operations, such as license application processing and customer service, were spread out all over the state. This made for duplication of efforts and inefficiencies.

As a result, the department embarked on a system overhaul.

A custom database system was created for the department to house all the state's licensing data.

To date, more than 350,000 licensees have been transferred onto the new system, including real estate, parimutuel wagering, construction, certified public accounts, asbestos consultants, building code administrators and inspectors, electrical contractors and harbor pilots.

Ideally, the new system enables licensees to go online to apply for or renew their licenses, as well as check the status of their applications.

At the same time, the department pooled its resources and centralized its customer service call center in Tallahassee. All customer service calls initially are routed to Tallahassee now.

The state projects the new system and restructuring will save taxpayers between $73 million and $93 million over the next 10 years.

"This is an exciting improvement," says Buddy Johnson with the Florida Real Estate Commission. "It's the first technological advance of this caliber in the country, and it's really a top-flight, customer service-driven license servicing system."

In fact, the department's database recently was honored by the Computerworld Honor Program for being one of the top 75 most innovative projects of its type in the world.

Growing pains Still, both Parizek and Johnson admit there have been growing pains with the new system.

According to Parizek, there was a minor problem for 90 Realtors during the most recent license renewal period. A glitch in the system charged the Realtors late fees for not renewing their licenses on time, even though they had renewed their licenses within the state's given timeframe.

For the most part, however, Realtors may not find out there is a problem with their license until they try to renew it.

"There is no way for the department to know what happened with each individual license unless they go through the entire database and check every record individually, and that isn't feasible," points out Fryer.

"Unfortunately, if Realtors are caught in a situation where it appears they don't have a license, it's their responsibility to prove otherwise," says Kevin Fritz, vice president of communications and marketing for the Orlando Regional Realtors Association.

But Johnson remains optimistic about the new system.

"Any time you undertake a project of this magnitude, you will have problems," he concedes. "We still have a few wrinkles to iron out, but we're making headway."

http://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2002/04/22/story4.html

-- Anonymous, April 23, 2002