Home Inventory Awareness Month Week 3 Reminds Property Owners to Protect Home Inventory Reports

May 14, 2012 - PRLog -- Week Three of Home Inventory Awareness Month (HIAM) reminds Property Owners that having a current Home Inventory is the first in several crucial steps to safe property ownership. A Home Inventory  is the equivalent to a shopping catalog of the items in a property. Not only do these reports state the location of an item, proper Home Inventory reports also includes value, age, condition, full description, and photos of all identifying marks.

Having Home Inventory is not enough...property owners must take every possible step to protect Home Inventory reports. Otherwise, the reports could be used to assist unscrupulous wrongdoers use these reports for their own gain.

If compiled on-line, Home Inventory information must be entered and stored on a secure site with encrypted storage and strong password protection. It is highly recommended that prior to using any on-line Home Inventory program, every attempt to hack or ‘cheat’ the program should be made. As always, passwords should be random, difficult, and strongly protected.

If compiled off-line, Home Inventory information must be protected and securely stored. Never store reports in plain sight or where easily found or accessible. A back-up copy of Home Inventory reports should also be given to a trusted family member or friend in another geographic region.

Members of The Inventory Institute urge homeowners to "not be victimized twice...first by the disaster or robbery, and second by their inability to file an inaccurate claim." May was named Home Inventory Awareness Month by The Inventory Institute in 2010 as a way for the ethical members of the third-party Home Inventory profession to collectively work together for the simultaneous advancement of the profession and protection of property owners. The Inventory Institute provides resources, tips and strategies online at http://www.InventoryInstitute.info.

The Inventory Institute provides credentialing, industry standards, uniform education, and a vehicle for peer review and communication for Home Inventory Professionals. The Institute also educates the public on the need for Third Party Home and Business Inventory and how to find qualified, insured professionals. The Inventory Institute was founded in 2009 after learning that 40% of Home Inventory Professionals throughout the country claimed to be licensed when there was no industry license in any state.

The Inventory Institute: educating consumers, setting standards, raising the bar, for the Industry.