Business meeting:
Approve the October minutes: Jim 1st, Joe 2nd
Treasurer’s report:
- Members can start paying their 2026 dues anytime.
- The current balance in our account is $864.81.
- Katie will reach out to the Elks to find out the rates for 2026 and book our dates.
- No outstanding expenses or income that I’m aware of right now.
Old Business: None
New Business:
Officer nominations:
There is definitely a need for this organization to stay vigilant in interacting with the city, especially with things like the building and maintenance code. Jim doesn’t want the appearance of a conflict with his role as the city auditor. Our trustees are Tom Ross and Russell Cunningham, but we’re supposed to have 3. If anyone wants to be the third trustee, let us know.
Slate of officers:
- President – Ryan Moninger
- Vice president – Jim Staschiak
- Secretary/Treasurer – Katie Erickson
Motion: 1st Jim, 2nd Jamie
The vote was unanimous.
Legislative update: There’s a meeting on Friday, so Tom Miller will have more updates after that. He shares more at the Tuesday lunch meetings. (If you’re not on that email list, let us know and we’ll connect you.)
HB 553: People were interpreting this as landlords have to give an extra 90 days to evict someone. Tom’s perception is that if a landlord lets someone go 60+ days without giving them written notice that they’re behind on their rent, then they have to give 90 days before filing at the courthouse. This would apply if the landlord is not letting the tenant know officially how much they owe. This probably won’t apply to the landlords in our group. It often takes years for legislation to pass. It is an election year next year; Ty Mathews (614-466-3819) is our representative, so call him and see where he stands. Or call Jim Hoops (614-466-3760) since he’s running for senate next year, make sure he’s not supportive of it.
Motion to adjourn: 1st Jamie, 2nd Tom
Next meeting: January 13, 2026
Guest Speaker: Jordan Stock, VP of RCR Technology Group
He’s the Vice President of RCR Technology Group at E Sandusky & East St; they provide managed IT services. They monitor networks and equipment for small businesses and stay proactive with people’s cybersecurity. They are checking for backups and watching for vulnerabilities. They also have a help desk, where people can create a ticket for a problem they’re having.
They deal with a lot of compliance measures – lawyers, doctors, CPAs, wealth management, insurance agencies, local government, etc. – places where a “big brother” is always checking on them.
FTC Safeguards Act was passed in 2023. Small businesses that take any money from any people and store any personal information now need to meet compliance measures. Fortunately, landlords are not getting audited in these processes. If something were to happen, we could be liable for that. This was brought up at the federal level because of car dealerships and the personal info they gather, and no one was regulating that.
A lot of landlords also get personal information from prospective tenants. They want to know what you’re doing with the information and how you’re storing it. You’re “safe-ish” if you do this all on paper and keep it in a filing cabinet. Some systems out there that you may be using are secure.
Cyber threats – email
Email is the #1 threat out there for any small business, especially when you have employees (other than yourself). You need to be careful what you’re giving them access to. Jordan’s own Facebook got hacked a few years ago, even though he has multi-factor authentication. He created his Facebook in 8th grade and didn’t put any security protocols on his Hotmail account. Once a hacker got into that email, that was key to a lot of accounts. Email is the key to everything!
If you have a company behind your rentals (LLC, S-Corp, etc.), consider getting a business-licensed email so you can use multi-factor security. Gmail has some security measures, but since they’re ad-based and free, they owe you nothing. They really don’t care about your information. But when you use a business email, that can be backed up better. It can be pretty cheap – $4/month. For just a little more per month, you can get OneDrive or Google Drive. Once you share files with someone on a free storage service, it’s theirs, and they can do whatever they want. You can track things if you have a business plan.
Be aware of phishing scams and other schemes. Landlords do business with individuals, and emails could look legitimate but aren’t. Be cautious of clicking links in emails like that; you can get ransomware attacks through that. Even worse is the scheme where you call someone and give them access to your computer. If someone you’re doing business with gets hacked, you can easily get scammed by that, and if you’ve unintentionally paid someone else, you are liable for that. If anything looks even slightly suspicious, reach out and call them to verify!
Computer security:
Windows security is good enough if you have Windows 11, at least for personal computers. Some businesses need AI security agents that watch for potential threats. He does not recommend other anti-virus software (Norton, AVG, etc.); just use Windows Defender. Make sure you activate your Windows Defender if it doesn’t activate automatically. Other products aren’t bad, but they’re an expense, and they eat up your computer memory.
Apple is completely locked down from virus threats. Windows is open source, meaning anyone can write software for it. Apple does not allow that, which keeps it safer. Macs are less likely to be compromised. They’re also safer from attacks because they’re not as popular, so they’re not as big a target for hackers. Chromebooks are even safer, but they’re also a lot more limiting for software.
When RCR opened in 2010, they started as a computer repair store for anyone. They had to change that model because computers got cheaper but more difficult to work on. Most people just buy a new one rather than fix one.
What does an ideal setup look like for a family rental business?
They would each have their own devices, and they would use Microsoft 365 licenses with a registered business domain. They would share files via OneDrive/SharePoint. They would install an anti-virus and anti-ransomware agent that also backs up to secure cloud storage. It will automatically update your computer. They would also install web filtering to protect you from typos that attack your computer. Install multi-factor authentication on their email so that it texts their phone with a code every time they log in. If they have an office location, install a firewall. It’s a box that goes next to your modem to make sure that only approved people are allowed to access the network. Firewalls can be as cheap as $300-400. You can also hire RCR as your managed IT services.
Watch for the locked padlock in the web address bar that shows they’re a legit website with a security certificate.
RCR’s clients do get hacked, and when it happens, they can quickly fix everything.
A big part of the FTC Safeguards bill is what’s your plan if you were to get hacked? Attacks can be big or small. Have something written as a plan.
What if I lose my phone?
Make sure you have a passcode on your phone. You can also set up an extra layer of security on financial apps. That’s the easiest way to keep your information safe. Beyond that, you can install Mobile Device Management (MDM). It comes with Microsoft 365 Premium, and you can install it on all your devices, and you can remotely wipe your devices, so no one can access any info on them.
Online payment options – which is the best?
Zelle is a banking service, while Venmo is independent. Zelle is the safest because it’s connected to specific banks rather than being a 3rd party service.
How long will Windows 10 be maintained? What’s too old?
Windows 10 is too old. On October 14, Windows 10 officially “died.” Microsoft is no longer updating that operating system. If you have Windows 10, eventually (in a few months), things will start breaking.
Your computer needs to have certain specs to upgrade to Windows 11. It needs to have at least an 8th-generation processor (made in the last 4-5 years). If you try to upgrade, your computer will either let you or it will tell you your computer can’t handle it.
Backing up to physical flash drives is great and safe, but you have to be diligent about it, and it’s a painstaking process.
How should we dispose of old electronic devices?
To be completely compliant, go to a company that does device recycling. There is no one locally who does this; RCR uses a company in Michigan. They physically destroy your hard drive and give you a certificate of destruction. Factory resetting a device is generally just fine, and Best Buy will recycle it for you if you buy a new computer there. With old hard drives, you can run a strong magnet over them or drill holes in them. But new hard drives are SSD, so they don’t have the physical moving parts.
The University of Findlay has a great computer repair shop. IT’s called 3C Computer Repair, but it’s student-run (overseen by a professor), so the hours are weird.
Reach out to Jordan with any further questions.
Jordan Stock, jstock@rcrtg.com, 419-721-6963