The REAL ID Act has been a long time coming, and now that it is here, Merrill Chandler takes you into a deep dive into understanding the facts and fiction about it. He talks about the important things you need to know and whether it matters or not. Merrill drops right into a complete review of what the REAL ID Act is and the workarounds that exist. Gathering from his experience, he then shares some of his own stories that describe what it does. Know more in this episode.

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The Real ID Act

What You Need to Know…And If It Matters

I am thrilled to be able to go over a huge deal that’s coming upon us like a freight train. That’s the REAL ID Act. We’re going to go over facts and fiction about the ID Act. We’re going to drop right into a complete review of what the REAL ID Act and workarounds that exist. I’ll show you some of my own stories. First and foremost, the REAL ID Act has been a long time coming. Since the Patriot Act after the 9/11 tragedy, everybody wanted to be able to have a single trustworthy identification. That never happened. The REAL ID Act, there are still workarounds. Let’s go through each one of the things that we’re talking about and do a deep dive into what the REAL ID Act is about. First of all, the REAL ID Act is defined as the minimum-security standards for state-issued driver’s licenses. It isn’t a high level. It’s not even a medium level.

They’re saying you need to have these minimum verifiable facts about this human being whose picture is on the ID. Every state has had different abilities to verify who the person is walking up in the DMV line. In my experience, all the GetFundable Bootcampers, the Funding Hackers, my clients that are out there, everybody who’s read my book, we’ve explored what it means to have a PB ID, a Personal Borrower Identity. Does that personal borrower identity start with what’s possible to put on this ID? Usually, it’s a state driver’s license.

Here’s what’s fascinating. Part of this is there are some important restrictions. The REAL ID Act is asking every state to verify that your identity, the state-issued driver’s license represents a residence, not a mailbox, a UPS store, a Kinko’s, a commercial mailbox, a PO Box but an actual residence. Clients, students or otherwise, some people would come up and say, “That’s a problem because I’ve been at this particular commercial mailbox for years.” Case in point, so am I. As we’ve discussed in previous episodes, I’ve been approved for a business line of credit and a corresponding business credit card from Wells Fargo to the tune of $75,000 between the two of them using my commercial mailbox address. I’ve had it for many years. I’ve been grandfathered when it comes to the state driver’s license and when it comes to all of my creditors. I have longevity at this address.

People who are coming in brand new and if you’re trying to do your PB ID and use a commercial mailbox or a Post Office Box, which I tell you not to do, but if you try and do it, what happens is you are brand new. The greatest loss of dollars for lenders is not bankruptcy and not default on a loan, charge officer or otherwise. It’s a fraud. This fraud is what lenders are trying to stop from happening. 95% or more of all fraud has been a result of addresses using, let’s say, Merrill Chandler and I’ve been moved to a commercial mailbox. That commercial mailbox, UPS store or otherwise, they’re able to make applications and collect those credit cards and charge things up in my name. As I’ve described before, the bureaus over the last 24 months have underwriting software from lenders, FICO, everybody’s identifying that you’re using what’s called a commercial mail receiving agency. Those are the mailbox centers, the UPS stores, the Federal Express, etc.

The REAL ID Act is designed to make sure that people live somewhere, so they are truly identifiable because, in the tragedies we’ve had in our country, numerous times, a commercial mailbox, a UPS store or otherwise was used to establish an identity for the people who are on the 9/11 jets that destroyed our New York and the Pentagon, etc. These individuals gained residency using these commercial mailboxes. For political and safety reasons, the REAL ID Act supports the Patriot Act about having a complete of a name from your birth certificate or otherwise on your driver’s license. They want to know that you’re a resident somewhere.

Lots of people that I coach are like, “Merrill, you share that you’ve been grandfathered in with it because you’re getting all these high approvals from lenders by using this mail receiving agency, the commercial mailbox. What’s going to happen with the REAL ID Act?” I’m like, “Let’s research this and let’s find out.” We’re going to go over some of the requirements and some of the workarounds. If you like me have been using a commercial mail receiving agency, if you’re using a UPS store, you’re legit and you are a professional borrower, there’s no reason to upset that entire apple cart.

Real ID Act: The greatest loss of dollars for lenders is not bankruptcy and default on a loan, charge officer, or otherwise. Rather, it’s a fraud.

I will show you the ways that I’m doing it and the ways that are available to you. A number of people on my team, my support staff, they’ve all received versions of their new identification with the gold star. They talk about the gold star as these addresses are residences. It could be a single-family dwelling. It can be an apartment building. It can even be a commercial building if you’re living there. If I recall, in the State of Utah, it has to be zoned for residential like lofts or something like that. You have restaurants below and lofts above, but you’re going to be recognizing it by the gold star.

If it doesn’t have the gold star, that is not a legitimate ID. The deadline when all this has to happen is by October 1st, 2020. What’s going to happen? What we need to do is understand what the REAL ID is and what it’s not because there are some things that people have been afraid of. What about this? What about that? We’re going to go through this. The REAL ID has nothing to do with voter registration or the address used for your voting registration. It’s not about federal benefits. It’s not whether you can drive a car, rent a car. You don’t have to have a gold star to be able to continue to rent cars or be licensed to drive.

Even though the driver’s license is what the gold star is being put on, you don’t have to drive and get the gold star. You cannot travel by airplane without this gold star. The national park, Social Security benefits, courts or anything, you do not have to have this star. It’s about travel. Not about-face identification like getting a beer at a club. There’s no gambling, cashing of checks, things like that. You do need a REAL ID if you’re going to fly and use your state ID. If you don’t have a passport or another TSA-approved ID, you have to have the state ID. You also need the REAL ID if you’re going to the NSA in Fort Meade, Maryland or you’re going to a secure federal facility.

You do need to have that. You don’t need it if you’re under eighteen. Children are not required to have it and for identification purposes, as I’ve listed above. You don’t even need it if you want to bring your passport. If you don’t mind using your passport, you don’t even need a REAL ID. That’s one of the workarounds I’m doing. I’ll show you how I do that because I don’t need to take my passport. There was what’s called passport cards. Those passport cards are good to travel in the United States instead of operating using my driver’s license. Let’s look at the states that have done this.

Every state is all dialed in, have approved it and it’s ready to be effective in all states except for Oregon. They got an extension. There is Oklahoma and they got an extension. Those two states have a little bit of extra time and preexisting conditions and passed by their state legislatures, but everybody else is on board. It has been enacted and approved across all boards. What I want to do is look at what are some of the other identifications? First of all, if you’re going to use your driver’s license, you have to have the gold star. I have not received my gold star replacement driver’s license because my gold star replacement driver’s license doesn’t have what they are calling a legitimate address.

My US passport uses the exact same address, but also on a passport, there’s a background check and other things that driver’s license divisions do not do. I recommend this if you’re going to get a passport or renew your passport, also purchase the US passport card. What were the additional costs for the passport card, $30, $40? When I renewed my passport, I got what they call the book and there’s the passport card. The passport card is the exact same size as a driver’s license. That is what I plan on using because I do not change my ID from my driver’s license because I do not want to change my PB ID address to a residence.

I’ve established many years of positive identity with my address. I’m getting large approvals with exactly my PB ID as it exists. I don’t want to mess with this. I don’t want to start over. What I plan on doing is taking that card. The only times I fly, which is at least once a month to go to events, etc., I’m going to take my passport card and submit it. The other thing is there’s a couple of other trusted traveler’s cards. There’s the Global Entry, the Nexus, Century and Fast. Global Entry is when you’re coming back from a cruise or coming back into the country, they allow you to file for a Global Entry card. If you leave the country at any time, if traveling even to Mexico or Canada is a big deal for you, get the passport card because the passport card is okay for Canada, Mexico, and the Bahamas if you’re flying in or taking cruises or otherwise. The card is all you need. Having the passport, now I can go to Europe, the Far East, South America, Central America, anywhere I want to go. You need the actual passport.

It’s basically anything that touches the landmass of the United States. We have Mexico. We have Canada, the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. Global Entry is something else. The thing is I’m also on a TSA precheck. TSA precheck is a significant background check to be able to qualify you for faster entry. As part of my research, you still need to have the appropriate identification, either the gold star driver’s license or your passport card or passport book to go into TSA. A warning, TSA is not enough. Between you and me, I’m going to go into the TSA line, which means I’ve been approved to go through that line. I’m going to take my driver’s license. I’m also going to have my passport card right there available. After October 1st, I’m going to try it and see what happens. Any of our Native American families and extended families, any federally-approved or recognized tribal issue photo IDs are viable instead of getting the gold star.

There are foreign government-issued passports, foreign government-issued diplomatic passports, etc. If you google the TSA identification requirements, you’ll be able to see a lot of extensive information. I wanted you to know where I’m going and what it is that I’m going to do. I’ve been a gatecrasher before. The first trip after October 1st, I am going to try and use my regular state-issued driver’s license and have my handy the passport card right there available. Do not fret. Do not worry. If you are at a residence, you should be in the process. Most of our art team has received theirs. Everybody has reported that they’ve been receiving theirs.

If you have not received yours and you’re at a residence, your identification, your driver’s license represents an actual residence address, a single-family home, multifamily homes, duplexes, quadplexes or an apartment building, all of those are valid residences. If you have not received it, I won’t wait past April or May in order to find out what’s going on. If you get it by then or if you’ve already received it, you’re solid. As I understand it, there’s no special identification. It’s not a national identification card. All they’re doing is making sure that there are a legitimate name and a legitimate visit to an address where a human being can be contacted. That’s the essence of the REAL ID Act. We’re going to have a couple of graphics of listing these things out for your reference. Other than that, there are no visuals. It is a pleasure always being with you on the Get Fundable Show. We will see you in the next episode.

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