Harleysville-Lansdale Real Estate and More

Happy Spring to all!  March was no lion only a wee lamb, but none-the-less it is officially the vernal equinox. 

Many people have already begun to clear their garages, sheds, basements, and storage bins of unwanted clutter.  Spring cleaning doesn’t have to be a dirty word though. 

Just in time comes the news from Montgomery County on their annual post of dates to recycle and dispose of household hazardous waste (HHW) and electronics. 

This popular program is provided as a service to county residents.  It helps us to properly dispose of the leftover hazardous material sitting around our homes. 

If you’re selling your home, it is important to get rid of these hazardous products because the new owners don’t want to inherit them.  Items that need this kind of disposal are usually marked on the product’s container with a warning label. 

For latex paint, you never want to toss it in the trash in its liquid form.  Latex paint is not hazardous and will not be accepted at the sites.  Let is sit with the lid off until it’s completely dry.  It will be safe to dispose of at that point.

Here’s what new about the program.  The county will hold 6 separate HHW-only collection events and 8 separate Electronics-only collection events.  For the electronics-only events, the county is now accepting more items than in the past.  Check the website for details on this at http://montcopa.org.  It’s easier now to free yourself from that old, clunky TV or computer monitor.

All collection sites will be open from 9 AM to 3 PM on the date of the event.  For more information call the Montgomery County "Recycling Hotline" at (610) 278-3618. Upcoming Electronic Collection dates and locations are:

• Sat, April 21 – Indian Valley Middle School
130 Maple Ave. Harleysville, PA 19438

• Sat, May 5 - Norristown Area High School
Enter at Corner of Burnside Ave. and Eagle Dr. Norristown, PA 19401

• Sat, June 30 – Wissahickon High School
521 Houston Rd. Ambler, PA 19002

• Fri, July 20 – Ursinus College
Corner of College Ave. and E. 9th Ave. Collegeville, PA 19426

• Fri, August 10 – Upper Perkiomen High School
2 Walt Rd. Pennsburg, PA 18073

• Sat, October 27 – Springfield Township High School
1801 E. Paper Mill Rd. Erdenheim, PA 19038

• Thurs, November 15 – Montgomery Mall
230 Montgomery Mall North Wales, PA 19454
(America Recycles Day - Automotive tires will also be accepted at this event for recycling!)

For Hazardous Household Waste, the collection dates and locations are:

• Sat, April 7 – North Penn High School
1340 Valley Forge Rd. Lansdale, PA 19446

• Sat, May 12 – Upper Merion Area Middle School
Enter near 435 Crossfield Rd. King Of Prussia, PA 19406

• Sat, June 23 – Temple Ambler
Enter near 1431 E. Butler Pike Ambler, PA 19002

• Fri, August 17 – Abington Junior High School
970 Highland Ave. Abington, PA 19001

• Sat, October 20 – Lower Merion Public Works
1300 N. Woodbine Ave. Penn Valley, PA 19072

Please check the county website before heading to one of the events to be sure that the items you’re bringing are being accepted!  Also, take special care in how you transport these items. 

 

Contact Scott Loper, Associate Broker, Realtor®, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County of Pennsylvania. To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here.

Disposing of Household Hazardous Waste & Electronics - Montgomery County PA Collection Dates - Copyright © 2012, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.

Our daughter got her driver's license last week.  I thought it was interesting, she was issued a temporary license for 15 days.  Her permanent license will come in the mail.  Why?

Pennsylvania is using that 15 day period to digitally match her photograph with all other photo records in the state to ensure that she does not have a driver's license or ID card under a different name.  This is in an effort to reduce identity theft.

So for any new residents to the state, you can expect to be issued a temporary license while the photo verification is completed.

Kudos to PA for being proactive to protect residents from identity theft.  But I have to admit, the technology is amazing and just a little scary in what it can do.

~Lisa

From PennDOT's website:

Temporary Driver’s License Information/Photo ID Card Information
(Facial Recognition Technology)

In an effort to make its products more secure, in late October 2007, PennDOT implemented new photo technology and equipment at its Photo License Centers across the commonwealth. With this implementation, all driver’s license products, including photo identification cards, are outfitted with a new overlay and security features. The new overlay and security features help mitigate the risk for fraud.

To further mitigate the risk for fraud, including identity theft, PennDOT issues temporary driver’s licenses and photo identification cards, which are valid for 15 days, to individuals who have never held a Pennsylvania driver’s license or photo ID, i.e. new drivers, new photo ID card holders and new residents. During that 15-day period, PennDOT utilizes state-of-the-art facial recognition technology, FaceEXPLORER, to validate the individual’s photograph does not match another photograph in our database under a different name(s). The temporary DL/photo ID card looks the same as the current DL/photo ID card, except the blue and yellow banners are gray, the word “temporary” is printed in red across the front and the expiry date is outlined in red. The product can be used by any business to validate name, age, address, etc., just as a permanent DL/Photo ID card.

In addition, PennDOT also uses FaceEXPLORER for the same purpose when an individual has their photo taken for their driver’s license/identification card renewal. While Pennsylvania driver’s licenses/photo ID cards have contained the same digital photo and demographic data since 1994, FaceEXPLORER takes the digital photo captured at the photo center and establishes an algorithm based on an individual’s facial features. It utilizes this algorithm to compare an individual’s photo to all the other photos in PennDOT’s database. FaceEXPLORER identifies similar photos as possible matches and PennDOT reviews the possible matches to determine if potential fraud has occurred. If PennDOT determines there needs to be a further investigation, then and only then, does PennDOT turn it over to the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) for further investigation. Although FaceEXPLORER utilizes “biometrics” in its broadest sense, it does not uniquely identify a person like other biometric measures, i.e. fingerprints and DNA.

FaceEXPLORER is utilized by PennDOT, Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) and Pennsylvania’s Attorney General’s Office. PennDOT utilizes it to mitigate the risk of license fraud/identity theft. PSP and the Attorney General’s Office utilize FaceEXPLORER for criminal investigative purposes.

Contact Scott Loper, Associate Broker, Realtor®, RE/MAX Realty Group at 215-513-1333 for help buying or selling a home in Lansdale, Harleysville, Hatfield, Souderton, Skippack, Collegeville, North Wales and the surrounding areas of Montgomery County of Pennsylvania. To Search for Homes For Sale in Montgomery County Click Here.

Pennsylvania's Efforts to Reduce Identity Theft - Copyright © 2011, The Scott Loper Team, All rights reserved.