Has Your Mortgage Company Compromised Your Identity?

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Author: Eden Paul

Article source: http://www.articledeshboard.com/. Used with author's permission.

There is a growing concern that mortgage companies are compromising people's identities and allowing for easy identity theft.

In fact, recent news reports claim that across the country, the mortgage crisis is causing a second scare for some people who are exposed to identity theft as these bankrupt lending companies toss out sensitive financial records.

For example, First Magnus Financial Corp. (most of whose borrowers' records were still on paper) was exposed after thousands of loan documents were discovered in cardboard boxes in a dumpster in Florida. Not shredded. Not hidden. Not locked.

What do such records contain? A lot…Applications, addresses, social security numbers, credit card information, tax returns and more. It is every identity thief's dream and a borrower's nightmare!

Another lender, Union Mortgage Services of Ohio is accused of dumping confidential files on hundreds of customers in a dumpster behind a Cleveland pizza shop.

Unfortunately, once someone becomes a victim of the criminals out there who get their hands on this information, they start a difficult and time-consuming process to convince credit reporting agencies and lenders that they have been the victim of identity theft and try to stop any future damage from those thieves.

So once a company you did business with no longer exists, how do you protect the information about you that they have and keep it out of the hands of criminals?

The best protection against this crime is to be aware of what is on your credit report, shed all your own documents and enlist a company like LifeLock to safeguard your identity so that it cannot happen to you. This crime is not going away and the information is out there…so everyone must be diligent to protect their own good credit.

Eden Paul is a CPA and small business owner who strongly suggests using resources like LifeLock to protect you and your family. For information, visit www.safeidentityreview.com