One of my clients, a home seller, just contacted me because he’d received a letter from the escrow company handling the closing of the sale on his home. Was he supposed to give the information requested on the form to this particular escrow company?  Escrow companies traditionally send a letter to each party in the transaction, buyer and seller, disclosing the escrow company’s involvement in the sale.  The escrow company is the independent third party company which ensures the proper documents are signed by both the home buyer and home seller to close the sale.Escrow will send a form with such questions as your social security number, your mortgage lien holder, permission to contact the mortgage company, home owner’s dues, etc, etc.   The home seller was exercising due diligence.  He wanted to know if the questions asked in the letter were appropriate and if he should pass along his social security number to this company. 

Giving out your social security number and personal financial information is always a “big deal.”    He was right in asking if this was proper and appropriate.  Identity theft is becoming more of a problem and people should exercise “due diligence” before giving out personal information. 

Here’s a list of suggestions to safeguard against identity theft.  I received this list from Patrick O’Neill at Commonwealth Title:

1. Next time you order checks have only your initials printed instead of your first and last name. If someone takes your checkbook they will not know how to sign your check… but the bank will.

2. Do not sign the back of your credit cards, instead write Photo ID Required.

3. When writing checks to make a payment on a credit card do not put the complete account number in the “for” line, instead just put the last four numbers.

4. Put your work phone number on your checks instead of your home number and use your PO Box or work address instead of your home address.

5. Never have your social security number printed on your checks.

6. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of your license, credit cards, etc. This way you will have a record of everything contained in you wallet in the event that it becomes stolen.

7. If your credit cards are ever stolen, file a police report immediately in the jurisdiction that the theft took place. This proves to creditors that you were diligent in trying to recover the cards. 

8. If your credit cards are stolen make sure to call the three national credit reporting agencies and place a fraud alert on your name and social security number.

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285

Experian (formally TRW) 1-888-397-3742

TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289

Social Security Administration: 1-800-269-0271