Whether you live in Manhattan, NY, or Manhattan, KS, some of the identity theft risks are the same. A recent New York Times article detailed the uses—and abuses—of your Social Security number once it’s in the hands of condo, co-op and apartment management companies.
Yes, they need your SSN for credit checks and loan applications. But once you submit application, you can only hope they protect your information. Wherever you live, the NYT article, and what their writers learned, will certainly give you pause.
When Ben Kirschenbaum, an attorney representing a realty company in Manhattan (New York), was asked how his client protects applicants’ personal and financial information, he was happy to explain their security policies.
First, they tell applicants to submit only the original application packet, rather than submitting enough copies for each board member. Then, after an initial review they scan the application into their computer. No information was given on how they secure the computer.
Next, they print copies and deliver them to each of the board members, and instruct the board members to shred their copies when they’re done with them.
Now, how in the heck is that any more secure than having the applicant submit multiple copies? And, how in the heck does the management office—or their attorney, for that matter—know whether their board members shred the applications as instructed? It makes no sense.
In one case, the applications of prospective buyers going back 10 years were found in a board member’s garbage. The NYT article didn’t specify whether the negligent board member was one of Kirschenbaum’s clients.
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