Andy Banker reports:
Thousands of abandoned documents, full of people’s personal information, were in an O’Fallon, Missouri, driveway Tuesday, along with a mess that included a recliner, an old bedroom set, TV, and dinner table. There were stacks of mortgage documents with people’s social security numbers, bank accounts, addresses, and phone numbers, sitting right out in the open, after an eviction at 2413 Breezy Point Lane, Tuesday morning.
KPLR provides additional details on the incident, and some of it is even more cause for concern. The property had reportedly been occupied by a former mortgage officer, Branden Davis, who moved out a few months ago. But here’s the part that’s really concerning some folks:
FOXx 2 News confirmed Davis worked at local mortgage companies until a few years ago. FOX 2 News also confirmed his arrests and convictions for forgery, theft and burglary in Lincoln and St. Charles Counties, around about that same time.
He’s still on probation for the crimes.
If those folks haven’t already checked their credit reports, they should probably do so forthwith. In the meantime, some of the documents were already grabbed by people. This is really a mess, and even if we had a national breach notification law that included paper records, I doubt if any mortgage company that he ever worked for would be able to figure out who to notify. One onlooker estimated that hundreds of people had their personal information strewn all over the lawn.
OMG. Insider theft to the umpth degree compounded by an eviction by someone who didn’t care enough or know enough to turn the papers over to the police. Let’s hope this is a lesson for everyone doing an eviction in the future!