Our clients enlist us to help them make the largest financial purchase they may ever make. We are in a position of great responsibility.  They trust us to look out for their best interst in a highly complex legal and financial transaction. We learn personal information about our clients: their families, thier history, and their financial information.  We are entrusted to keep all of their personal information confidential. How do you do this?

 When you leave your office for the night, does your office look like this:

 OR THIS  (My office at Edina Realty, Highland Park)

10 ways to protect your client's privacy:

1. Shred anything with identifying information on it that isn't part of the permanent record.
2. Avoid throwing away papers with identifying information as they can be pulled right out of the dumpster
3. If working from home, lock up files to avoid family members from accidently having access to client information
4. Back up and encrypt your data files with client information
5. Insist your team members, and assistants take client privacy as seriously as you do, and follow the procedures you put in place for your business.
6. Title companies will need your client's social security number at some point in the transaction. You don't need to be the one to furnish it to them. I make it a practice to not take my clients SS#. The fewer people that have it, the less chance of identity theft.
7. Keep all of your client notes in one place. Avoid using post-its and scratch paper when it involves taking notes about the transaction or your client's personal information. The more control you have over the location of the information, the easier it is to protect it.
8. When faxing your client's information to the numerous people in the transaction, do what you can to ensure it isn't going to sit on a fax machine on the other end without being picked up by the intended person.  Better yet, scan it and email it.
9. In Minnesota we are required to keep our files for a minimum of 7 years. That's a LOT of files to keep locked up!  No one said it had to be in paper form!  Scan your permanent files, and back them up. I copy them to DVD and keep that DVD in an offsite, secure location.
10. Back up your laptop or computer.

I work primarily with Seniors who are vulnerable to fraud, and identity theft. I take this topic seriously.  So seriously, I make sure the companies I refer my clients to take it as seriously as I do.

Protect yourself and your client by puting some simple processes in place.