TaxMama’s Tax Quips – Personal Violations

2007-07-30 by

Hi! It’s TaxQuips time from TaxMama.com.

Today TaxMama is hot under the collar – and not just because the temperatures are over 100 degrees F. You know me. I am usually easy-going, generally amused, and often passionate. But, I don’t really lose my temper all that often. Today, when I saw the mail, I lost it.

Have you ever gotten anything like this in your mail?

We got a postcard from a Farmers Insurance agent, offering to sell us homeowners insurance.
You’ve gotten lots of those, right? What’s the big deal? Why is TaxMama in a fury?

Well, this postcard showed our:


  • Property Address
  • The year it was built and the size of the house (sq ft).
  • It showed the “full replacement value” of the dwelling (actually at least 40% – 50% less that it would really cost in today’s building materials market)
  • The value of personal property
  • And more

On a postcard.

For anyone to see.

How do you feel about having all of your information laid out in public like that?

It’s bad enough that they pull some of this information of the property records without asking our permission. But, do you really think this should be printed on postcards.

I’d love to hear from you. Please post your replies at TaxQuips, or at The Tax Insider, where you’ll find a copy of my letter to Farmers Insurance.

Perhaps I’m over-reacting. Do you think it’s the heat? Or would this get you incensed, too?

[Note: For a list of Federal Consumer Privacy Laws – see http://www.consumerprivacyguide.org/law/ – there’s nothing about this.
For links to legislators: http://taxmama.com/Articles/calltoaction.html ] (see links below)

And remember, you’ll find answers to lots of questions about privacy issues and other tax information, free. Where? At TaxMama.com

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# | Posted in Tax Quips | Reviews and Recommendations | Comments » (11)



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  1. Michael Ludlum Says:
    July 30th, 2007 at 11:32 pm

    Dear Tax MaMa …

    My experience in my town has been, that each year (18), they have always sent the yearly, updated, property tax ratings, on postcards.

    I have NEVER liked that procedure …

    Block/Lot number—-
    Valuation—-
    Taxes paid last year,
    Estimated increase, etc …

    If my PostMan/Woman, scanned each of these,...

    That person would be a better Realtor, than most that I have encountered !!!

    Also, it would be illegal !

    Or, maybe not …

    Help me, here

    Thanks.

    Michael Ludlum

  2. Dianne Says:
    July 30th, 2007 at 11:58 pm

    For crying out loud! One would think that an insurance agent would have more sense! Where has the postcard clown been for the past 10 years? Was he/she living in a cave with no access to the media?

    The really irritating part is that the postcard agent does business in California, a state with some of the strongest privacy laws on the books! What was he/she thinking? Never mind… He/she was not thinking at all!

    This has not happened to me lately, but it has in the past. When it occurred, I took immediate action in writing and by telephone and ended the service of the sender or got the attention of the person in charge and had an end to the problem.

    None of my mail is delivered to my residence. All of it is sent to a PO Box. That is as close as I have managed to get to being "secure" with letters, bills and other items that come to me via USPS. Doing things this way is not always convenient, but it is certainly safer than having the mail delivered to a box on the street.

    Go get 'em, Tax Mama! Your right to privacy supercedes this clown's urge to gain riches.

  3. Jo A. Reagan Says:
    July 31st, 2007 at 03:46 am

    I agree with you. As for getting and paying for a post office box, I still refuse to do so. The time is coming when I will, though. Note that much of the information about your property is available on the web also. The insurance agent probably downloaded it.

  4. Carri Says:
    July 31st, 2007 at 04:22 am

    Eva,

    I agree that too many people are cavalier about our personal information.

    Have you ever seen an absentee ballot? Those people (at least in Michigan) have no clue about Hippa. They put EVERYTHING on the outside of the envelope and expect you to return your ballot through the mail.

    How do people not know how dangerous this is? The identify theft people are laughing all the way to the bank—with our money.

    I don't blame you for being angry. Just because information is available to the public doesn't mean it should be printed and sent through the US mail for All to see.

    What can we do?

  5. Eva Rosenberg - Your TaxMama Says:
    July 31st, 2007 at 07:15 am

    Thanks Friends.

    And speaking of post office boxes, as it happens, I DO have one. And that's where all our mail IS delivered. So, it was even more offensive that they are exposing our home address like that.

    But, how many things can you complain about in one letter?

    Let's see if Farmers Insurance responds, shall we?

    hugs to all!

    Eva

  6. Dan M Says:
    July 31st, 2007 at 08:43 am

    I say, "Chill out Tax Mama."

    After it leaves Farmers, the only person(s) entitled to see your postcard are Postal Service employees—who see so many of those kind of things they could frankly care less.

    Anyone who really wants that information on you and your home can get it at any time—remember, its public info.

    So get in the shade, take a long sip of something really cold—and chill out a bit.

  7. Robert A. Caldwell, CPA, EA Says:
    July 31st, 2007 at 09:58 am

    TaxMomma, I don't blame you for being incensed. The sad fact is that there is no such thing as privacy any more. It has ceased to exist. George Orwell's chilling futeristic novel, "1984" was written in 1949, and Orwell would be shocked and horrified to see how our privacy is completely and systematically invaded and ignored today by government, business, and private citizens. Although privacy has creased to exist, we can still be private persons. And we can combat the invasion of our privacy by practicising civility, courtesy, and kindness.

  8. Mark Faerber Says:
    July 31st, 2007 at 10:43 am

    Don't get your underwear all tied-up in knots. Go to any county recorders office in the country and anyone can get the same information. Besides how can this public information be used that would cause harm to an individual? In fact this information is valuable when buying and selling a home.

  9. Linda Dorfmont Says:
    July 31st, 2007 at 11:22 am

    This is dangerous. In any other home the mail could be stolen from an outside mailbox. I guard all my and my clients information by shredding nearly everything that would go out the door: if it has a name, address, phone number or sender information that could be used to identify or steal assets. When I get my laptop up and running, my client data will be on a stick memory around my neck when I take it with me.

    Linda Dorfmont E.A., CFP, CSA

  10. Eva Rosenberg - Your TaxMama Says:
    July 31st, 2007 at 03:22 pm

    So far, the vote (not including me) is 6-2 in favor of this being a dangerous thing.

    We did get two 'chills'. Thanks!

    Why is this more than something the USPS employees see?

    1) As Linda said, people do steal mail from open mail boxes. A great deal of identity theft starts with stolen mail, or stolen trash, believe it or not.

    2) Not all postal employees are honest. Most are. But that fraction of a percent who are not, do participate in identity theft rings. Of course, as soon as they are caught, the are prosecuted. But once the credit damage is done, it can take the victim 2-3 years to undo it.

    3) One active scam that identity thieves engage in is to get loans on properties they don't really own. They just falsify the paperwork by getting enough information about the owner and the property to pretend to be that person. They take out mortgages on properties, especially those that they find are not fully encumbered. And the homeowner doesn't find out about it until it's too late. This is true, even in an area like Los Angeles County where the Recorder's office sends you a copy of all documents that change title. By the time you get your copy, the thief has already received the money months ago – and you have to fight it out with the lender who didn't realize he'd been ripped off.

    Sorry guys, this complain does not come from someone who flies off the handle for no reason, or has nothing better to do with her time than to stir up trouble. I've seen all those things happen to people and have helped clean them up.

    Clean up is brutal!

    Mark correctly points out that this information can be obtained from any county recorder's office (or the equivalent in your state) – which is precisely whence Farmers Insurance obtained the information. But you have to go to the trouble to get it, or pay someone to do it for you. It leaves an 'audit trail' of who got the information or who contracted to get it.

    Why allow this information to be placed where idle theives can just reach it?

    And remember, for me to get that postcard mailing means that 5-10,000 such pieces went out. It didn't just come to me. I may not fall victim. But someone else will.

    And the fact that property tax collectors send out postcards like that – that absurd. You must speak up in your community and bring this to the attention of the local papers. That practice must be stopped.

    And absentee ballots as postcards? What happened to the secret ballot? Another unacceptable practice. But one you can overcome, by putting your ballot into an envelope. Even then, it won't be secret when the poll-workers open your mail. That's simply unconstitutional.

    Speak up and stop it.

    Hugs

    Eva

  11. Mike Marks Says:
    August 02nd, 2007 at 10:42 am

    This is dangerous because of item number 3 in TaxMamas last post. My sister-in-law is an officer with a local title company and in the last three years they have discovered numerous title problems because of issues with loans and liens against properties that the homeowner knew nothing about.

    I have had other problems with Farmers Insurance in this past year that I could not get any answer from Farmers about until I involved the State Insurance Commissioner's office. Amazing how fast the answer came and the problem was corrected by a new policy at the Insurance company when the regulator got involved.

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