Document Shredding for Title Companies

Title companies are often involved in the process of home buying. They may be responsible for conducting the closing with access to escrow account details and confidential information about the buyer and seller. It's important that title companies and real estate firms protect their client's personal information to prevent identity theft, data breaches, or other fraud risks. There is a considerable amount of paper documents generated during a closing or other services handled by the title company. These paper documents must be properly handled, stored, and after their retention time, disposed of in a secure and compliant method.

Protecting Client Nonpublic Personal Information

As a Title company handling sensitive documents with personal information, you are responsible for protecting your client's nonpublic personal information. There are several regulations enacted over the years to help protect consumer data that apply to Title companies. They cover how the information is stored, having well-defined and written security plans, retention times for both paper and electronic records, and evaluation of internal controls.

How Document Shredding Can Help Keep Your Title Company Compliant

Records and document shredding provide a safe and secure process for compliant destruction of articles containing client or customer confidential information. Here are a few important regulations that impact Title companies:

• GLBA (Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act) - this is also referred to as the Financial Services Modernization Act. It's a federal law that applies to financial institutions and controls how they handle private information of individuals. There are three sections of this Act: The Financial Privacy Rule, The Safeguards Rule, and the Pretexting provisions. The Safeguards Rule is key to how financial institutions like Title companies develop, implement, and maintain an information security program, including physical safeguards to protect nonpublic personal information. As information security programs are developed, one of the elements to consider is disposing of customer information securely. As long as there is no legitimate business need or legal requirement to hold onto certain customer documents, and it's past their retention period, these items can be shredded. Shredding documents is one of the most secure ways to dispose of sensitive information.
• FACTA (The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act) - is an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act that aims at better protecting consumers from fraud and identity theft. It provides financial service providers, lenders, credit reporting agencies, and businesses rules on how to accomplish this. An important amendment for businesses to be aware of is the requirement that "any person that maintains or otherwise possesses consumer information, or any compilation of consumer information, derived from consumer reports for a business purpose, properly dispose of any such information." Making sure you have a document shredding plan in place, whether it's on-site witnessed destruction, routine console service, or purge clean-out appointments, will help you comply with this regulation.
• SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley Act) - Section 802 of the SOX Act establishes rules related to recordkeeping. There are specific retention periods required for storing certain documents, especially as it relates to financial reporting and audits. Once the retention time is up, having the documents containing very sensitive information shredded provides you peace of mind knowing the proper steps were taken to keep confidential information secure through the disposal process.

Why Partner with BWS for Your Title Company's Secure Records and Document Shredding Needs

Biomedical Waste Services, Inc. (BWS) has over 45 years experience safely collecting, transporting, and disposing of sensitive waste such as client records and documentation generated by title companies in the mid-Atlantic area, including Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C., Delaware, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. We are committed to providing our customers with secure, reliable records shredding management services they can count on to keep them compliant and protect their client's confidential information.

Partnering with a professional who understands regulations and how to properly manage confidential documents will help keep you legally compliant, while maintaining client privacy and your company's reputation. Call or contact us today to partner with a local, experienced, professional document shredding management company.

References:

https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/ftc-safeguards-rule-what-your-business-needs-know

https://www.sec.gov/rules/final/34-50781.htm#:~:text=The%20FACT%20Act%20requires%20that,any%20such%20information%20or%20compilation.%E2%80%9D

Share this article:

Facebook

Twitter

LinkediIn

Email