The Importance of Shredding

During or after the purchase or sale of a home you find a lot of paperwork that may have sensitive personal information. What do you do with all of that paperwork?! Throwing it in the trash could mean it falling in the wrong hands and used against you. The safest way to deal with old documents is to shred them. Below we go over what should and should not be shredded and why it’s important to protect your personal and sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands. 

To help you, Windermere Real Estate/Whidbey Island is co-hosting a free Shred-it event on October 9th, 2021 and you are invited! Check out the details here! 

Types of documents you should shred:

1. Tax returns 
2. Photo IDs
3. Bank Statements
4. Voided Checks 
5. Employee Pay Stubs 
6. Credit Card information 
7. Copies of sale receipts 
8. Documents containing sensitive information such as names, addresses, phone numbers or emails
9. Employee records

Top reasons you should shred:

1. Prevent identity theft: In 2012, about 16.6 million U.S. residents over the age of 16 were victims of at least one identity theft incident according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
2. Protecting your family, friends, and customers is the law: It is important that you take the extra steps to protect the people around you and shred sensitive information if you must write it down. Businesses that fail to abide by regulations protecting their customers’ personal and secure information are at risk of being fined for mishandling customers’ information.
3. Protect your employees: Employees have a right to privacy and if you are throwing away documents you are not taking the necessary steps to protect their privacy or identity. Shredding is always the safest way to go. 
4. Space saved: by shredding all the unnecessary papers cluttering your office or your home you will create more room and less clutter ultimately you will feel more at ease and satisfied with your space. 

If you’re wondering how long you need to keep ahold of different types of documents there are lots of different opinions but we liked the simplicity of this guidance https://www.suzeorman.com/resources/record-keeping

We are all in, for you! What that means is we believe that as realtors we can make a positive impact in our community and in the lives of the people around us. We do this not only by helping people purchase their homes but by staying active in our community and educating where needed. One thing we feel strongly about is protecting those people. Throughout the buying and selling process clients are guided through what kind of links are ok to accept, warned of scammers, and taught how to not fall prey to people trying to take advantage of them.  

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