SENIOR CONDO PURCHASES, PART FOUR: A WORLD OF PRIVACY INVASIONS

SENIOR CONDO PURCHASES, PART FOUR: A WORLD OF PRIVACY INVASIONSMarch 2005By Donie Vanitzian, BA, JD, Arbitrator(c) Vanitzian
"Privacy is the right to be alone the most comprehensive of rights, and the right most valued by civilized man." When Justice Brandeis penned those words he did not live in a homeowner association.
Owners of deed-restricted homes and property in common interest developments are at the mercy not only of the homeowner association and boards of directors but also third-party vendors hired by the board, including management companies, consultants, and attorneys, all of which can affect the owners' quality of life.
Of the many risks associated with such ownership, rarely are owners warned of the need to protect their personal information from inside theft. Whether knowingly or unknowingly, many condo owners carelessly give away personal information without a second thought. In reality, any types of personal privacy invasions and identity theft occur when others invade "places" or "things" where you or your information has been, is, or might be located. Such invasions are not just about "identity," "tangible documents" and "cash," they include the right to "quiet enjoyment" of your home.
WHY YOU?Privacy invasions can occur when owners "voluntarily" make their information available to intrusions by others. Because the information frequently requested by associations, management companies, or vendors seems so innocuous, owners usually give it up readily without express assurances of confidentiality and non-disclosure. Unfortunately, owners wrongly assume that their information will not be misused or that it will only be used for a specific purpose. The opposite is true.
Information gathered by boards, management companies and other entities can be disseminated, shared and sold without the owners' knowledge. Such information is all too often the kind of intimate personal information most valuable to identity thieves.
California Penal Code section 530.5 describes "personal identifying information," to include your name, address, telephone number, driver's license number, social security number, place of employment, mother's maiden name, birth date, taxpayer identification, savings and checking account numbers, biometric data, birth and death certificates.
Employees in any workplace including an association can take identifying material about you. With the theft being difficult to prove, such information is easily stolen. Furthermore, you don't have to be rich to be a victim, the sort of nest egg, credit, or substantial equity in property that most seniors have is incentive enough for any opportunist.
The personal nature of such crimes leaves senior victims in particular traumatized. Because many owners become complacent and mechanically accept what goes on in their association, extracting information voluntarily or gaining entry into a home can be easily accomplished. To avoid confrontation or expenditures to enforce their rights, owners are scared into closing their eyes to what goes on around them, creating more victims.
THEFT RIGHT UNDER YOUR NOSEAll information, personal or otherwise, that an association obtains can be copied, sold, borrowed, shared, "lost" or saved for a later date when it can be used against you by the association or those they do business with. Once account information is obtained, accounts can be depleted, owners be sued, or simply die. Because the criminal knows your net worth at death, invoices submitted to your estate are usually paid without question.
"Management walks right into my home, and they have my mailbox keys! I complain but nobody does anything." Harold, Orange.
Associations and their cohorts can invade owner privacies in multiple ways. Perpetual maintenance schemes tend to bring an army of strangers into your environment. The treasure hunt begins when boards and hungry vendors tour the grounds searching for ways to spend your money.
Whether under the pretext of "maintenance" or "in case of emergency," some boards, vendors and management employees request keys to individual homes. Unfortunately, owners wanting to be seen as cooperative not only hand over their keys but may also disclose other confidential information that should not be divulged. Drivers licenses and social security numbers are given to people that seniors describe as, "a very nice person" or merely because someone "told" them to do so. When asked why they gave personal documents or information to a person whose name they weren't sure of, one senior told me, "Because I see him around here all the time."
Easily impressed by a worker's title, another confidently says, "Oh, he's the manager." "When we dial 911, or when an owner dies, management is usually the first to know. They are first to enter our homes if we're taken to the hospital or die. I want to know what right they have to enter our homes like that and what are they doing in there?" Senior, Irvine.
THICK AS THIEVESIn addition to financial consequences, the profoundly personal nature of this type of theft often leaves victims severely traumatized. According to the Santa Clara Public Guardian's Office, older victims of identity theft invasions "suffer a mortality rate that is three times higher than those who are not so abused." Imagine the further impact when learning the association or affiliate, enabled the theft.
There is a great risk for identity theft in developments that attract buyers to what may seem like a friendly, one-stop living environment replete with sales and escrow personnel, travel agencies, and recreational facilities. Communities allowing vendors to operate this type of monopoly are a rich source of clientele for schemes and scams. These exclusive vendors not only collect and share information, but they eliminate competition, driving up costs for owners.
More insidiously, a trusted vendor might place pressure on owners who are least likely to understand the consequences of their actions. Free seminars provided by vendors or so-called "professionals" including attorneys, might be nothing more than calculated adverts convincing owners to part with their money, hire them, or disclose personal information. Some are couched in terms of "improve your health and wealth," while others target impressionable directors or committees on various "How To" topics regarding associations, when in fact they are nothing more than Trojan horses wanting your precious information or a piece of your assets.
A DECEPTIVELY EASYGOING CLIMATE OF FEAR, INTIMIDATION, AND PRIVACY INVASIONSIn the last years of their lives, many senior condo owners who want only to live peacefully while controlling their expenses are forced to adapt to a climate of fear amidst privacy intrusions and trying to tell friend from foe. In the process, many plunge tragically into a state of social dependence.
Predictably, it is only a matter of time before each owner leaves permanently, which may explain why boards frequently respond to senior complaints with "sue us." The National Committee for the Prevention of Elder Abuse explains that "abusers may assume that frail victims will not survive long enough to follow through on legal interventions, or that they will not make convincing witnesses." Owners are reduced to chipping away at the big problems by reporting on the tiniest instances of their discontent because they are simply unable to accomplish much else.
ENTER THE GRANDMA BRIGADEBeing assertive is apparently no longer enough. Tired of being dictated to, and realizing they were in danger of losing all their money and assets, a group of seniors began taking situations into their own hands, forming an underground group called The Grandma Brigade. Like vigilantes, and with the same intensity as bounty hunters tracking criminals, these seniors have been hunting down and checking on protections they wrongly assumed they had.
They learned that laws meant to protect consumers were tucked away in cross-referenced statutes and complicated case law which, once located, were often repealed or overturned. The Brigade ferrets out what little protections remain, and functions as a support group. With limited physical and financial resources, they efficiently divide and assign specific tasks to smaller combat squads. Each squad is given a deadline to deliver a completed task. They are organized for specific purpose, to get accurate information and report back to Brigade Headquarters.
"We don't have a lot of time left, if you know what I mean," one commando explains, "we're not that young and our association knows it, so they take advantage of us."
Another commando adds, "They think they will wear us out and we'll either disappear or die so they can throw our file out, and in some cases they've succeeded." They say, "The other owners don't understand what's going on. By the time they figure it out, it will be too late."
But they are not deterred, "it's do, or die," says another squad member. Members of the Brigade prefer to stay underground for now, because of the great price they might pay if they are exposed. We will continue to track this story and provide more information as it becomes available, and is safe to reveal.
Southern California Senior Life editor's note: Because of an overwhelming response from our readers to this series, there will be a concluding Part FIVE. Most seniors really believe this won't happen to them. It does. It will. It will continue.