Folder that contain important information is gone

[emanon1501]

We had a folder that contain all important information (i.e. birth certificate, SSN card, etc.) is gone. We suspect someone gained entry to our camper and took that folder. There is sign of damage to the door frame. I am thinking I need to get credit card monitoring service. Life Lock is way too costly, $275 for Ultimate protection. Is the other protection level good enough? What other service should I look into? I will need to get one for my wife and myself.

We are kind of panicking because we are closing on house next Thursday.

[Blessed]

I would put a freeze on your credit and also talk to the bank you are financing with ASAP.

[lorraineb]

Be sure to file a police report. You may need that to obtain duplicates of the last documents. Also be sure to take advantage of your free credit reports (one from each service every four months) to monitor any suspect activity.

[Tonyall]

If you are mainly worried about protecting information, then I would recommend not putting things on paper. The vast majority of that stuff can be kept solely in digital form in a protected format. For example, I keep all of my important financial information in Roboform, which costs $20 a year. Important documents I cannot keep in there are kept in a protected folder on an external drive.

[bjl584]

You definitely need to freeze your credit and call all and any lenders that you are dealing with.

Can I ask why you were keeping such important documents in your camper?

[emanon1501]

Can I ask why you were keeping such important documents in your camper?

We are homeless. We sold our home in IL and closed it last Friday. We are closing on our new home in TX next Thursday. So, we are homeless for 13 days. We kept our important papers with us for legal stuff for DL, closing, Titles for our cars, etc. The rest of the stuff is in storage in IL.

[bjl584]

We are homeless. We sold our home in IL and closed it last Friday. We are closing on our new home in TX next Thursday. So, we are homeless for 13 days. We kept our important papers with us for legal stuff for DL, closing, Titles for our cars, etc. The rest of the stuff is in storage in IL.

OK. That makes sense. Going forward, you should invest in a good quality safe or get a safety deposit box.

[shaggy]

I would put a freeze on your credit and also talk to the bank you are financing with ASAP.

Agreed.

And try not to panic. It may amount to nothing.

[GrimJack]

Once you have a police report, you can contact the credit reporting agencies and get free reports that are not part of the 1 free per year. Also, you can ask them to put a 5 year freeze on your account so that no new accounts can be opened until the freeze is removed.