Police find documents, records left in vacant buildings


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SALT LAKE CITY — An investigative team discovered that the vacant buildings scattered around Salt Lake City could potentially pose as a threat for the owners of the homes and businesses.

The owners of many of the vacant buildings left important documents behind after moving out of the area. KSL investigative reporters discovered boxes of what seemed to be personal and company information inside one vacant building near downtown Salt Lake City after police reported they had seen documents left behind in other vacant buildings.

The Salt Lake City Building department works to keep tabs on vacant buildings and make sure property owners keep them sealed up. However, with only one inspector to look after 150 vacant homes and businesses, that can be a tough job.

"We have one inspector that's assigned to boarded and vacant buildings and that's all he does full time," said Salt Lake City Building Director Orion Goff.

Salt Lake City Police officers said it is not unusual for boarded buildings to be breached by the homeless or by criminals in a matter of days.

Officers reported they have located homeless people sleeping inside vacant homes, at which point the officers ask the individuals to leave. Officers said they have also arrested drug dealers and other criminals looking to steal things like copper and metal from the empty buildings.

Tips to protect your identity from the Utah Attorney General's Office
  • Carefully review every credit card and bank statement for unauthorized charges.
  • Burn or shred, with a cross-cut shredder, any mail or financial papers with your personal information on it. Never recycle them
  • Destroy all receipts, shipping slips and bills that use your credit card number.
  • Never leave transaction receipts at ATM machines, on counters at financial institutions, or at gasoline pumps.
  • Add a Consumer Credit Freeze to your credit file. A Credit Freeze simply means that new credit accounts will not be approved and your credit file cannot be accessed by anyone without your approval. Even if thieves have all of your personal identifying information, they still won't be allowed to get credit in your name.
  • Victims of identity theft that provide a copy of an identity theft report will receive a Consumer Credit Freeze at no charge from the three Credit Reporting Agencies.

Police said they have also had instances where a vacant documents were left by a company in the vacant building.

Officers showed one building with boxes full of personal information, invoices, and other company records that were scattered in three areas of the building. Police and city inspectors said they can't confiscate the records because it's considered private property.

With no way to know if the documents had fallen into the wrong hands, KSL reporters contacted the company that had moved out of the building earlier in the year. The company responded that they would take action to remove the paperwork.

Utah law requires companies to protect personal information they collect under the Protection of Personal Information Act.

"Business owners have an absolute obligation to you and me — if they have our data they need to protect it," said Kirk Torgenson of the Utah Attorney General's Office.

The law also states when a company no longer needs an employee's personal data, it must be destroyed as an effort to reduce the potential for identity theft.

"You can receive a significant civil fine for not destroying it correctly or if it is bad enough we could build a criminal case," Torgensen added.

The Utah Attorney General's Office said it will work with the Salt Lake City building department to identify vacant businesses where personal information has been left behind. They remind Utahns that they should regularly be checking to make sure personal information hasn't been compromised.

Law enforcement suggested a few simple steps to protect individuals against identity theft such as checking your credit reports regularly, placing a freeze on your credit, and shredding personal documents.

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Debbie Dujanovic

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