Building a Life on $25 and a Gym Bag

Submitted Link #1: http://abcnews.go.com/print?id=4298321...

Many years ago I had registered a car and my driver's license from their home address. I was subsequently sued in a frivolous malpractice case. The sheriff showed up at my parents front door and they became totally intimidated and gave the sheriff the hospital name where I was a department director.

I was shocked that they would buckle. Therefore, be very careful when giving any relative your home address if you value you privacy. I have a very close confidant who is better than any blood relative when loyalty is involved.

... I, on the other hand, am not surprised that your parents buckled. Sheriffs can be very itimidating indeed.

Recently I wanted to close out the remaining account with same institution. This time my reason was different for wanting to close out the account. I didnt want to be put on the spot again.

I had my husband go in and close the account. They didnt ask him any questions.

In order to process this basic request (mind you, I'm not yet terminating my entire association with this financial institution, simply consolidating two small-balance accounts), I was faced with a barrage of questions from the call center attendant starting with "May I ask why you are closing out this account?" (No), moving to an offer of a reduced interest rate credit card (No thanks, I don't do credit), and ending with an offer of financial planning/counseling to "help me through this difficult financial time" (I politely declined, noting to myself that thankfully my financial situation has never been healthier!).

In this situation, one might give the requested info thinking, well, I'm dealing with my bank and they won't share this info, but in actuality, once they run a credit check, the info you provide becomes a permanent part of your record with the credit reporting agencies. Once you sign up for the help "to get you through the difficult financial times", woops, your personal info has just been given to a credit repair/credit counseling service (which are not bound by the FCRA) and who knows who THEY give your info to. Also, unless you've opted-out (which I hope all readers of this website have already done), the bank can share any info you provide with all of their affiliates, some of which don't have much to do with offering you a checking or savings account (i.e. one of their affiliates might be a discount travel club, etc).

I will soon be closing out all my accounts with this bank, and can only imagine the third degree I'll be subjected to when I do!

Moreover, I live nearly halfway across the country from my nominee and VERY few people know I'm here. Even fewer have any address they can send me things here and that's under a pseudonym based on an LLC that I named using the "First Name Last Name, LLC" convention. I want to maintain our privacy by not "bringing" my nominee here by getting utilities in her name, and, likely under her SS#.

Granted, my situation of having a trusted nominee that's also a longtime friend is rare but possible with a lot of work and due diligence to make sure we take steps necessary to maintain our privacy. Hence, I want to avoid getting my utilities in her name. If you can think of a way of my getting the utilities in her name without using her SS#, too, please let me know. I'm sure that would be easier.

... Find another nominee?

I'd sign my signature illegibly enough that no one would recognize it if they saw the docs. I'd try to do it at my attorneys office, discreetly and let the attorney complete the transaction. Then, I wouldn't do anything else that would compromise privacy after closing on the house, like forgetting to get a CMRA to have my mail sent to, not getting utilities in the name of LLCs, etc. I'm really trying to think this through carefully before I truly start the process so, if you think of anything else I should be aware of, let me know. Thanks for your help!

... Since you have a trusted nominee, why not use her for utilities, telephone, cable TV etc.?

Try to use the same title company for both buying and selling. It will be easier to sell when the title company already has you on file.

When the time comes to sell, the title company will want some sort of resolution from the LLC that says a meeting was held, and that you were authorized to make the sale and that the check shall be made out to [your name, name of trust, whatever].

The way I remember people in my distant past buying homes with cash was get an attorney and have them do the whole deal; the LLC owner only deals with their own attorney. Is that the way to do this? I really don't want anyone to know my LLC owns the house so I don't really want to call Joe Average realtor for whom the phrase "discreet transaction" brings something extralegal to mind, not privacy. That could lead to some kind of report to a three-letter agency and I don't need that. How is this best done, Jack? Thanks.

... In some states, it is standard procedure to use an attorney. In others, most property sales involve only a title company, although you can always use a lawyer for an additional layer of privacy.

Or, you can have a nominee make all the offers if you are buying a house already built. The offer will be in the name of "Jane Nominee or assigns." If the sale closes, then at the last minute it can be said that title will be taken in the name of an LLC. At this point, you will have to do the signing and perhaps give your SSN (assuming you do not have an EIN for the LLC).

It appears it's becoming increasingly critical to (1) establish relationships with banks, using nominees, that allow you to pretty much achieve what you want and (2) establish a ghost address under a pseudonym, get it in the databases and use it to complete transactions and direct people trying to find you away from you. After over a year of doing both, including finding a bank contact in the corporate headquarters of my business bank whom I can call to get anything done I need (but who thinks I'm calling from another state than this one and/or constantly traveling because I got my nominee to send me a cell phone SIM card with that state's area code and bought a phone using my LLC account on which I call the woman!) and having CMRA/ghost addresses in a couple of states, I'm pretty privately achieving what I want and keeping my true name and the ghost address associated with it out of databases, except in the ways I want to be in them--to divert attention away from where I'm actually living. I do everything else using HTBI-based privacy techniques.

So, keep your eyes and ears out for nominee opportunities because has been key for me to do what I want. It's not easy to find people you trust but there ARE SOME trustworthy people out there. Others may have successfully achieved a similar 3.5 level privacy without a nominee and I hope they continue share how they have, too, but, for me, a nominee has been a critical to my success, as well as establishing relationships with businesses who "get" the privacy thing and go out of their way to respect mine to keep my business.

I have to be in a few databases (IRS for example)to live the kind of lifestyle I want. I like to minimize the databases I am in, because they are all searchable by someone.

Susan, you are exactly right. However, I prefer not to receive checks in the first place because that issuing bank is another database that can be used to track me or you. The writer of the check does not know your account number, but the issuing bank knows you very well. It has your name, and possibly other information about you, simply because you wanted them to cash your check. One day it will merge with another bank and your data will spread with the merger - and on and on. Do you know all the things that bank will do with your information? Neither do I. If they do not have it, the question is irrelevant to you. Some checks start out made of paper.All of them become electronic, and stay that way permanently - traceable to anyone who wants to look (see all posts on PI's).

Privacy is an ongoing challenge. Staying out of as many databases as possible is part of the process. Those who are very good at it got that way from a willingness to continue the search for new legal strategies, in a sea of obstacles. There have been posts on this site in the recent past offering information about how to remove your information from sites like intelius. Many readers of JJL strategies, including myself, do not like their information going into yet another database. To me, the convenience of cashing a check is not worth the new exposure.

I recently sold an item for several thousand dollars. It was a very legal transaction. I asked for cash. I received it. There was no legal requirement to report it.`I used a currency checker pen to check the money. I did not and will not deposit the money anywhere. I will simply spend it on ordinary things my wife and I need to live. No bank will ever know about the transaction. No one will be able to search it, because it is not in a database.

While the check-writer's bank can verify that the check-writer's account has sufficient funds available to cash the check, there does remain the possibility that the person presenting the check (that would be you in this example) might be presenting either a forged check or a forged signature.

A forged signature should be obvious to the bank if they bother to check the signatory card of the account holder. Whether they do that is obviously THEIR responsibility, not yours.

A forged check (account number and routing number correct but amount forged) might be a little harder to detect, however. This would be the situation that I could see the bank wanting to not cash the check under. Think "Catch Me If You Can" type plot-line here. That is truly the only case where ethically I could see the banking institution legitimately being hesitant to cash a check written by a customer for a non-customer.

Having said that, from the Banking Institution's perspective, I can now see why the Banking Institution would be hesistant to cash checks for non-customers. This is where the situation now calls for DIPLOMACY, TACT, and SUBTLE PERSUASIVE TACTICS. You will lose your privacy with the teller in that you will become memorable, you may even leave a fingerprint behind, and your ID will be checked, but you will retain your privacy from the person who wrote you the check in the first place. This, I believe, is the whole point of cashing a check at the check-writer's bank in the first place, right?