Where is all of your personal financial information?

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I can’t believe that this hasn’t become a bigger issue in the mainstream media, but where are all of the files for all of the loans going for all of these bankrupt companies? I am sure that the biggest lenders will properly follow the storage and destruction requirements but what about all of these small lenders? Do you really think some small little mortgage broker is going to do anything to ensure the protection of the personal data in your files?

By law they have to hold on to the files for at least 3 years (or more). So what will they do? Throw them in their garage? Think about everything in a loan file:

income documentation (W2’s, tax returns, etc.)
identity information (driver’s license, social security card copies)
credit information (credit score, account numbers)
work history – employer contacts, etc.
property information (title, mortgage statements)
signatures of borrowers

Where does this all go? I hope it doesn’t end up in a garage. But as the owner of OwnIt Mortgage said in a recent NY Times article (sub req’d) "all that is left are files and empty offices."