california, sorry
i am getting a small loan on an investment property
title asked me for my social, cuz there were multiple people with my name. they settled for the last 4.
i have never had title ask me for my social, and i have been through quite a few real estate trx
since this was an equity loan, not a credit loan, the only thing that was relevant was things to do with the property itself, like liens on the property, insurance on the property, etc.
demands from the lender that i had fulfilled.
it turns out that none of those people were me
but i was wondering, for the future, if personal liens could be attached to real estate - in the sense that my lender would only be in 2nd position, since his lien date would be after the others. if so, i understand why the search was done.
if not, there is no reason to have searched in the first place
i AM EXTREMELY HESITANT to give out my social to anyone. it has been used as an identification number for a long time. i am old enough to have a ss card that says "not to be used for identification". most people arent even aware of that. they stopped using it for medicare just a year or two ago.
someone steals your credit card info, which happens every once in awhile, you notify your issuer, they cancel it and send out another one. someone steals your ss info, and you are up blank creek, without a paddle
so i try to stay informed of any system in which i am involved.