I have been trying to do some refinancing with an out of state broker. Very nice guy, seems knowledgable.
We have had a few issues and I think from now on I will try to work locally first, I think things would have went smoother.
Oddly enough I chose this person because they have a big presence on a forum I read alot and I felt safer with them than with a local person I didn't know at all, sort of opposite of your situation.
As for giving out your info, I think the only way to safeguard it is to subscribe to a credit monitoring service that lets you check your credit on a regular basis. I Look at it this way..anything I do that deals with utilities, medical, banking, credit, ..etc requires all my info. Not to mention that half the time I call a creditor I am connected with someone who doesn't even live in this country..how safe can my info possible be?