Balancing act: privacy and fraud
by Tim Manni
Sellers of homes in Cook County, Illinois, will have to submit to being fingerprinted under a new law that takes effect June 1:
Real estate certainly has its risks and fraud is a growing problem, but now there’s a new law that’s supposed to protect buyers. …
The new law, which is set to go into effect June 1, 2009, will force anyone selling property in Cook County to provide a thumbprint from their right hand.
Reaction is mixed, but aside from title companies, pretty much everyone else quoted is against it, citing privacy concerns and the general creepiness of it. There is, of course, a stigma associated with being fingerprinted; it most typically happens when one is incarcerated.
But even that aside, the issue is whether it will actually prevent fraud. Just how many homes have been sold in Cook County by scammers who don’t own the home? I googled for more information, but came up dry. Given the crash of the real-estate market, I’d say there’s a lot more fraud among buyers than sellers. For that matter, I’d bet there’s a lot more fraud involved in selling, say, used cars, jewelry, and similar items. Will the solons of Cook County move to fingerprint them as well?
And what about privacy? Home sales are a matter of public record; will the seller’s fingerprints be a part of that? If so, we’ll see some real fraud.
