Selling a home will cost you a thumb(print)

Selling a home will cost you a thumb(print)
By Mary Umberger
Copyright © 2009, Chicago Tribune
April 12, 2009
http://www.chicagotribune.com/classified/realestate/advice/chi-0412-umberger-columnapr12,0,1800746.column


If you're going to be selling your house in Cook County this summer, be sure to bring at least one thumb to the closing table.

A new Illinois law that takes effect June 1 will require notaries who witness signatures at Cook County real estate closings to fingerprint home sellers as a way of documenting that they are who they say they are.

It doesn't take much to stir up the blogosphere, and this new requirement has done exactly that—principally sowing concern that it's invasive.

These comments, in turn, have generated a lot of other opinions online. Some of them are filled with misinformation, and some even speculate that the law isn't real—that it's some kind of Internet myth.

So, for the sake of clarity, here are the basics:

•The law is real (Illinois Public Act 095-0988), signed by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich last fall. It requires that notaries in Cook County obtain the seller's right thumbprint, and that it be kept on file for seven years in one of two ways: If the notary is employed by a lawyer or title company, the print would be stored with that lawyer or title company; if employed independently, the notary must file the print with the Cook County Recorder of Deeds.

•The law only applies to houses, condos and buildings with up to four units.

•The keeper of the print cannot disclose or release the thumbprint without a court order, nor can the print be obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request.

•And if you don't have a right thumb, according to the law, a left thumbprint is OK. Lacking either one, any digit will do. If you have none of the above, the notary has to note that in the record.

•The law is intended to help deter mortgage fraud, which has been endemic in Illinois (which ranked No. 3 in the nation for it in 2008, according to the Mortgage Asset Research Institute), and particularly in Cook County. Many cases of mortgage fraud are rooted in the ostensible "seller" of a home forging the signature of the rightful owner.

The invasion-of-privacy concern charge has been led, most visibly, by Fox News commentator Glenn Beck. He said the law steps over a line and called it "a dangerous co-opting of rights from American citizens.

"We have to stop ceding control of our lives to the government, and this kind of invasive law is another terrifyingly dangerous step in the wrong direction," he said.

But the law isn't exactly a first. Home sellers in California have had to submit their thumbprints for more than a decade, according to the National Notary Association in Los Angeles, which said the requirement appears to have helped cut the incidence of mortgage fraud there.

"Our experience has been that this has been very favorable for preventing and investigating fraud," said Timothy Reiniger, executive director of the notaries' trade group. "We know of no privacy complaints or problems resulting from this law."

Other critics are concerned that the law adds one more layer of bureaucracy to the already-complex matter of closing a real estate deal.

Chicago real estate agent Chuck Gullett, for example, says he believes the current requirement for sellers to produce government-issued identification such as a driver's license or passport ought to be enough. "The fingerprinting privilege is usually just given to those making an unplanned visit to Cook County Jail," he wrote in his blog, chuckgullett.featuredblog .com.

"It's just too easy to counterfeit drivers' licenses," Reiniger responds. "We know from talking to law enforcement in California and discussing it with the FBI that there's nothing better than having a record of the thumbprint."

Gullet, an agent with Best Chicago Properties LLC, ceded in an interview that Reiniger may have a point, but says the new law is creating some confusion and that many in his industry seem unaware of the impending change.

John O'Brien, chairman of the Illinois Real Estate Lawyers Association in Arlington Heights, said the rule may be inconvenient and probably will generate some awkward jokes at the closing table.

"But if the end result is that people are protected and we don't have these horrible stories [of mortgage fraud], then it will be worth the inconvenience," he said.