For those of you who have not read the Patriot Act, I encourage you to do so. While it is cumbersome—it is important to know about this legislation that was pushed through so quickly in the wake of 9/11. Supporters of the Patriot Act claim its intent is to stem the flow of laundered money which funds terrorism. I suspect most of the people who support the act have not taken the time to really read it in its entirety.
Before the Patriot Act, we had the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, which established the ground rules for reporting and detecting money-laundering activities. The Patriot Act amends and expands on the Bank Secrecy Act. Under the Patriot Act the definition of financial institution was broadened to include entities that were not strictly financial institutions. The list is not too long and for the most part makes sense and includes entities such as casinos with annual revenue in excess of 1 million, commodities brokers/dealers, dealers in precious metals, stones and jewelry. It also includes: The US Postal Service, businesses engaged in vehicle sales (cars, boats, planes), Insurance Companies and the like. (By the way, in the Bank Secrecy Act they refer to Leather Goods Stores/dealers as ‘High Risk.”)
The Patriot Act does require that financial institutions have Customer Identification Programs in place. To meet this requirement, the financial institution must obtain/verify the customers name, address, social security number, date birth and occupation. Under the Bank Secrecy Act provisions, transactions over a certain dollar amount, which meet certain criteria, must be documented by the financial institution and in some cases reported to the government. These transactions include:
• Transactions > 2000 IF SUSPICIOUS
• Cash in or out transactions >10,000 in the same day
• Money Orders or Travelers Checks in the amount of $3000 - $10000 to the same person in the same day
• Money Transfer of $3000+ to the same customer in the same day
IMPORTANT: Cash does not include a check drawn on the payer’s own account such as a personal check regardless of the amount!
According to www.privacy.org, a credit check is a valid means of meeting the requirements of identity verification under the Patriot Act. However, it does not say ANYWHERE that a credit report must be run on anyone purchasing a vehicle for cash. Additionally, www.Privacy.org “suggests” that you may want to check your credit report as you would not want to be declined credit because of identity theft or CONSIDERED A PERSON OF SUSPICION! That line “PERSON OF SUSPICION” is what really captured my attention! As a side note, Privacy.org also suggests reviewing your ChexSystem report.
Besides all of the above information, something we REALLY NEED to be aware of is PATRIOT ACT II. On 13 December 2003 (the day Hussein was captured). This little piece of the Patriot Act pie was passed. This is the SCARIEST part of the Patriot Act as it grants the FBI the authority to PROBE YOUR FINANCIAL RECORDS and DOCUMENTS even if the Federal Government does not suspect your involvement in criminal activity or terrorism. The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 funds all intelligence activity while expanding and redefining the term “Financial Institutions” to include businesses “whose cash transactions have a high degree of usefulness in criminal, tax or regulatory matters. Under this expansion of the Patriot Act, the FBI can go to a financial institution and request records both financial and non-financial using a National Security Letter. The financial institution has to turn over these documents. The FBI does not have to go before a judge to get a subpoena to obtain these records or demonstrate probable cause. Even more frightening is that the National Security Letter comes with an attached GAG ORDER to prevent the financial institution from informing the client that the records have been surrendered to the FBI. The financial institution faces criminal penalties if it divulges the surrendering of the documents and records.
So, why is this important to a group of people who are busy trying to rebuild credit and their financial life? Consider this, every time you apply for a job, buy real estate or engage in any transactions with entities that meet the broadened definition of a financial institution, you are putting yourself out there for scrutiny by someone who may for whatever reason, feel your history makes you suspect. Who knows what may be considered “suspect”—maybe you had a minor brush with the law, issues regarding child support or spousal support, a criminal record, a history of being a STUDENT PROTESTOR! Any of these things could make you the target of an investigation. It may sound cliché—but this is Un-American! How did we allow our congress to pass the Patriot Act II by voice vote to avoid individual accountability?, Your rights are not being protected and you are certainly no safer from terrorism because the government now has unbridled access to your personal records.
