The Senate Banking Committee has passed The Federal Housing Finance Regulatory Reform Act of 2008 and it will be sent on to the full Senate, but it is already raising a storm of controversy over one of its provisions that some are saying is one of the worse violations of personal privacy yet.

First of all, the bill was passed by a vote of 19-2. The purpose of the bill is to major help prevent the rising number of foreclosures as well as to create more affordable housing for Americans. In other words, it has provisions to help certain homeowners who are facing foreclosure – for instance those who own a second or vacation home would not qualify- and it has provisions that are there to try and make another foreclosure highly unlikely and it is one of these that is causing a big stir.

The bill would require anyone working in any capacity in the mortgage and/or industry to have their fingerprints on file with the federal government. Now, anyone who is involved with the government in any capacity that touches on security for instance if you work for a company that supplies materials used by the military, your finger prints are on file, but opponents are saying that the mortgage and/or real estate industry has nothing to do with security.

The fact that Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff says that your fingerprints are not personal data has only added fuel to the fire. Now, I know from personal experience in the real estate industry that it is very easy to get a real estate license. You do not have to be a citizen. As a matter of fact, you do not have to speak English. Yes, you have to be licensed, but as long as you can pass a test and be sponsored by a broker, you are in. And we certainly do not want to have another experience like we just had, but just how much good would it do to get fingerprints of everyone? In this day of stolen identities, fingerprints are the only truly unique means of identification. Sorry, Mr. Secretary, they are personal information. But the chances of anyone who handled the mortgages in this current mess actually being a criminal is rather small I would think. And even if they do submit their fingerprints how would we know if they were submitting them with stolen ID’s? The only good thing would be if their finger prints are already on file – from military service for instance, there would be a reference point.

Personally, I do not think it is workable. The only possible thing that could come out of it would be to discourage anyone with a past criminal history from getting into the industry. That does not guarantee that those who do not have a criminal history are 100% honest either. It would just cause a big quagmire and we have enough of them already. Of course the bill is just out of committee and it has a long way to go before it becomes law. And very few bill make it all the way without changes, so we will be watching.