Bank’s Patriot Act claim riles homeowners’ board

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2003 | 11:04 a.m.

After a life filled with helping teenagers in trouble, coaching her children's Little League teams and pitching in on park cleanup days, Rebecca Foster thought it was a natural decision to volunteer on the homeowners association when she moved to Heritage Estates three years ago.

She never imagined the move would lead her to go up against the federal government and the increasingly controversial USA Patriot Act.

When the association switched banks in August, its board members were asked for their Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers and other personal information "to determine if there are any terrorist links," according to the bank's correspondence. The letter also said it would be searching a database for "any derogatory banking information."

Foster and the rest of the board just said no.

"I don't think I've ever openly defied the federal government before," the court clerk and president of the homeowner association said. "I pay taxes on time and I'm a law-abiding citizen.

"But I just didn't want to surrender my personal information to work with a volunteer organization."

She had her own reasons to feel this way, having been a victim of identity fraud about eight years ago when she lived in Phoenix and made the mistake of throwing away some checks that another person got ahold of and used.

But the association's four other members felt similarly and also refused to submit the information. The case has come to the attention of the Nevada chapter of the ACLU, which also called into question the anti-terrorist act's use in a recent political corruption probe that indicted one sitting Clark County commissioner and three former commissioners.

"This case shows a very troubling aspect of the Patriot Act that provides further evidence of why it is such a threat to civil liberties," said Gary Peck, executive director of the Nevada ACLU. "The only basis for asking for this private information ... is the fact that somebody is participating in a volunteer homeowner's association -- so there is no suspicion of terrorism or criminal behavior."

Cheryl Pierce, secretary for the association board, agreed. "When somebody is volunteering to serve an organization to make their community a better place, that's the last place they should be looking for terrorists," she said.

The association's unexpected conflict began when the association, which oversees the subdivision's 418 houses, chose the 1st National Bank of Arizona / Nevada this summer for its favorable interest rates, Foster said. When the signature cards for her and the board's four other members requested additional information, Foster asked why.

The bank responded with a letter that invoked the anti-terrorist act and said it would "check (the information) against the government's terrorist list.

"You can be assured this this information is kept confidential," the letter continued.

The bank also explained that it would look for names on the Office of Foreign Asset Control list, a division of the Treasury Department which "administers and oversees a series of laws that impose economic sanctions against hostile targets to further ... national security objectives," according to the office's website.

Pat Lamb, general counsel for the bank, said the bank "requires the information from whomever the Patriot Act requires that we take it from.

"It is required across the board for all sorts of business accounts, including homeowner's associations and nonprofits," he said.

The attorney also said "the response in general has been positive."

But Foster didn't understand how her association got mixed up in a federal act. "What in the world does (a homeowner association) have to do with the Patriot Act?" she said.

The board checked with the association's attorney, who said she didn't feel qualified to comment. The board decided on its own not to comply with the bank's request.

"We looked at each other and decided we weren't going to give up the information," Foster said.

Two and a half months later, the bank hasn't asked the board again for the information, and the association continues to write checks on the account.

But Foster said the case has made her reconsider the federal government and its way of operating after Sept. 11, 2001.

"(This) is going too far," Foster said. "Do you suspect everyone of being a terrorist without having any reason to believe they are?

"That's not protecting individual Americans and their liberty, rights and privacy."

Peck said the disclosure last week of the act's use in a local corruption probe and Foster's case both point to the law being applied in ways that are contrary to its intended purpose.

"Nobody who supported the act did so with this in mind," he said.

Jack Finn, spokesman for Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said the senator "supports the act as a valuable law enforcement tool -- however, like any tool it can misused."

Ensign would not comment on the association's case, the spokesman said. "But if we were contacted by the constituents we would be glad to look into it," he said.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a recent statement that he is also concerned about the law being misused and will support phasing out certain parts of the acts in 2005.

Peck pointed out that such cases may wind up discouraging citizens from participating in public life if they feel that doing so would result in their private life being compromised.

"Volunteer associations are the bedrock of American democracy and most people who participate in American civic life do so through volunteering," he said.

"So are we to assume that anyone with fiduciary responsibility in a volunteer organization is to be expected to turn over their financial and other information so that the government can begin snooping around?"

Both Foster and Pierce said they might think twice before volunteering again if it facing similar policies.

"This would deter me from serving on any volunteer organization that I would have to supply this sort of information for," Foster said.

Then she shook her head.

"I feel like the war on terrorism is turning into a war on the American public.

"It's just a different world post-Sept. 11 ... and I'm not sure I like it," she said.