Editorial: Protecting ordinary people

Thursday, March 29, 2007 | 7:17 a.m.

A Treasury Department watch list, created to prevent the financial transactions of terrorists and drug traffickers, is increasingly being used to check up on ordinary people seeking apartment rentals, mortgages and car loans.

A report released Tuesday by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, a legal services and civil rights group, says an executive order issued by President Bush following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has allowed expanded use of Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control list without providing training for businesses that intend to use it or recourse for individuals who have wrongly been denied services.

The report also notes that the broad scope created by Bush's expansion for use of the 6,000-name, 250-page list has prompted businesses to err on the side of caution. Businesses deny services rather than risk federal fines of up to $10 million and prison sentences of 10 to 30 years for doing business with a known terrorist or criminal.

In one case cited by the report , a Phoenix couple could not close the purchase of their first home because the husband's first and last names appeared on the terror list. The entry on the list did not include the date the information was entered or a date of birth for the individual, so there was no way to make sure the home buyer was not the person listed. Moreover, the report says, there is no way to permanently clear the man's name.

It is understandable that businesses are being cautious. As The Washington Post reported Tuesday, a Tucson car dealer says he might have avoided selling the car used by Mohamed Atta, who flew one of the planes into the World Trade Center, if he had known to check Treasury's list.

The Treasury Department needs to make certain that all the names listed have birth dates or other identifying features so innocent people aren't accused of being terrorists or criminals. And people who are wrongly denied mortgages, car loans and other services should have some recourse to clear their names.