Apr 02, 2007 -- Terrorist alert on your credit report?
The federal government has a list of specially designated nationals that is used to identify criminals and potential terrorists. It comes from the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), and the Feds began compiling the list after the September 11 attacks. The problem is that innocent, law-abiding citizens are receiving alerts on their credit reports if their names are similar to someone on the terrorist list. The OFAC alert that appears on reports tells banks and lenders that you are a potential terrorist. When a car dealership or mortgage company sees this alert, they dont want to do business with you. Its not just the stigma that may come along with the alert. Business owners could be arrested for aiding and abetting a terrorist if they sell to someone on the list. So, they are scared, too. In addition, once the OFAC is on the report its not very easy to get rid of it. So, just know that this could happen. The person across from you could be completely harmless and you need to be aware of that.