Fingerprinting Required to Sell Your Home?

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This is a rush transcript from "Glenn Beck," March 16, 2009. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

GLENN BECK, HOST: OK. Let me see if I have this right. Welcome to America. We can't fingerprint anybody who's coming into this country because that would be offensive. But if you own property in Chicago and you want to sell it, guess who is going to get fingerprinted? Who has to get fingerprinted? You do.

We can't take DNA samples from killers or rapists but you can have your fingerprint taken if you want to sell your house. What is happening to this country?

It's happening in Chicago. Who is from Chicago? That's where the president's from. Anyway, Gerald Cain is a homeowner who is just as outraged as I am. He lives in Cook County, Illinois where this law is about to go into effect.

OK. Gerald, why would you have to give your fingerprint if you want to sell your house in Chicago?

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GERALD CAIN, HOMEOWNER, COOK COUNTY, CHICAGO: Well apparently, last October, our state legislature passed a law under the guise of an act affecting notary publics in Illinois. Under the law, a real estate transaction in Cook County where an Illinois notary is notarizing the deed would be required to obtain your fingerprint in order — and keep a permanent record — or excuse me, a 7-year record of your fingerprint to make the transaction valid.

BECK: OK. Why, is my question? I can't figure out why.

CAIN: Well, apparently they thought that somehow this would reduce fraud in real estate. Obviously, just giving someone your fingerprint —

BECK: Wait, wait, wait. Hang on just a second. Wait a minute. Hold it, just a second. Reduce fraud in real estate in the Chicago area. Obama is in the White House and Rezko is in jail, right? How much fraud do you guys have in real estate out there?

CAIN: Well, apparently in Illinois, if you live in Cook County, we're a bunch of hooligans, I guess, and we need to be monitored very closely.

BECK: OK. So this starts June 1st. You're actually the guy who brought it to our attention. Nobody is talking about the whole fingerprint thing. Even the citizens didn't really know about this. This is passed in like the middle of the night, right?

CAIN: That's correct. During the last national election, in October, first of October, where everybody was focused elsewhere, this was signed into law by our former governor.

BECK: Oh, I love him.

CAIN: No one has said anything about it.

BECK: I can't wait — Blagojevich? I can't wait until his new book comes out. I wonder if he did it.

OK. So again, I go back to the original question — why? How is — the problem is apparently you're having so much fraud there that it's so out of control that you're not even reading about it. And they now want to keep your fingerprints for seven years.

What do you think this is going to do? What's the big problem? The government always tries to solve a problem and what they do is make the problems worse. What is the problem this is going to solve — or I mean, create?

CAIN: I don't see it solving any problem. One of the things I do see it creating is that, you know, I go in to sell my home and here is my thumbprint. Well, the way the law is structured, that thumbprint is probably going to be kept a copy of it by the title company, by the attorney, and possibly the recorder of deeds, depending on how the transaction is structured.

BECK: Can you say no? I mean, I'm not giving you my thumbprint, no?

CAIN: The way the law is written, there would be so many ways around it. Certainly, someone would just have to cross a state border and have the deed notarized in another state. So aside from being just an invasion of privacy and treating the good citizens of Cook County like they're criminals, it's unenforceable.

BECK: OK. Gerald, thank you very much for bringing this to our attention. You know, America, we've got to stop giving this government more power. I mean, they are taking power — I mean, stop giving them your prints and the power and everything else until they have proven themselves responsible and worthy of that.

And you know, for people who are tuning in right now — well, yes, where were you saying this under George W. Bush? I was on another network. You weren't seeing me say these things.

It is not about Obama. It is not about the Democrats. It's about all of them. Washington is out of control. You retain your rights. Don't you lend them any more of this power. It's out of control.

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