So, recently I deposited a modest sum in a CD at a well-known financial institution.
When I registered at their on-line site, they verified my identity with a set of questions similar to what you get when you go to download your "free" annual credit report from one of the three recognized credit reporting agencies.
What I am puzzled by is this: one of the questions was in regard to the address of a real property I formerly owned, which was not directly financed upon either purchase or sale.
I know that real property ownership records are more or less public information; however, why would a bank know and ask me about same, as an identity verification technique? Is there a nation-wide, commercially-accessible, database of historical property ownership?
-Mark Bole
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