Patriot Act

The USA PATRIOT Act and the President's Executive Order #13224, along with its Special Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list (SDN) are both intended to curb, and prevent, business interactions with terrorist organizations. The Patriot Act and the Executive Order have differing compliance requirements, but the same overall goal.

Several recent news articles have mischaracterized and/or confused the impact of these measures on real estate professionals. A recent article in the New York Daily News mentioned that commercial real estate brokers are "personally responsible for making sure prospective tenants aren't terrorists." It should be made clear that all businesses are prohibited from dealing with SDN entities and that there are no special rules specific to commercial real estate.

Read more of the Fact Sheet from NAR by David Lereah and Joe Ventrone (156k)
View NAR's Field Guide to Terrorism and Real Estate