By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The Wood County Democratic Party has accused a local Republican candidate of misusing a real estate professionals platform to access information about Democratic candidates.
But Connor Rose, the Republican running for the county recorder seat, said he didn’t access any information that wasn’t public, and that Democrats are just playing dirty politics.
Over the weekend, Zach Schmidt, chair of the county Democratic party, issued a press release stating that Rose, a Realtor, allegedly improperly used his access to ForeWarn, a platform that lists personal financial details and criminal records of clients. The program is used to make real estate agents aware of possible risks when meeting unknown potential buyers at sites.
ForeWarn’s rules state that real estate agents can’t share data from the app publicly or with third parties, or use the app to pull information on non-professional contacts.
“Reports suggest that Mr. Rose used this platform not for business purposes, but for political gain – conducting opposition research and prying into the private lives of political rivals,” Schmidt said.
Rose acknowledged that he was temporarily suspended from using the app, but said it was due to him not responding to an email from ForeWarn about a search he had conducted.
“The allegations they (Democratic party) are making are completely false,” Rose said, adding that he is no longer suspended from using the ForeWarn program.
ForeWarn did not respond to multiple requests for information from BG Independent News.
However, emails shared between Democratic candidate Jan Materni and ForeWarn show that the real estate platform was aware of Rose’s improper searches for information on Materni, who is running for state representative, and county recorder candidate Jeremy Schroeder.
During an initial conversation on Monday, Rose said he had not searched names of political opponents. However, when confronted Tuesday with the emails between ForeWarn and Materni, Rose would not say if he had searched for the two Democratic candidates.
Rose said he would refer to his previous statement that he “derived no private information” from the platform.
Materni, the Democratic candidate who contacted ForeWarn about the possible misuse of the platform, said she was alerted that Rose was allegedly heard in a public setting loudly discussing the information he had gleaned.
“He was bragging about it,” Materni said.
The search of Materni’s name reportedly identified a foreclosure from 20 years ago when she was going through a divorce.
“I feel violated by this,” Materni said. “I worked hard to put this behind me.”
But Rose insisted that the accusations from the Democratic party are unfair.
“I feel like this is an attempt to play dirty politics,” Rose said. “I have an outstanding record in the county. I am very proud of the reputation I have worked hard to establish.”
He stressed that the ForeWarn platform does not include any information that can’t be accessed through public record requests.
“There’s nothing I can search on there that’s not public,” Rose said.
In addition to financial and criminal records, ForeWarn also supplies a person’s address history; phone, vehicle and property records; bankruptcies; and liens and judgments, including foreclosure histories.
The product notes that while such data could generally be gleaned from public records, ForeWarn delivers it at the press of a button — a function real estate agents say allows them to gather publicly available information without having to visit courthouses and municipal offices, a process which would normally take days.
Cindy Hofner, chair of the Wood County Republican Party, said she has spoken with Rose and is satisfied that he did not act inappropriately.
“I’ve worked with public records for all of my life,” said Hofner, the former Wood County clerk of courts. “There is nothing in there that isn’t a public record.”
Hofner said Rose told her he did not search the names of opposition candidates, and that he was suspended from the ForeWarn platform for not responding in a timely fashion to an email.
“I am confident our candidate will continue to be a great candidate,” Hofner said.
But Schmidt questioned, if Rose is loose with rules about information from the ForeWarn program, how will he conduct himself as county recorder?
“The recorder’s office holds access to private information about property owners, and voters rightfully expect candidates for this position to uphold the highest standards of ethics and integrity,” Schmidt wrote in his letter to the editor about Rose.
Schroeder, whose record reportedly showed nothing negative, questioned the actions of Rose.
“It does seem a clear violation to use privileged information to his advantage,” Schroeder said. “It seems to be a serious lack of judgment.”
“I continue to support him,” Hofner said of Rose. “He’ll be a great county recorder.”
