New Landlord (Old landlord sold house)--advice (sale, lease)

[sandra33162]

Hi,

My old landlord recently sold our unit to another person. So far the transition has gone smoothly, with only minor bumps along the way.

They asked us to sign a new lease under their name for the remainder of our lease period, that will be the same as our old lease. Everyone in our house is fine with this; however, they have now asked for us to fill out their usual tenant application. The form asks for SSN and bank and checking account number. Another tenant in the house has already voiced her concerns over the SSN and they've stated that we can send a copy of our ID instead (so that they can verify our identity). I understand that this is most likely how they normally screen tenants and verify identity and credit before they approve someone. But, I specifically chose to rent this unit because the landlord didn't require that information to be disclosed, and since I already live in the unit...I'm already approved to live there. Am I within my rights, as a current tenant who is not going to renew the lease, to refuse to give them my SSN and bank and checking account numbers?

Thanks for the advice.

[MikePRU]

Your old lease survives the sale of the property so there's no need to sign a new one. Any landlord should know this so I wonder if they are asking you to sign a new lease in order to sneak in some new language. Also, unless there is language in the lease requiring you to have an application on file the there is no requirement for you to fill out another if you don’t want.

[snatale1]

It could very well be that their new to being landlords and don't realize your old lease is still valid, OR as MikePRU stated it COULD have some tweaks in it which I'd be very careful of. IF it's the exact same lease, no new conditions and you don't mind signing it, I'd make sure the lease term ends on the same date your original did and not a year from the signing of the new lease.

[Bob Lanata]

Sandra,

I agree with snatale and MikePRU in not signing anything and these and do you really need to give your Social Security number to them? Educate them in letting them know that what you signed is still valid. Maybe they do not know.