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I am gonna be a little hostile. I don't think that extending a credit is the same thing as renting a house. I am okay to give personal information EXCEPT the SSN. You can run criminal check using Date of Birth.
When you check in a hotel, you get an access to a property worth maybe more than a million of dollars and do they screen your butt using SSN ?
You as a landlord are not extending any credit to me! You can photocopy my ID, run criminal check and I sign a contract with you that I will pay you RENT each and every month.
Seriously guys, I don't think I am gonna win with my arguments here. Landlords are just gonna tell me "good luck", it just isn't right.
I think I would be better off buying a house instead of renting. If I pay cash, nobody is gonna want my SSN or anything.
A few years ago I became a victim of identity theft. No idea where they got my personal info from, but somebody applied for some loans on my name. That's why I am being so sensitive about it now.
The relationship between the landlord and tenant is not equal. You "have to" give all the information to somebody you don't even know.
If I knew I'd want to stay longer than a year I would buy something for cash just to avoid dealing with those kind of things.
I wonder if it would be a good compromise to provide the SSN, run all the reports on his computer during my presence, and as soon as everything comes back clear, shred the sensitive information so that my SSN is not stored anywhere.
The relationship between the landlord and tenant is not equal. You "have to" give all the information to somebody you don't even know.
If you're renting from a private landlord, and they are the owner of record, you will absolute know who they are. Real property ownership is public record in most cases, so you can very likely get online and confirm who they are. Ask them for a copy of a mortgage statement or utility bill, and confirm that by a glance at their driver's license, if that helps you.
If a landlord is new in the business, and has never been burned, then maybe. On the other hand, a landlord with experience isn't going to go along with it. We manage 170 properties, so I've seen everything and I've had a tenant do $15k worth of damage to one house, $10k worth of damage to another house, $8k to another house, and $3-5k multiple times. Landlord insurance doesn't cover tenant damage. On average, we sue 1-2 tenants a year, either for eviction or damage. Our attorney requires we collect SS#s for these situations.
The best defense against this sort of thing is checking credit, background, and rental history. If an applicant isn't willing to let me do those things, then I move to the next applicant. It is still a landlord's market in my area, so I typically have more applications than I have properties.
I understand that you are concerned with identity theft. That is only smart. But you still have to live your life. The best defense against identity theft when renting is to rent from a company who is established in the area with a good reputation. Get referrals from friends. And like JK said, get a block on all 3 bureaus.
A few years ago I became a victim of identity theft. No idea where they got my personal info from, but somebody applied for some loans on my name. That's why I am being so sensitive about it now.
The relationship between the landlord and tenant is not equal. You "have to" give all the information to somebody you don't even know.
If I knew I'd want to stay longer than a year I would buy something for cash just to avoid dealing with those kind of things.
I wonder if it would be a good compromise to provide the SSN, run all the reports on his computer during my presence, and as soon as everything comes back clear, shred the sensitive information so that my SSN is not stored anywhere.
There are already federal laws in place that stipulate how landlords must deal with sensitive information. I was in a car accident once when I was 10 but that hasn't stopped me from driving or riding in cars. You can't let one incident effect the way you live like that. If you find a no credit check landlord it isn't going to be in the best of neighborhoods and certainly won't be one managed the way you would expect.
I am gonna be a little hostile. I don't think that extending a credit is the same thing as renting a house. I am okay to give personal information EXCEPT the SSN. You can run criminal check using Date of Birth.
When you check in a hotel, you get an access to a property worth maybe more than a million of dollars and do they screen your butt using SSN ?
You as a landlord are not extending any credit to me! You can photocopy my ID, run criminal check and I sign a contract with you that I will pay you RENT each and every month.
Seriously guys, I don't think I am gonna win with my arguments here. Landlords are just gonna tell me "good luck", it just isn't right.
I think I would be better off buying a house instead of renting. If I pay cash, nobody is gonna want my SSN or anything.
You're not putting yourself in the shoes of the landlord. You are afraid of identity theft, and a landlord is afraid of having to absorb possibly thousands of dollars in losses and damages.
If you were a landlord, would you not want to screen someone who could cost you thousands of dollars?
Sure, hotels don't ask for social security numbers, but they do have a credit card. And they can much more easily get you out of their properties.
So, you'll have to either rent from a hotel, accept the status quo for what landlords require in decent neighborhoods, or buy your own place.
You're not putting yourself in the shoes of the landlord. You are afraid of identity theft, and a landlord is afraid of having to absorb possibly thousands of dollars in losses and damages.
If you were a landlord, would you not want to screen someone who could cost you thousands of dollars?
Sure, hotels don't ask for social security numbers, but they do have a credit card. And they can much more easily get you out of their properties.
So, you'll have to either rent from a hotel, accept the status quo for what landlords require in decent neighborhoods, or buy your own place.
Even if she buys her own place for cash, she's giving somebody that SS #
There are so many other times in life you need to give your SS so there is always going to be a risk. When you get a credit card, car insurance, job, doctors office I mean I could go on.
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