Q: We live in Virginia, and a family member has asked us to be the guarantor for an apartment in Brooklyn. We’re retired, so we don’t have pay stubs, but we have a significant investment portfolio and dividend income. Potential landlords have asked for two years of tax returns, bank statements and brokerage statements, with account numbers and contact information, as well as our photos. We’re worried about sharing our detailed financial information. Do they protect this material or destroy it when the process is complete?
A: There are responsible and irresponsible apartment owners, and there is no guarantee that they will handle your sensitive financial and personal data with care. Even if they do, breaches happen.
Ask what happens to the personal data the owner collects, and ask the owner to put it in writing. What is the protocol for destroying your documents once the application is approved or rejected? Do they use your information for any other purpose? The answer could give insight into how seriously the owner takes data protection.
Mark B. Levine, principal of EBMG, a property management firm, said that his properties ask for a full Social Security number only once on a primary application for a credit check, and it’s redacted on all other documents. Account numbers are not shared with board members. Physical documents are destroyed after the review, and the link to a secure electronic lockbox for any documents that were shared with board members is destroyed, Mr. Levine said.
But not all landlords take this seriously, and there is no blanket data protection law.
“Even if we had a single comprehensive law, who’s to say the landlord will follow it?,” said Kevin Cleary, a clinical associate professor at the University at Buffalo School of Management.
There’s a complex patchwork of state and federal laws that could protect your data, but in some sense, it doesn’t matter. You want to get ahead of this, not rely on a law that has been broken after your data has been compromised.
It’s better not to share everything in order to limit your risk as much as possible.
“Redact it anyway and see what they say,” Mr. Cleary said.
Consider setting up a separate email and phone number that is not connected to your data and using those on your application.
Competition for apartments can be tight, and if you don’t give all the information that they are seeking, they could just move on to the next application. But your privacy could be worth this cost.