Leslie

Are you saying that they are asking for all of this stuff just to let you view the property?

Steerpike

I agree ... in theory, you are only supposed to have to give out your SSN in a very limited set of circumstances, but - I discovered on further investigation - this applies to Govt. agencies only. I tried to refuse to give my SSN to an insurance company (providing house insurance); they said they needed it to verify my past claims history. I suggested that I was under no obligation to provide this, to which they replied, 'true, and we have no obligation to provide you with insurance'. I've pretty much given up trying to fight this.

I'm reminded of a wonderful Dilbert cartoon, where Dilbert is having dinner in a restaurant with a colleague, discussing the use of credit cards for internet transactions and identity theft; at the same time they are discussing this, he's handing his credit card to the waiter for payment ...

Leslie

The fact of the matter is that businesses have to run credit on everybody because there are so many crooked thieving people out there that are scamming EVERYBODY. Con men don't just screw over individuals (as in the case of identity theft) they also target businesses and, incidentally, businesses lose millions every year to identity theft.

Englishtart

As far as I know, no they didn't, they accepted the printed out credit score/history, when we paid our deposit and first months rent. There was never any reason for them to ask for it again.

We filled in a military lease though, so I'm not sure if that was what made the difference? I know we have had credit checks run on us for other finance stuff, but not that one.

Leslie

The military could be different. I've known of management companies that focused on military rentals specifically because the military would guarantee them certain protections for their property. I don't know. However, if you filled out an application then they probably ran your credit.

Sonic5

No - just if we make an application.

Leslie

Okay. Well that makes sense. How else are they going to qualify you? Just don't fill out any applications unless you are pretty serious about making the deal. I wouldn't think that many professional identity thieves are going to be moonlighting as landlords. Property ownership, rentals etc. is hard work. Besides, the nicer properties will mostly use management companies whose credentials can be verified.

Englishtart

I guess it's quite possible they did do the credit check after we had finished with the app' paperwork, i'm not willing to say 100% that they didn't but AFIK I never saw the enquiry from them on my credit report ( I check it every month thru' a paid subscription) but it was over 2 yrs ago, so I could be wrong.

Steerpike

I believe his concern is that the private individual landlord may be more 'careless' with the acquired information. I do IT for a medical company, and we have to comply with a LOT of requirements - eg, transmission of anything containing SSN must be by secure email and/or over an SSL connection; data on our network must be encrypted, and restricted to 'need to know' employees; backup tapes must be encrypted; CDs must be destroyed; USB drives are not allowed unless they are encrypted; laptops have to have their hard drives encrypted, and there must be safeguards in place to prevent a hard drive from being read outside of the original laptop; paper documents must be locked away at night and when no longer needed, shredded; ... etc etc ad nauseum. I'm in the middle of a project right now where every laptop out in the field has to be returned to me so I can swap out the hard drive with an encrypted drive; it is easily doubling the cost and time of our operation to comply with all these requirements, but - if we don't, and if we are audited, we can lose customers, be fined, etc.

There is a very, very good chance that a private landlord is NOT going to bother with any of this, and thus your info is vulnerable at many levels - what if his laptop is stolen; USB drive lost; CD backup found in the garbage; paper copies retrieved from garbage; email account hacked; etc etc.

Now, on balance, I still don't think it's worth losing sleep over

Leslie

But he didn't say he was worried about carelessness but rather specifically mentioned his fear of intentional criminal behavior. I think the chance of this happening isn't really very high. He'll probably end up dealing with a property management company who will have a higher level of security anyway.

fatbrit

Most of your requirements are presumably HIPAA related -- an amusing piece of merely nonsense were it not for its ability to subject corporate bigwigs to criminal penalties. Outside the medical field, the regulations are less draconian.

But corporations are also full of pissed off employees who wouldn't think twice about making an extra buck by selling identities.

md95065

Yes - the weakest link in most systems is the disgruntled employee.

Sonic5

I think you are quite naive to believe that.
It can be the other way around you know,

The criminal network has a lot of strands, some of which are those people who look and act legitimate.

It is not hard for a crook, who appears on the face of it, to be a normal landlord or business person but also have criminal connections and from whom information is passed to those who actually commit the ciminmal acts, with the landlord/business person having nothing that leads back to them.

Sonic5

Well I am actually concerned about that to, but I just didn't mention it in my original post.

I think the point here is that private individuals are not bound by any requirements whatsoever, unless they are registered as a business and have a license.

Therefore, if anything does happen, be it through intent or carelessness, the effect is colossal for the victim but there are very little to no consequences for the private person, who may commit the crime or be careless with your information some time after you've given it, so you won't know who might be the source.

I think you would be less flippant with your comments if you had suffered from identity theft, or knew someone close who did.
It is a shocking and debilitating crime that takes years to unravel, and during this time, the victim's life is not their own.

And what do you know of the chances of identity theft happening?
You need to wake up, look around and see what is going on, when you've sobered up that is.

Leslie

All right, whatever. Thanks for the lecture.

I'm not saying it's impossible. I'm saying it's not highly likely and it certainly isn't the where the "hotbed" of identity theft rings are operating in this country.

Unless you're planning on living where you're living forever and paying cash for everything for the rest of your life you're going to have to come to terms with this phobia.