Expanded Problem Statement – Why Over-Collecting Rental Data Is Risky

When landlords ask for W-2s, full bank statements, or an unredacted Social-Security number, they’re effectively stockpiling everything a criminal needs to become “you” on paper. A single breach or careless email forward can trigger a cascade of fraud that costs tenants months—or years—of cleanup:

• Instant credit-card & loan fraud

  • SSN + birth date + address lets thieves open high-limit cards or personal loans, often before the victim even gets the first statement.

• Tax-refund theft

  • With your SSN and past-income docs, criminals can file a bogus return in January, pocket the refund, and leave you arguing with the IRS for months.

• Bank-account takeover

  • Full statements reveal routing and account numbers; many banks still allow phone-based resets with those two pieces of data plus a DOB.

• “Synthetic identity” scams

  • Fraudsters splice your SSN with a new name and birth date, build credit under the fake persona, and rack up debt that eventually bounces back to you.

• Benefit/fraud rings

  • Unemployment insurance, healthcare subsidies, even emergency-relief grants can be claimed in your name once crooks have a full ID bundle.

Bottom line: Each extra document multiplies the blast radius of a breach—yet landlords face minimal penalties for sloppy storage. Tenants shoulder 100% of the fallout.