Apartment company wants personal info over email

Question

I'm searching for an apartment to rent, and I've found one that I really like. It's being rented out by a small, local rental company that has a very good reputation, and their application process involves:- filling out a PDF rental application (contains personal info like SSN)- sending a screenshot of my bank account and other accounts- sending proof of income (e.g. paystubs, W-2, etc)In principle, this all seems reasonable, but it's all sent over email, and since that isn't a secure way of transmitting this kind of data, I'm very hesitant to apply for the rental. I'd really like to rent the apartment, so is there anything I can do to apply, but in a more secure way (short of asking them to use something like DocuSign or HelloSign)? The best I've been able to come up with is that I could upload the documentation they need to a password-protected Dropbox, and then send them the password via SMS.

mooie_dood · Accepted Answer

If you&rsquo;re in America, is it possible to send the documents via mail? I had to sign a lease renewal recently had a similar situation where they wanted my tax documents and a scan of my social security card via email. I pushed them on alternatives and eventually they gave me a mailing address I could send the documents to. I paid extra to send it certified mail which got me a tracking number as well as signature confirmation that the envelope was delivered and who it was delivered to.

wmf · Answer

If they aren't competent at IT then email security is the least of your concerns. They could accidentally leak your data after you send it to them securely.

pulvinar · Answer

Ah but for the good ol' days when everyone had a fax machine.