Commercial Lease Application and Personal Social Security Number/Federal Tax ID

[arkaxow]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
New Jersey

I wanted to know if it is legal for a landlord of a commercial property to ask for a personal social security number. If it is a coroporation that will be renting the space and not an individual then shouldn't they ask for a Federal Tax ID instead of a personal social security number ?

 

[sandyclaus]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?
New Jersey

I wanted to know if it is legal for a landlord of a commercial property to ask for a personal social security number. If it is a coroporation that will be renting the space and not an individual then shouldn't they ask for a Federal Tax ID instead of a personal social security number ?

Yes, it's legal to ask for that.

It's possible that there isn't enough credit history for the corporation to grant the lease without a personal guarantor. They may have gone through an eviction before where a corporation went out of business, and they have no recourse because they didn't have that personal guarantor.