Hemlane requests personal and sensitive information from prospective tenants, but it is important to understand who has access to that information and how it is handled.
Hemlane does not have access to or store social security numbers. When an SSN is provided, it is stored as encrypted information and sent directly to our partners, who use it to generate background, eviction, and credit reports.
Screening Reports
An applicant’s SSN is collected during the screening process by TransUnion, who processes the report. TransUnion encrypts the SSN for security purposes and does not share it back, as an SSN is not required for eviction reporting. As a result, Hemlane does not have the ability to view the SSN on our end.
Please note that a completed tenant screening report will display the last 4 digits of the applicant’s SSN. These reports do expire over time, so we strongly recommend downloading and saving your screening reports to your device as soon as they are available for long-term reference.
Evictions
A social security number is not required to file an eviction or request to garnish wages. An SSN may only be needed during the collections process, which involves creditors and collection agencies.
During a court hearing, you can request that the judge order the disclosure of the social security number at that time. If the tenant does not appear in court, you would still be able to move forward with the eviction and financial judgment, though collections would not be possible without the SSN.
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