Answer: Here is _ 805(b) of the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act regarding communication in connection with debt collection. The following activity is prohibited: "Communication with third parties. Subject to limited exceptions, without the prior consent of the consumer given directly to the debt collector, or the express permission of a court of competent jurisdiction, or as reasonably necessary to effectuate a post-judgment judicial remedy, a debt collector may not communicate, in connection with the collection of any debt, with any person other than a consumer, his attorney, a consumer reporting agency if otherwise permitted by law, the creditor, the attorney of the creditor, or the attorney of the debt collector." The Take-Away: This law, when coupled with the general expectation of privacy that residents have, it is my opinion that a landlord should never be in the position of voluntarily disseminating personal contact information to potential creditors, or any other people for that matter - unless the tenant consents in advance. If the debt collector issues a subpoena, that's another story. But until they do, landlords should avoid voluntarily complying with requests for personal information on residents. This applies regardless of whether the third party is a debt collector.
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