Tenant privacy law Tennessee

[Chloe Kim]

I recently purchased a property in Tennessee as a out-of-state investor and got a notice from my property manager that they approved a tenant who will be moving in a few days later.

As a landlord, what information of tenant do I have right to know? I requested information about the tenant (How many people will be moving in? Are they a family? The tenant is the only income of the household? Do they have pets? What’s their credit score? Where have they lived?) and my property managing company answered:

“We can’t give out personal information about the tenants. The tenant has rented with us for a year, so we know his rental history and background very well. Credit scores and family background is all personal information that is protected by the fair housing act.”

Just to feel secure, I want to know about some facts that might be related to paying full rent and not damaging the property. Also I do not know about the criteria the property managing company chose them over the other applicants (they mentioned they got multiple applications). In Tennessee, is it okay to ask for this information?

[JD Martin]

That's BS in Tennessee (this is my state). The tenant has no expectation of privacy of their relevant information from the property owner; the PM is merely an agent of the owner and is entitled, through the owner's good graces, to have access to that information - not the other way around.

I would fire this PM in a second. Aside from that, I would inform the PM company that I want a copy of the tenant application immediately as well as a copy of their credit and background check.