I've been a landlord for a few years now and know the law. We can only ask you to sign certain things: rental agreement, disclosures, drug-free (or smoke-free even) policies (if applicable), and we can ask you for your SSN for both a credit check and criminal background check. We can also ask the name of your bank, and under certain government housing projects, they can ask for specific account information (it's to make sure you are as low-income as you say you are, and not sitting on a fat bank account full of cash and are just trying to get cheap rent). If you're not trying to rent government-subsidized housing and they're asking for any specific account information, that is illegal. I'd check local area laws and maybe ask the police department or court, they might not be able to give you specific advice but can present you with the actual law as it stands on paper, just in case there's maybe some variance in your local law I don't know about. But like with everyone else, it sounds like this is either a scam or the guy is completely clueless, whatever the intent, I wouldn't do it if I were you.