"I'd appreciate your advice. We are exchanging our Sydney flat for two different apartments in Boca Raton, Florida. One has asked for passport numbers for the building management. Is this usual? I don't mind showing identification when we arrive but I'm not sure I want to send those details in an e-mail. What do you think?"
Here is my answer:
"Not only is this not usual, I think the exchanger is fibbing. My guess is that this person wants your passport # to feel more comfortable about the swap but feels s/he will offend you by asking directly. I say this for two reasons. First, in the US one is allowed to have guests use one's home except in rare cases such as if the person lives in a senior-citizens only residence or public housing. Occasionally building management or a security station at the entrance of a gated community will want the names of guests who are visiting, but they would never require a passport. The reason passports are never required is that most Americans do not have passports.
In the unlikely event that someone's building manager required a copy of an ID they would probably specify a "government-issued ID", That is the normal language, not "passport". Housing discrimination on the basis of "national origin" is prohibited in the US. That makes me think it may not be legal to require foreign visitors to provide a passport while simultaneously allowing US citizens to provide a different form of identification or no identification at all.
The way to determine if this person is fibbing without causing him/her to lose face goes something like this:
"Thank you for letting me know about your building management company's request for guests to provide identification. I wonder if you could forward their phone number to me so I might clarify exactly what sorts of identification are acceptable. We were warned that providing our passport numbers for reasons other than passing borders could compromise our own security. If you prefer to clarify this issue with management yourself, could you please ask them if, in place of the passport, they could instead accept [insert acceptable identification here. You might be comfortable providing a driver's license, work ID or certified letter confirming your identity]."
My guess is that the exchangers will not let you call the management company because the management company has no such requirement. Instead, they are likely to accept whatever compromise form of identification you fill in above. Therefore you need to decide:
1) what form of ID you are comfortable providing to the exchangers and
2) if you want to swap with people who may not be perfectly honest with you
Also, be aware that, while it is extremely unlikely that anyone would go to the trouble of doing an international exchange for the purpose of identity theft, giving swappers copies of your official identification, in combination with allowing them free run of your home, intensifies the risk that the swappers could acquire your personal information for inappropriate purposes.
I am not a lawyer, law enforcement officer, etc. This is just my opinion, and it may be completely wrong. Keep me posted on what happens."
That was my best shot, but as I mention, I have no legal training. If anyone else knows more about this issue, please enlighten us.
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