social security question

Iowa. My son is in the process of leasing an apartment in illinois from an apartment rental agency. they need my husband to guarantee the lease and they are asking for his social security number. My husband doesn't think its any of their business and has given them other forms of identification and references but they say they have to have it. Is it legal for them to insist and can they refuse to rent Thank you

Absolutely legal. They want your husband to act as guarantor for your son's rental. Either your son has no credit, insufficient credit, or too low of a score to qualify on his own; or he does not meet some other criteria to rent on his own. He cannot obtain that unit on his own. They want someone responsible with good credit to act as a guarantor to ensure the performance and obligations under the lease your son wants to sign. An SSN is required for this to be able to ID your husband and to hold him accountable if your son does not meet the obligations under his lease. If your husband chooses not to provide this information, your son will be denied the unit and will need to look for another place to live. This is standard procedure in the rental business.