"All landlords of residential property requiring security deposits prior to occupancy shall be required to deposit all tenants' security deposits in an account used only for that purpose, in any bank or other lending institution subject to regulation by the Commonwealth of Kentucky or any agency of the United States government. Prospective tenants shall be informed of the location of the separate account and the account number." [emphasis added]Were I an attorney and sworn to uphold the laws of the Commonwealth, I couldn't say,
"DON'T DO IT!"
But, I'm not, so I can and I did.
I've only recently arrived at this rebellious position. It was just last month that I created my first draft of a Notice of Residential Security Trust Deposit: Form and it had provision for disclosing the bank account number, with the implicit suggestion that doing what the statute says to do might be smart, It isn't.
The Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act was drafted in simpler times and it reeks of its Twentieth Century origin. Now, in the Age of Identity Theft, handing out complete bank account numbers to total strangers is not a smart thing to do.
Rather, do as banks do. Provide the last four digits of the account number only, in the form "xxxxxxxx1234."
If any tenant objects to my less than literal observance of the statute, they can do as Sages of all ages suggest and "Sue me!"