W9 Landlord Form needed?

[David I.]

Hi all, I have a tenant that has sought out local government assistance to help him pay his rent. He said they are asking me to provide a W9 landlord certification.

I have all of my properties in my own name at present, not an LLC (I know, need to fix this). Is this a generic form I can find and fill out or would it come from my tax preparer? I don't see it in my 2019 taxes file.

Just went to help him get this rent assistance however I can.

Thanks

[Joe Splitrock]

Originally posted by @David I.:

Hi all, I have a tenant that has sought out local government assistance to help him pay his rent. He said they are asking me to provide a W9 landlord certification.

I have all of my properties in my own name at present, not an LLC (I know, need to fix this). Is this a generic form I can find and fill out or would it come from my tax preparer? I don't see it in my 2019 taxes file.

Just went to help him get this rent assistance however I can.

Thanks

 Yes, W9 is a standard form. It requires your tax ID number, which is your social security number if the properties are held in your personal name. The reason they are requesting this is because the organization plans to report the rent payment to the IRS. They are probably also doing it to verify that you are a real landlord, because a program like this is a fraud magnet. As long as you are claiming the income on your taxes, there is no problem. Just download the form, but send it directly to the group providing assistance - not your tenant since it has personal information. This is totally legit and common in a situation like this. Here is a link to the form on the IRS website:

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pd...