Require applicant to give access to their social media accounts?

[Vitaliy Merkulov]

When screening tenants, in addition to running a credit report, checking landlord references, and checking bad tenant databases I also try to check the applicant's social media accounts. Some people have their accounts as public and some are set to private so I can't find it or see any activity.

I check the social media profiles to see if they have any pets or excessive partying lifestyles because some of the units are in quiet areas with mostly elderly people living there and there is a strict no-pets policy. 

Would it be ok and legal to require all applicants to connect their social media accounts with me so I can get access to their social media profiles even if they are set to private?

It would work very similar to BP Connections

The applicant won't need to tell me their password, they will just need to connect to their social media profiles. I will be able to view their social media profiles without becoming their friend/follower. If they don't submit them and I find out that they have social media profiles that they didn't submit, I will disqualify them.

Am I crazy for going this far with tenant screening? Would anyone else want to be able to do this too?

[Account Closed]

One of the best pieces of advice I got from a friend who has lots of rentals, 

is to drop by, unannounced, after they get home from work, where the applicant currently lives, to get a "signature" that was "missed". 

He could then see how the folks ran their day to day life and then knew what his property would be like under their care. If it is total chaos, expect the same in your property. If you are really bold you can ask "to use the bathroom" while you're there. 

I've seen (and smelled) some really dreadful things in bedrooms with open doors going down the hall to the bathroom. Remember: This is your future retirement you are talking about. To them it's just another rental.