The Legal Aid Society and housing advocates are paying attention to complaints by apartment seekers regarding the extreme lengths that landlords take to research potential tenants – including practices that some say could lead to rank housing discrimination, as reported by City Limits.

A viral tweet from poet Saeed Jones last week spurred a wave of responses from renters recalling the most invasive requirements posed by landlords, including requests for college transcripts, bank statements, and even photos of the applicant’s children. Advocates say the requests could be illegal under New York City fair housing laws if they lead to discrimination based on race, color, age, and other characteristics.

“It feels very Big Brotheresque,” said Ellen Davidson, a staff attorney at The Legal Aid Society’s Civil Law Reform Unit. “It’s not enough to find a tenant willing to rent your apartment and pay the rent, but you need to investigate every part of that person’s past to find out what kind of tenant you think they’d be in the future?”