Ten per cent of property managers in a nationwide mystery shop conducted by Consumer NZ encouraged the caller to provide more personal information than necessary, potentially unlawfully.
Chief executive Jon Duffy told Breakfast scarcity in the rental market shouldn't be an excuse for property managers "trampling on people's privacy rights".
Duffy said "overly intrusive information" was sometimes being sought in applications, such as religious and political beliefs, gender and family status.
In May, mystery shoppers posing as potential renters made 71 calls to 32 property agencies across Auckland, Wellington, Palmerston North, Nelson and Dunedin.
The property managers and rental agencies were asked questions about what sort of information is collected from renters, how long it's stored for and if it's shared with any third parties.
The findings were released on Friday.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner (OPC) has issued guidance to help landlords and property managers comply with the Privacy Act.
The guidance says it's unlawful to discriminate based on sex (including pregnancy or childbirth), relationship or family status, religious or ethical beliefs, colour, ethnic or national origins (including nationality or citizenship), physical or mental disability or illness, age, political opinion, employment status, and sexual orientation or gender identity.
"It's unnecessary, irrelevant, and unreasonably intrusive to ask for information about these personal characteristics when you're selecting tenants," the guidance states.
"It's unlikely that you could use this information for a lawful purpose during the selection process, due to prohibitions on discrimination under the Human Rights Act."
Consumer NZ said the 10% of agents encouraged the mystery shopper to provide more personal information by way of a cover letter and a "rental CV". They might include information such as age bracket, gender and relationship status.
One property manager reportedly said "the more information you give, the better chances [of securing a rental property]".
Another reportedly said "the more information you provide [about yourself], the smoother the process". Another reportedly confirmed that extra information would "make your application stand out from the others".
Consumer NZ also found 6% of agents asked the mystery shoppers to include bank statements in their application - the OPC in its guidance for tenants states the landlord shouldn't ask for them.
"Asking about how tenants spend their money is unfair and unreasonably intrusive, except in exceptional circumstances."
Consumer NZ further found 14% of agents became noticeably less interested in the mystery shopper when they asked about the privacy and security of their information.
"It's really important, where there are market constraints - so there's a lack of supply which means the market is tight - that where rights exist, that they're upheld," Duffy said.
He said his organisation thinks regulation of property managers is "long overdue", remarking "tighter regulations are needed and soon".
"The laws and rules exist for a reason. They exist to protect all of us in society. It shouldn't be that property managers are some sort of exception because they're representing someone who owns an asset."
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Development is currently looking at the regulation of property managers.
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