If a consumer is not going to be liable on the credit, you would need written permission. I would equate it to this statement by the FTC whether this involved a consumer or business purpose transaction:
"A lender has a permissible purpose to obtain a consumer report on a consumer in connection with a business credit transaction when the consumer is or will be personally liable on the loan as a co-signer or guarantor, because such a transaction involves the “extension of credit to … the consumer†by virtue of the individual’s liability. A lender would not have a permissible purpose to obtain a consumer report on a consumer who will not be personally liable for repayment of the credit (even an individual proprietor, shareholder, director, or officer of a corporation), because this section does not include the extension of credit to commercial entities."