New York City Tenants' Blacklist
When most people apply for an apartment in New York City, they have a general idea of where their credit rating stands. Sure, there are always some surprises but, unless there’s a lot of inaccurate information on your report, you know if the leasing representative is going to look up at you from the credit report with a big smile or not.
However, there is one housing credit curve ball that many tenants don’t even realize exists – the Tenant Blacklist. Sounds scary and archaic – yes. Does it exist? Absolutely.
Any tenant who’s been in housing court for an eviction proceeding stands the chance of being on the blacklist. Whether you fell behind on your rent or purposely withheld rent due to problems in your apartment. Screening companies collect these names and sell them to landlords to help them spot potentially troublesome tenants. These reports include information on actions taken against a prospective tenant in housing court. Unfortunately, often these screening reports lack meaningful detail regarding the reasons why the tenant was in court or the final decision in the case. The lists are comprised only of names, not social security numbers, so it doesn’t distinguish between “John Smiths,” for example. So if your name is similar to someone’s name who has been in housing court, you might be denied an apartment based on that alone. Also, there is no further detail regarding the cause of the court case or any resolutions.
Even if you were perfectly correct in withholding rent and won your case – your name could wind up on the list. The prospect of being added to the list can definitely stop someone from pursuing action against their landlord.
“There are a lot of tenants who won’t withhold rent or complain to get repairs done because they’re afraid of getting blacklisted,” said James B. Fishman, a lawyer for plaintiffs in a 2004 class-action suit against First American Registry, a national tenant screening company (it is now called First Advantage SafeRent).
However, there is finally a bright spot in this murky situation. After hearing complaints from potential renters (Louise Seeley, the executive director of the City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court, a nonprofit agency that helps people navigate the housing court system, said her organization received 5 to 10 calls a week from potential tenants whose names were on the list) the City Council has introduced new legislation to help tenants. It’s called the Tenant Fair Chance Act and it requires landlords, property managers and brokers to disclose which screening company, if any, they plan to use for these background checks. Starting this summer, tenants will have the chance to order their files from the firms in question, and correct any inaccuracies.
“We began to hear from constituents throughout the city that they were getting rejected for apartments and they couldn’t figure out why,” said Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker. “They had an albatross around their necks, and they didn’t even know it.” “Tenants need to be able to exercise their rights in court without fearing that it will prevent them from ever renting another apartment,” said Council Member Dan Garodnick, who authored the Tenant Protection Act of 2007 and introduced the Tenant Fair Chance Act. “If simply asserting those rights will land tenants on a do-not-rent list, then we need to make sure that they know when these lists are being used and how to correct inaccurate information on them.”
The City Council is not able to stop the practice of selling this information but tenants finally have knowledge about their personal reports and a means of responding. This legislation simply levels the playing field between landlord and tenant so that both parties have a clearer understanding before entering into a contract.
To contact Councilperson Quinn for further information, you can go to http://council.nyc.gov/html/members/contact_the_speaker.shtml
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