There's A Bad Tenants' "Blacklist": Is Your Name On It?

The New York State Office of Court Administration [OCA] sells the names of every tenant sued in housing court for eviction, handing over the names to private companies that create lists of potentially bad tenants. Landlords then buy the lists to screen out applicants, many of whom wind up on this list even if they win their housing court lawsuits. Or even if an error resulted in them getting sued by mistake. But now a legal team is going to court to fight the blacklisting.

James Whelan, a 52-year-old limo driver, has lived in his rent stabilized apartment for over 15 years, but after all this time his landlord wants to evict him so an unnamed family member can move in. If Whelan chooses to fight eviction, he'll end up in housing court, and his name will be sold to a blacklist company, making it very difficult for him to find a new home if he puts up a fight. Instead, he has filed a lawsuit against the OCA to avoid the inevitable blacklisting, and stop the OCA from releasing electronic data about him to the credit agencies.

Whelan's lawyers, in a statement, argue that "tenants who have deplorable conditions in their apartments used to be able to withhold their rent in order to force their landlords to make needed repairs. Because of the threat of blacklisting, however, many tenants are afraid to do so or to join rent strikes."

In case you're wondering, the housing court information is released in a data dump that sells for $20,000 for the first download and $350 for weekly updates. A spokesman for the court explains to City Room, "There’s a lot of public information out there that when people want it in this form, there’s a fee to cover costs."

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By John Del Signore in News on November 2, 2011 5:17 PM

Comments [rss]

michelalano

I think, at the VERY least, they should notify the person if they're being put on the list, and there should be some kind of grace period where they can fight it if necessary.

mlleBeth

It doesn't sound like its actually a blacklist just a report that they sell of all cases, which I think is public record. But there should some kind protection for people who win their cases or that shouldn't be on the report at all, maybe those cases should be sealed thus blocking their name from inclusion.

I'm sure there are many cases where a potential landlord should be aware of prior behavior of a prospective tenant. However, I tend to think that the majority of people on that list did nothing wrong.

taracorinne

The guy is an IDIOT. You don't ever withhold rent. You pay your rent to an escrow service UNTIL the fixes to an apartment are made. This way, the landlord never receives the rent if the fixes aren't made but you, the tenant, are in good standing as you are always paying your rent.

This happens in NYC in buildings where the entire building is in disrepair as well.

Jamie Fishman

Sorry Taracorinne; that's just not correct; putting money into escrow does not provide a defense to a landlord's rent claim. they can and will file suit even if the money's in escrow.

taracorinne

you don't go to escrow without making the proper complaints through the proper means and without proper documentation of all the steps. This is after making documented complaints to both the management and HPD. You can't just escrow the money without legal advice and hope for the best and I wasn't saying one should.

SFNY

You're totally right about the process, but nowhere does it say this guy is withholding rent. He wants to fight an eviction, not get repairs, but the prospect of being on a blacklist is preventing him from doing so.

taracorinne

I was referring to the quote in the bottom of the article that mentions: Whelan's lawyers, in a statement, argue that "tenants who have deplorable conditions in their apartments used to be able to withhold their rent in order to force their landlords to make needed repairs. Because of the threat of blacklisting, however, many tenants are afraid to do so or to join rent strikes."

michelalano

What happens when the landlord never makes the repairs? Do you get your money back?

taracorinne

If the proper procedures are followed, at least in the case of deadbeat landlords with buildings in disrepair are forced by the city to sell the buildings if they are also facing huge citations. In that case, a new owner comes in.

http://www.villagevoice.com/20...

here's some cases of tenants paying rent in escrow in NYC going on.

Timon_8

More irresponsible collection and use of information, very much like the no-fly list.

cyncity.org

I agree with this. At least twice I've gone to housing court and won...

tijuanatornado

wow.... so you end up in that list forever?..... that's harsh.....

SFNY

I hate "I know a guy" stories, but I do know a guy who forfeited his rent stabilized apartment after his apt's management company filed a petition against him for a bogus sublet charge (they were trying to clear out all the stabilized tenants), and he ended up having a condo board bar him from purchasing an apartment five years later because his name was on this list. It was completely ridiculous.