If your name finds its way onto one of the many tenant blacklists for New York, you may have a great amount of trouble renting a home. Even worse, you probably do not even know you have been blacklisted. All you know is that no one wants to rent you a home and you have no idea why. If you have never experienced a truly contentious landlord-tenant dispute, your inability to find a new home is even more perplexing.

How do tenants end up on a blacklist? You might think one of your landlords added your name, but that is not the reason. If your name has ever passed through New York’s housing court system, it will probably mean you are blacklisted. It does not matter why you were involved in housing court. It does not even matter if you went through the system because of a landlord’s negligence and won your case.

It turns out that tenant screening bureaus scan housing court computers and sell the names and addresses of these tenants to landlords screening potential renters. Even if you and your landlord passed through the system on a completely benign procedural matter, you might still appear on blacklists.

If you would like to explore your options for getting your name removed from these lists, consider talking to an attorney knowledgeable about landlord-tenant laws. Together, you can discuss possible solutions that may improve your chances of finding suitable rental units. A consultation can also increase your knowledge about landlord-tenant disputes and other legal matters you could face as a tenant in the state of New York.

Source: Brick Underground, “The dreaded tenant blacklist: What you need to know,” Anne Machalinksi, Dec. 29, 2017