Renting an apartment with housing court record?

[oshma]

Hi,

A relative of mine has been told it's practically impossible to rent an apartment with a housing court record, regardless of the validity (or lack thereof) of the previous landlord's claims. Is a year's rent up front and good job references a solution, perhaps? I can't co-sign for him, unfortunately, due to lack of resources of my own.

[queensborough]

Not all LL's check housing court records, but yes, it can be a problem if they do check. I think it would depend on what the housing court issue was. I can't imagine any LL turning down a years rent up front along with a good job reference. I have many friends who went to housing court and have not had any problem finding another apartment.

[MikeW]

Don't be so sure.

A LL may consider any tenent that has had any interaction with housing court, either as a plaintiff or responent, a liability, especially if the LL has multiple applicants to chose from.

Not all LL's check housing court records, but yes, it can be a problem if they do check. I think it would depend on what the housing court issue was. I can't imagine any LL turning down a years rent up front along with a good job reference. I have many friends who went to housing court and have not had any problem finding another apartment.

[Landlord's Boy]

A relative of mine has been told it's practically impossible to rent an apartment with a housing court record, regardless of the validity (or lack thereof) of the previous landlord's claims.

The answer is, it depends on the landlord. For example, if the applicant is from a place I know is a dump and was in housing court because he or she complained about that, then I may try to snap them up: reporting maintenance issues is a REQUIREMENT in my leases, so imo such folks generally make good tenants. On the other hand, if he or she is from a good bldg and was in HC because the tenant stuck a bucket under a leak and let the problem grow, then I'm not eager to have this person as a tenant.

[TenantNet]

That's nice to know, but in many cases it's simply a question if the prospective tenant's name shows up on the blacklist without consideration of why it's there.

In many cases, LLs bring HC cases without a real cause. They end up losing if the tenant has the merits and in the rare chance they actually get a good judge. I know LLs that commence HC cases out of sheer intimidation. If the tenant actually shows up they end up dropping the case. Those tenants end up on the blacklist through no fault of their own.

Recent pressure on credit reporting agencies is that they are supposed to remove tenants name from the list in such cases, but that does not happen all the time.

[queensborough]

the tenant stuck a bucket under a leak and let the problem grow, then I'm not eager to have this person as a tenant.

I have reported a small leak under my kitchen sink for months and the LL has completely ignored the situation. The exterminator even reported it and still nothing is done. Not all LL's think alike, that's for sure.