Hello,
We have lived in Bronx, NY in a rent stabilized apartment for over 10 years. In the last few years a new landlord took over and has made life in this building a living hell. He got the primary renter of my family arrested and now has a restraining order out against the primary renter (to clarify, landlord has restraining order against renter).
My question is this: we are looking to move either into a rental unit in Bronx or to buy our own apartment in Westchester County. Both will require the landlord to provide a reference, and a background check which will reveal the restraining order (it will be dismissed in 6 months but I don't know if it will be expunged from the record fully). How do we explain this in front of a co-op board or on rental applications, because while we see the arrest as an absolute crock of shit you can't give the whole multi-year story on a rental application. How bad does this look to a co-op board? Will they deny us buying an apartment even if all the other ducks are in a row?
My next question is: I have looked at all of the major sites for finding housing. Are there any sites kind of like craigslist where people who rent out their own houses/apartments advertise?
Thanks in advance to everyone that responds.