TenantNet Forum

Where tenants can seek help and help others



How to rent a new place when my old landlord HATES me?

Moderator: TenantNet

How to rent a new place when my old landlord HATES me?

Postby jengrowsinbklyn » Wed Nov 07, 2012 8:45 pm

Overall I'm a great tenant: female, early 30s, no pets or kids, great credit, regular income, nothing iffy on my record. The one thing striking fear into my heart is that I'm about to move to a city where virtually every landlord will call up former landlords for a reference, and I know that my most recent landlord completely hates me.

This is due in large part to the fact that I had him to use my security deposit as the last month's rent when I moved out. (The deposit was equal to the rent, apartment was left in good shape.) The guy harassed me for over a month after I did this, but couldn't take me to court or anything to me because the apartment was actually illegal.

It wasn't until after I signed a lease that I learned the landlord was unbelievably shady and greedy. I have documentation that the apartment wasn't legal and that he broke rent stabilization laws. (We had LOTS of other problems with him besides that, too.) I didn't trust him to refund a dime of my security deposit, and was also moving 700 miles away, which would've made taking him to court pretty much impossible, so I didn't pay the last month's rent. Anyway, I've learned my lesson and will always research a management company as much as possible before renting so that I can have a good relationship w/the landlord.

Other than this guy, I don't have a lot of rental history that was in my name. The last time I was on a lease before this was about 10 years ago & I have absolutely no idea if this guy remembers me or what he might say.

Obviously my concern is: how do I convince a future landlord that I actually am a good tenant in spite of this? Is offering to pay a larger security deposit, or to pay my last month's rent and security deposit when I move in, likely to help? Is there any chance that a landlord/mgmt company will agree that the old landlord was a schmuck and rent to me based on all the other items I have to recommend me? How do I explain this situation to a potential new landlord? Thank you for any and all advice on this!
jengrowsinbklyn
 
Posts: 4
Joined: Mon Aug 01, 2011 3:20 pm

Postby TenantNet » Thu Nov 08, 2012 1:42 am

Overall, there's really nothing you can do to prevent the old LL from saying what he wants. You could offer to put in a rebuttal, but IMHO that would complicate things. Besides, most LL's don't ask for a rebuttal. It's not a question of being taken to court for non-payment or being labeled a dead-beat.

There are still many small buildings owned by an individual, not a corporation, where they might not look beyond a credit report (or even that).

In the old days people would knock on doors, talk to supers, get a friend to tell you when units opened up. I presume that can still happen. And yes, supers still demand key money (although that's illegal). If that happens see if they will accept a check.

I would check my credit report to see if the LL put anything on that, and I would rebut that. There are plenty of web sites to advise on on how to handle bad credit reports.
The Tenant Network(tm) for Residential Tenants
Information from TenantNet is from experienced non-attorney tenant
activists and is not considered legal advice.

Subscribe to our Twitter Feed @TenantNet
TenantNet
 
Posts: 10306
Joined: Mon Jan 21, 2002 2:01 am
Location: New York City


Return to General Discussion - beyond New York

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 8 guests