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Won, but Red Flag on Credit Report

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Won, but Red Flag on Credit Report

Postby joesgrille » Mon Oct 02, 2006 1:32 pm

After over 3 years of having habilbility issues, we filed in housing court. We settled the case out of court. We won. Now we have a big red flag that comes up with a big red "failed" on our credit report when we're applying for rental spaces. How do we get that off our credit report and/or out of their system? Do we need to pay a lawyer more $$ or can we do it ourselves?
Thanks
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Postby Anna » Tue Oct 03, 2006 12:09 pm

Can't be. HP Actions are not on credit reports.

If you were rejected for an apt due to credit report or due to tenant screening report, broker/LL owes you a copy of that bad report or a definitive statement re whose info they relied on to reject you.

Filing a HP Action MIGHT have resulted in getting you on the blacklist, aka tenant screening report purchased by internet-based services: plenty of ink on blacklists in these forums...
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Postby Jearly » Mon Oct 09, 2006 12:55 am

joesgrille please follow up on this and let forum know what you discover
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Postby super tenant » Wed Jul 18, 2007 6:55 pm

Anna, sorry but you are incorrect. I also "settled" and within 24 hours I was alerted (via email) that a "judgment" had been placed on my credit report.

I immediately disputed the posting with all three credit bureaus and so far two have deleted it.

Joesgrille -- I suggest you dispute the posting with all three credit bureaus. You should be able to do it online.

Let us know what happens and Good Luck! :)
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still have red flag

Postby joesgrille » Mon Apr 21, 2008 1:09 pm

We went to rent another apt (our building was sold) and we have a red mark showing up for the Landlords. it is not showing up on our credit reports (that we can find anyway) and so we thought we were clear, but no. We got rejected! How do we get rid of this???? Thanks
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Postby TenantNet » Mon Apr 21, 2008 1:20 pm

First, go here:
http://tenant.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=702

Then search for "blacklisting" on the forum. You'll find a fair number of threads on the issue.

You may wish to consult with a tenant attorney. The one attorney that's been in the forefront of the blacklisting issue is Jamie Fishman. He advertises here on one of the top banners.
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Postby super tenant » Mon Apr 21, 2008 6:52 pm

Joesgrille --
Did you check your credit reports? Is your score good?

Did the prospective LL give you any reason for the rejection? I suggest you ask.

I also filed a claim in Housing Court and thought for sure I would be blacklisted, but I was not (or my prospective LLs didn't use that service). However, as I posted earlier, I settled out of court and within 24 hours a judgment was placed on all three credit reports. I have since gotten them taken off by disputing with the credit agencies directly. Unfortunately, my lawyer offered no help with that.

I ended up totally lucking out and found a rent stabilized two bedroom, although it's a bit above $2K/month. (They got money from the city or state and therefore have to keep the bldg stabilized for a number of years.) However, I did have to provide a ton of paperwork! Just short of asking for my first born child :roll: But, I'm in a great place with great neighbors, a very attentive super and attentive and fast responding management company. In my experience, your situation may be a blessing in disguise :wink:

Your last hope is to contact an attorney. Tenant Net is correct that Jamie Fishman lead the blacklisting cause and won. I would contact him to find out if there's anyway to have your name taken off the list. I thought the company that supplies the lists was put out of business for supplying that information, but I must be mistaken.

Good Luck and let us know what happens! 8)
super tenant
 

Postby TenantNet » Mon Apr 21, 2008 7:15 pm

Thanks for chiming in. Just to clarify, I wasn't suggesting joe gets in the middle of an expensive lawsuit. One can usually consult with a lawyer for an hour or so at a reduced rate where the attorney can assess your rights and suggest ways to deal with things. In a situation like this, you can do 95% of the work on your own ... writing letters, challenging reports and so on.
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Postby super tenant » Mon Apr 21, 2008 7:38 pm

I whole heartedly understand.

I was involved in an expensive lawsuit. I settled with a $7K abatement, but paid out $15K in legal fees. My loss was $8K and I ended up moving.

I think Joe has to find out EXACTLY why he was rejected. It could be mediocre credit scores, job history, etc. And, if he's living with roommates, many LLs want one to sign for all.

Of all the time I've spent in HC, I've seen Jamie Fishman -- he's very impressive and does a good job. Had I known, I would have hired him.

I guess my real question is: Once you're on a blacklist, how can you be removed? Can an attorney really help with that? :?
super tenant
 

Postby freddieM » Tue May 12, 2009 3:28 am

Court cases do show up. We are in the running for an 80/20 lottery, passed the interview stage and were then rejected due to "poor credit history." we have GREAT credit so we asked what that meant and they said that I was taken to court by my old landlord to try and be evicted. (It was not that at all, it was a holdover filed to prevent me from ever moving back into my mom's old apartment where I didn't live at the time. I had been on an earlier lease. Case was eventually dismissed, never went to trial but when the 80/20 building ran my rent registry history, it came up. So, not really on your say, "experian credit report" but it's out there and landlords see it.
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Postby TenantNet » Tue May 12, 2009 6:16 am

Holdovers are to dispossess tenants who are still in occupancy. They are not to prevent someone from moving back in. Indeed, if a person is not in occupancy, Housing Court has no jurisdiction in the matter.

On issues of the credit reports, see the Blacklisting thread in the Forum Reference section. There are limits as to how information can get on the so-called Blackist. Perhaps you should see about getting the information expunged. But realize a person's credit report can come from a variety of sources, not just what did or didn't happen in Housing Court.
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Postby freddieM » Tue May 12, 2009 9:47 am

They were definitely trying to just get us to sign this form, (which the judge said wouldn't have meant anything anyway) by pressuring us. The management company did this kind of stuff all the time to older RS tenants it turned out. IF we signed it and didn't KNOW our rights, we might never have though we ever could move back in down the road if we needed to. I have put in a request with First advantage Saferent to see my file.
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