September 29, 2011
NEW YORK CITY RADIO CAMPAIGN RAISES AWARENESS ABOUT
TENANTS’ RIGHTS IN LANDLORD SCREENING
A New York State Bar Association radio campaign hits the New York City
airwaves this week alerting the public about their rights when landlords
screen prospective tenants.
“Landlords can use Housing Court records to screen potential
tenants in New York City. But what if the records have errors? The good
news for tenants is that they may be able to correct mistakes in their
Housing Court records,” said State Bar President Vincent E. Doyle
III of Buffalo (Connors & Vilardo LLP).
Running through October 23, the scripts for the two radio
announcements are as follows:
60-second
ad: This is Vince Doyle, president of the New York
State Bar Association. In New York City, finding an apartment can be
tough. If you’ve had a hard time getting a landlord’s
approval to rent you an apartment, one reason could be that you were
involved in a Housing Court case in the past. Your Housing Court history
is public information. Landlords can use that information when deciding
whether to rent you an apartment, even though there could be mistakes in
the records. The good news is you may be able to correct errors in your
record. Also, the Tenant Fair Chance Act requires landlords to tell you
if they use a company to screen tenants and the name of that company.
For more information, please contact Housing Court Answers at
212-962-4785, Monday through Thursday, or visit the website
at www.hcanswers.org.
Brought to you by the New York State Bar Association, in
cooperation with the New York Market Radio
Association.
30-second
ad: Hi, this is Vince Doyle, president of the New York
State Bar Association. In New York City, finding an apartment can be
tough. If you’ve been involved in a Housing Court case, landlords
can use that information to decide whether to rent to you. However, you
may be able to correct errors in your record. For information, contact
Housing Court Answers at 212-962-4795, or hcanswers.org.
Brought to you by the New York State Bar Association, in
cooperation with the New York Market Radio Association.
The education initiative stems from a $1.2 million settlement
approved in 2009 from the 2004 case, White v. First Advantage SafeRent,
Inc. (04 CV 01611). The plaintiffs were represented by James B. Fishman
of New York (Fishman & Neil, LLP), Andrew Bell of New York (Locks
Law Firm), Seth
Lesser of White Plains (Klafter Olsen & Lesser), and Stacey Canan of
Washington, D.C. (AARP Foundation). Part of the settlement includes
funding tenant screening and awareness programs.
Funds were distributed to The New York Bar Foundation, which provides
funding for projects to be conducted by The Legal Aid Society, Legal
Services NYC, City-Wide Task Force on Housing Court (now called Housing
Court Answers), Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project and
the New York State Bar Association.
The 77,000-member New York State Bar Association is the largest state
voluntary bar association in the nation. It was founded in 1876.
-30-
| 
