Bill to ban credit score for tenant screening

From the Daily News:

Landlords would be banned from checking credit scores to decide whether to rent to would-be tenants under a new bill being introduced in the City Council.

Councilman Mark Levine’s legislation would also bar a slew of other factors that owners commonly use to pick tenants — including medical debt, consumer debt judgments, and debts that have been sent to collection agencies.

Owners could still run detailed credit reports and use other information on them, including history of bankruptcy, foreclosure, delinquencies on current debt, and how much total debt a tenant owes, to make their decision.

“We don’t want people who have had tough times financially to be blocked out of the housing market. If that happens they’re going to end up in homeless shelters” said Levine (D-Manhattan).

It could happen to you

From Fox 5:

A Brooklyn woman says that her credit and her life have been ruined all because of a case of mistaken identity.

Rachel Lindor says her financial life began to unravel in 2006 when she discovered that a default judgment had been entered against her because someone named "Raqul Lindor" owed thousands of dollars.

She thought that she could clear up the mess by explaining to the creditors and the collection agency that she was not "Raqul" -- but no one believed her.

She lost her financial aid at Penn State and had to drop out of school. The mess triggered a chain of events that have cost her an education and her financial well-being.