Landlords Are Tanking Their Tenants’ Credit Scores

A daily mix of stories about cities, city life, and our always evolving neighborhoods and skylines. [Curbed]( THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 30 LANDLORDS AND TENANTS [Landlords Are Tanking Their Tenants’ Credit Scores]( An increasingly popular tactic to pressure tenants to pay rent on time. Photo-Illustration: Curbed; Photos: Getty Deborah received an email over the summer from her management office announcing an exciting new program it had implemented for all the tenants in her six-story Harlem building — relaying their rent payments to credit-reporting agencies. “By making timely payments, you can see an increase in your credit score,” the letter read. “Good credit is priceless!” Unspoken in the email was what happens when tenants aren’t paying their rent on time. At 137 West 141st Street, about a quarter of the tenants, including Deborah, had been withholding their rent since the pandemic because of poor conditions in the building — the elevators were often down, there were rats running through the walls, the heat and hot water were frequently shut off. They brought their issues to housing court to try to get them fixed, but some cases were dismissed and one is still ongoing. Despite the legal measures they’ve taken, they say the landlord, Guardian Realty, which owns nearly three dozen residential buildings across the city, only fixes things sporadically and will sit on problems for months. (One tenant, Chico Knight, is considering paying for his own exterminator to rid his apartment of mice.) As the years dragged on, momentum faded and people started dropping out of the rent strike. Now, Deborah and her roommates are among the few holdouts remaining, and she has already seen the new program affect her score. “About a month ago, my credit took a huge hit,” Deborah said. “This ensures it squashes out everyone except for the extremists — we’re definitely paying a price.” [Continue reading »]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( The Latest [Shop New York Magazine x Knickerbocker’s Canal Street–Inspired Collaboration Available now, online and in-store at 357 Canal Street.]( [The Look Book Goes to an Anime Convention Cosplayers and gamers went all out for Anime NYC’s three-day event at the Javits Center.]( By Kelsie Schrader and Jenna Milliner-Waddell [Landlord King Charles Has Shady Methods He’s been secretly upgrading his portfolio with money from his dead subjects.]( By Clio Chang [A Postcard From Driverless San Francisco Unexplained stops. Incensed firefighters. Cars named Oregano. The robotaxis are officially here.]( By Theodore Gioia [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Read More From Curbed]( Introducing The City Desk, a weekly newsletter about New York. [Sign up to get it every Thursday](. [GET THE NEWSLETTER]( [logo]( [facebook logo]( [instagram logo]( [twitter logo]( [unsubscribe]( | [privacy notice]( | [update preferences]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. Was this email forwarded to you? [Sign up now]( to get this newsletter in your inbox. [View this email in your browser.]( You received this email because you have a subscription to New York. Reach the right online audience with us For advertising information on email newsletters, please contact AdOps@nymag.com Vox Media, LLC 1201 Connecticut Ave. NW, 12th Floor Washington, DC 20036 Copyright © 2023, All rights reserved