Housing accommodations and tenant black lists.

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to housing accommodations and tenant black lists.

This bill seeks to prohibit landlords from refusing to rent to prospective tenants solely because they appear on a “Tenant Black List.” Tenant screening lists are used to identify supposedly risky renters by naming tenants who have been involved in a Housing Court case, however, they do not take into account the outcome of a case (i.e., whether or not a tenant is successful, or whether the tenant initiated the action). The bill adds “participating in a housing court proceeding” to the list of protected classes in the Housing Accommodations section of the Civil Rights title of the Administrative Code.