The Rent Stabilization Association

For Publication Before or On Tuesday, September 15, 2020

Don’t blame the landlord when drug dealers, sex offenders, and abusive spouses move in next
door or down the hall, putting you and your family, and other tenants, in danger, says the city’s
largest organization of apartment building owners.

These scenarios – and worse – warns the head of the organization, will be the new normal if the
City Council passes a proposed bill (Intro. 2047) that would prohibit landlords from performing
a criminal background check on prospective tenants. The City Council Committees on General
Welfare and Civil & Human Rights are holding a joint virtual public hearing on the bill via
Zoom-Webinar next Tuesday (Sept. 15).
 
“The lawlessness and violence on the streets are bad enough, but this bill would have a chilling
effect on apartment dwellers. New Yorkers won’t be safe in their own homes – and they can
blame that on their local City Council representatives if the bill passes,” said Joseph Strasburg,
president of the Rent Stabilization Association, which represents 25,000 building owners that
provide 1 million affordable rent-stabilized apartments, housing more than 2.5 million residents
in the five boroughs.  
 
“This bill would protect individuals who should be denied tenancy because of violent criminal
pasts. It would be irresponsible of the City Council to pass this bill into law because it would
come at the expense of the safety and well-being of existing tenants – especially families,
children, and the elderly and vulnerable,” Strasburg continued.  

“It defies all logic and sensibility to prohibit landlords from utilizing the one variable that
enables them to meet their legal obligation and moral responsibility of providing safe housing for
their tenants – especially at a time when the pandemic and street violence makes the safety of
one’s home even more precious,” Strasburg added.
 
Strasburg said that a criminal record – for example, drug crimes involving the distribution and
sale of illicit narcotics from previously rented apartments, or someone with a violent criminal
history involving domestic violence, or someone with a history of sex offenses – is an
“appropriate, relevant and significant consideration” when a landlord is evaluating a prospective
tenancy.
 
“By prohibiting criminal background checks as a criterion for assessing a prospective tenant, this
ill-conceived proposed bill would place the safety and well-being of existing tenants, in every
building, at risk.  The proponents say those with violent criminal records have the right to
housing.  Tell that to the family of a teenage daughter who is sexually assaulted in the stairwell,
or to the 87-year-old woman attacked by a drug-crazed maniac for the few dollars in her purse,”
said Strasburg, adding, “because these scenarios will be reality if the City Council eliminates
criminal background checks from the pool of variables in assessing a prospective renter.”
 
Strasburg continued, “It’s important to understand that landlords don’t use criminal background
checks punitively.  A criminal conviction is not, and should not, be a blanket obstacle to renting
an apartment.  However, it must continue to be among the many variables that are at the disposal
of landlords when assessing and considering housing accommodations for a prospective
renter.  There’s a reason it’s there. For example, it would be incumbent upon a landlord not to
rent an apartment to a child sex offender in a building that houses families with children.  The
City Council proposal would take away this option from a landlord.”
 
He added, “Once again, we are seeing misguided housing strategy by elected officials governing
by politics rather than sound, sensible policies that meet the needs of millions of tenants and
keep them safe in their homes.”  #