Tenants Score Victory Against Inaccurate Eviction Reporting
On August 25, 2020, tenant plaintiffs in the McIntyre v. Realpage, Inc. case in the Eastern District Court of Pennsylvania were granted class for their lawsuit under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The tenants in McIntyre allege that Realpage, Inc., a company that provides tenant screening reports to landlords, failed to assure the maximum possible accuracy of its reporting on eviction records, which are purchased by landlords to assess tenant applications. Thousands of inaccurate negative reports were made about tenants that had actually been resolved in the tenant’s favor.
Plaintiff alleges that Realpage’s inaccurate reporting essentially arose from purchasing information from third parties rather than looking at the actual court records. Because the information vendor, LexisNexis, is contractually obligated to only report information when “commercially reasonable,” Plaintiff argues that important information for cases does not get reported, such as a tenant getting an eviction proceeding dismissed or paying the amount they owed and preventing an eviction. The lead plaintiff, McIntyre, alleges that Realpage did not report that, in the three eviction proceedings that have been made against her, the first was voluntarily withdrawn, the second was vacated and dismissed, and the third was satisfied. According to Plaintiff, a spreadsheet produced by Realpage shows out of 904 reports about eviction proceedings, 85% of them failed to report on a final disposition.
If you are worried that LexisNexis is reporting inaccurate eviction information about you, you have rights, including the right to get a free report every 12 months within 15 days of your request.
The Law Office of Ahmad Keshavarz understands how errors regarding eviction proceedings can be costly. In Morales v. Kavulich & Associates, P.C., our firm represented a man who had his bank account frozen over rental arrears owed by someone else. The Fair Credit Reporting Act gives tenants rights to make sure that information about eviction proceedings against them is accurately reported; a erroneous or resolved eviction proceeding against you should not be portrayed as an eviction to landlords.
Please call (718) 522-7900 to set up a consultation. We are located at 16 Court St., 26th Floor, Brooklyn, NY 11241 and represent consumers throughout the New York City area.
