Tenant Law
Tenant Rights are Human Rights
Contributors
Not Only Credit Bureaus Damage Tenancy RecordsFriday, July 11, 2008
Tenants who are being wrongfully evicted by landlords are being screwed in more ways than they ever know. It is one thing if a tenant does not pay the rent and the landlord takes that tenant to court, gets a judgment and ultimately the eviction judgment for the money owed and for possession of the rental unit, and then that judgment is reported to the 3 major credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian and Transunion). But when a tenant has done nothing wrong and is illegally evicted, there is a company that picks the eviction up and keeps that information indefinitely. The company is named First Advantage Saferent, formally known as the Unlawful Detainer Registry. First Advantage (hereafter "FA"), has its workers go to courts and puts all eviction actions into its database. There's an excellent website (http://www.caltenantlaw.com) by an attorney Ken Carlson of Idyllwild, CA, which describes how FA works in depth.
There are numerous laws in the California Civil Code being violated by FA. If you are a tenant who has wrongfully evicted through the court system I recommend you contact us or some other tenant attorney. You should also contact FA at (800)999-4010 and work to have your tenancy record that they have in their database expunged. It could take some patience and dilligence, but hopefully you will prevail. Also, a class action lawsuit has been filed against the Unlawful Detainer Registry (aka FA) by Jeff Wilens (website: http://www.lawyers.com/lakeshorelaw; phone: (949)709-5330) in Mission Viejo, CA (source). If FA will not clear your record and you prevailed in an Unlawful Detainer or the case was dismissed or it settled short of trial, then you should join the class action lawsuit. You may be entitled to up to $10,000 under Civil Code Section 1786.50.
There are other companies which have databases for landlords. One of the newest ones, donotrentto.com, appears to be at its inception, but is one that will likely grow and do serious damage to tenants who have been wrongfully evicted through the courts.
These battles with these unethical companies are important to protect tenant rights. The only way to get these companies is if the aggrieved tenants take action by joining legal cases, reporting the FA and others to govermental regulatory agencies and to one's politicial representative. Hopefully FA will be driven out of business at some point by lawsuits and stronger laws.
There are numerous laws in the California Civil Code being violated by FA. If you are a tenant who has wrongfully evicted through the court system I recommend you contact us or some other tenant attorney. You should also contact FA at (800)999-4010 and work to have your tenancy record that they have in their database expunged. It could take some patience and dilligence, but hopefully you will prevail. Also, a class action lawsuit has been filed against the Unlawful Detainer Registry (aka FA) by Jeff Wilens (website: http://www.lawyers.com/lakeshorelaw; phone: (949)709-5330) in Mission Viejo, CA (source). If FA will not clear your record and you prevailed in an Unlawful Detainer or the case was dismissed or it settled short of trial, then you should join the class action lawsuit. You may be entitled to up to $10,000 under Civil Code Section 1786.50.
There are other companies which have databases for landlords. One of the newest ones, donotrentto.com, appears to be at its inception, but is one that will likely grow and do serious damage to tenants who have been wrongfully evicted through the courts.
These battles with these unethical companies are important to protect tenant rights. The only way to get these companies is if the aggrieved tenants take action by joining legal cases, reporting the FA and others to govermental regulatory agencies and to one's politicial representative. Hopefully FA will be driven out of business at some point by lawsuits and stronger laws.
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