Harvard Grad Making $90K Says She's Black-Listed By BK Landlords

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — A Harvard graduate with a $90,000 salary, near-perfect credit score and no student debt keeps being denied Bed-Stuy apartments by landlords claiming she’s “fiscally irresponsible” and whom she fears don’t like the color of her skin.

“It is so incredibly frustrating as a black woman to have checked off every box in my career, to literally be ‘twice as good’ to get half as much in this city,” said Addy Fahi, 28, identified by her middle name.

“I did everything you’re supposed to do and I can’t find a place to live.”

Fahi, an education consultant who also organizes #BlackHour events to support black-owned businesses, told Patch she’s lost about $500, points off her credit score and hours away from work applying for five different apartments whose owners rejected what her broker called “a pristine application.”

“She’s being discriminated against,” said real estate broker Michael Jude. “They say ‘it doesn’t seem as if she’s fiscally responsible,’ but her credit score and savings say something completely different.”

“For a person of color, yes, this is a normal experience”

Troubles began for Fahi in July when she realized the lease on her four-bedroom apartment was ending and decided she wanted to expand into a two-bedroom of her own in Bed-Stuy or Crown Heights, she said.

Fahi and Jude decided to get an early start because of problems she’d faced finding an apartment three years earlier, she said.

“I faced a lot of racism when I applied for the apartment that I have now,” she said. “I knew this apartment search would be crazy.”

Fahi was rejected twice from the first apartment she applied for because the landlord twice told her it was hers then twice gave it away to someone else, she said.

Managers for the second apartment, a $2,200-a-month Pacific Street two-bedroom, told Fahi she was a “sure thing” then demanded two years of financial records, six months of bank statements and hoards of other financial documents.

But after Fahi paid her $125 application fee, the story changed.

“I may not be fiscally responsible,” the managers told Fahi through her broker.

“I make well over 40 times the rent,” Fahi replied. “What’s the hesitation?”

The problem, the managers told Jude, was that Fahi only had five trade lines — long-term payment plans such as student loans and credit cards that build up your credit score — while owners insisted she needed eight.

That Fahi's five trade lines had been open for more than five years and she’d never missed a payment did not matter to them, Jude said.

“That one that made absolutely no sense,” said Jude. “I’ve been in the business in a little and I’ve never heard of that.”

Fahi was next rejected by building managers from 3 Quincy Corp. who called up her work office and asked her supervisor “weird questions,” she said.

“They asked about my behavior, ‘Does she work well in groups?’” Fahi said. “They made it feel like I was applying for another job.”

It’s been six weeks since Fahi first started looking for an apartment and she’s still living in her apartment on a month-to-month basis now that the lease is lapsed and saving up to buy a home of her own someday, she said.

Fahi's lost money and time and gained an extreme frustration for the lack of oversight on a real estate market she argues is actively working to push her out of her neighborhood.

“It's demoralizing ... I have every privilege except white privilege,” Fahi said. “If it’s hard for me, I can’t imagine how impossible it must be for other people.”

Impossible is the right word, according to Jude.

Jude said he’s shown homes to countless people of color whose applications were rejected because the landlord was “looking to make it a hip area,” as one manager told him.

Jude also says he’s seen landlords illegally discriminate against applicants who will use government-funded programs to pay their rent. And because New York law mandates he show apartments to anyone who asks him or face a $10,000 fine, Jude often is sending clients to apartments he knows they’ll never get.

“It’s frustrating,” said Jude. “I see this on a daily basis.”

Jude believes the answer is stronger oversight on landlords and laws that prohibit landlords from hiding behind anonymous limited liability companies that allow them to duck fines and fees.

And until the laws change, Jude believes people of color need to stop renting in New York by either buying their own homes, or leaving.

“Black excellence means little to nothing without ownership,” said Jude. “The next place you move into should be your own.”

But Fahi has another idea. She’s going to keep looking for a new rental, but she also wants to connect with and unite Bed-Stuy neighbors who may have faced similar difficulties finding a home.

“It’s hard to prove racism ... I can’t prove it, but I can talk about it,” she said. “I want to know how many other people who have experienced this? And what other barriers they face? And would they like to talk about it?”

“I didn’t want to be in this situation,” added Fahi. “I just wanted a place to stay.”

Anyone who wishes to connect with Fahi can email this reporter at Kathleen.Culliton@patch.com and their request will be forwarded.

Note: Fahi is identified in this story by her middle name.