At noon on July 12, mayor Steve Noble signed the opt-in New York State good-cause eviction law that had been unanimously by the common council on July 2. Kingston became the second Hudson River city whose legislature had passed such a law, which the state Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) agency has touted as “historic anti-price gouging and eviction protections for New York renters.”
Albany was the first to pass it.
Included in the state budget by governor Kathy Hochul, the law makes annual rent increases above ten percent — or five percent plus the Consumer Price Index (CPI), whichever is lower — “presumptively unreasonable,” a legal designation that makes it much harder for landlords to effect steep rental increases or to evict a tenant without good cause.
The real-property laws of New York enumerate in seven lettered sections the just causes for which a landlord may evict a tenant.
The new renter protections went into effect in New York City immediately after Hochul signed the law on April 20. Other municipalities in the state outside New York City who wishes to enjoy the same protections must now opt in.
Language in the law signed by the governor extended an exemption to landlords renting out ten or more units, characterizing them as “small landlords.” The common council made the definition of a small landlord anyone with no more than one unit anywhere in New York State.
“We’ve been granted the power to enact and set the portfolio size as we see fit in this local law that we are voting on tonight,” said alder Michele Hirsch before the vote. “We would be setting a landlord portfolio size at no more than one unit, which means two or more units owned by a landlord in Kingston or anywhere else in the state would be protected by good cause. This portfolio size makes the most sense to protect as many Kingston tenants as possible, given that 60 percent of our apartment units are located in buildings that are one to four units in size.”
If a building was owner-occupied, the first ten units in that building would be exempt from good-cause eviction.
“Good-cause eviction does not cap rents,” said Hirsch, “but sets a threshold of five percent plus the [Consumer Price Index] of 3.45 percent, which creates a generous rent increase of 8.45 percent if a landlord chooses to do. So [generous] that many of the landlords are in favor of this. So [generous] that even Rich Lanzarone of the Hudson Valley Property Owners Association signaled his support of this increase when he asked our rent guideline board to set a 8.45 percent rent increase on buildings this year.”
“It’s been five years in the making that we’ve arrived at this opportunity to lawfully pass good-cause eviction,” Hirsch explained. “I call on my colleagues to join me in calling for good-cause eviction to pass into local law with a portfolio size of no more than one. Thank you.”
Before there was a state law on the books, the City of Kingston first passed a good-cause eviction law in January 2022, only to repeal it in April 2023 after a precedent unfavorable to its good-cause law was made in a state appellate court. That ruling found that state law preempted city law in the case of good-cause eviction laws passed by municipalities.
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