When New Paltz village trustees decided to pause their efforts to pass a “good cause” eviction law on January 26, 2022, they were balancing legal and political risks. They were concerned about the potential cost of defending a lawsuit against such a law, but they had also been told in November of the prior year by Brahvan Ranga of the advocacy group For the Many that they all could be replaced if the legislation wasn’t passed. As it happens, all the good-cause laws passed at that time were eventually struck down or repealed, and no New Paltz elected official has faced a challenger since that time.
Since then, Governor Hochul has signed into law a framework for adopting local good-cause laws, and armed with that backing village officials are again looking at adopting this set of tenant protections. Under the scheme, when tenants pay their rent on time and follow all laws and rules, landlords must show good cause before refusing to renew a lease. There are a number of good causes, including selling or demolishing the building, taking the unit over for personal use, and because tenants are causing a nuisance. Tenants may also bring a landlord to court with a claim of an unreasonable rent increase; this would be more than five percent plus the annual percentage change to the consumer price index. If a tenant brings such an action under this law, the law provides for justifications for a higher increase that include hikes in property taxes, as well as the cost of insurance, maintenance, and “significant repairs.”
Matt Eyler, a local real estate professional who mostly owns commercial property to which such a law would not apply, warned that passage of a good-cause law could have unintended consequences. For one, Eyler predicted that landlords who have kept rents unchanged or increased them only minimally may opt to hike them as much as possible prior to its effective date, and thereafter at the highest amount that’s deemed “reasonable” thereafter. This seems already to have occurred in the larger, corporate-owned complexes in the village.
Additionally, Eyler expects that landlords will be less willing to give a prospective tenant a chance, if there are any issues that might be of concern. Eyler echoed what many landlords said when this issue was hotly debated in 2021, that not renewing a lease is a non-confrontational way to end a problematic relationship.
Ranga, who was also present, had a different perspective. The evidence in Poughkeepsie and Beacon, where such laws are now in effect, does not support it being more difficult for tenants to find housing, Ranga said. Moreover, Ranga predicted that the protections provided would, in time, result in more tenants advocating for reasonable repairs because they would not be risking a landlord responding by saying, “I think it’s time to go.”
Eyler lamented that the state law doesn’t give latitude for landlords who are presently charging below-market rents, and also opined that the low housing supply locally will continue to be an issue. Ranga believes that market prices could be used to justify a higher increase in court, if it came to that.
A public hearing will be opened on September 11 for this local law.
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