One year after the state passed Good Cause Eviction, tenants are using the law to stay in their homes
New digital tool from JustFix and Housing Justice for All will make it easier for tenants and their advocates to determine eligibility and exercise their rights
NEW YORK – One year after the historic passage of Good Cause Eviction, advocates launched a new tool to help tenants determine eligibility and put the law to use to stay in their homes. The new online tool, GoodCauseNYC.org, was developed by JustFix with input from Housing Justice for All coalition members. NYC tenants can enter their address and answer a short set of questions about their apartment to determine if their unit is eligible for protections and access resources to fight back against an unjust rent hike or lease nonrenewal. The site also includes a rent increase calculator to help renters determine if their rent hike is considered “unreasonable” by the law.
The passage of Good Cause Eviction in the 2024 state budget was the largest expansion of tenants rights in a generation, and tenants across NYC have used it to defend their homes in court and to negotiate lower rent hikes. For example, a tenant in the East Village cited her Good Cause rights to win a lease renewal after her landlord sent notice that she would have to leave after her lease’s term expired. Another renter in Bed-Stuy used his newfound rights to negotiate a rent increase down from a 16% hike (or a $450/month increase) to the “reasonable” limit of 8.82%, still a significant hike but one that will allow him to stay in his current home.
“As rents continue rising rapidly in NYC, tenants need to know that they have the right to push back on unreasonable rent increases. Our new tool, developed with JustFix, will help empower tenants to tell their landlords that as long as they are paying a reasonable rent and following the lease, they have the right to stay in their home. Good Cause Eviction is a historic expansion of tenants rights – but only informed and organized tenants are able to use it to defend their homes,” said Cea Weaver, director of Housing Justice for All.
As many as 800,000 renters in NYC gained protections against unfair evictions and rent hikes, yet the law’s final form included many complex and overlapping exemptions that make it difficult for tenants to understand and use. The majority of unregulated renters in NYC are covered by Good Cause Eviction, but units may not be eligible if they are owned by a landlord with fewer than 11 units in their portfolio, are in an owner-occupied building with less than 11 units, rent from a coop or condo association, or as part of an employment agreement, or or were built after 2009. The portfolio size exemption in particular has been a barrier to tenants living in buildings smaller than 11 units knowing their rights, since it is difficult to know how many other units their landlord might own. The new digital tool uses publicly available data to determine eligibility by address, helping tenants wade through this list of exemptions and LLCs to determine their rights.
“Good Cause Eviction is a powerful tool to prevent evictions and price-gouging, but only if tenants know they have rights. This tool uses public data gathered from multiple sources to sort through the law’s overlapping exemptions that make Good Cause hard to use, giving tenants the confidence that they have rights to stay in their homes,” said Joel Stillman, director of JustFix.
The state law authorizing Good Cause Eviction protections in New York City also authorized municipalities elsewhere in the state to opt in to the protections. In the first year that the law has been in effect, fifteen municipalities around the state have voted to adopt tenant protections, expanding rights to an estimated 175,000 additional renters. While the state law excluded upstate renters from immediate protections, the momentum around the state to adopt the law demonstrates widespread support and need for tenant protections against price-gouging and evictions statewide. Campaigns are underway in approximately 10 additional municipalities to adopt Good Cause, with additional towns and cities expected to vote on adopting the protections in the next few months.
Explore the tool at GoodCauseNYC.org and visit housingjusticeforall.org/kyr-good-cause to learn more about where Good Cause is in effect and how tenants can use it to fight for their homes.