Expanding Good Cause - Housing Justice for All

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Expand Good Cause Eviction Across New York

Everyone deserves a safe and stable home – no matter where we live or who we rent from. But right now, too many renters are facing rent hikes, non-renewals, or unfair evictions that are forcing us out of our homes and neighborhoods.

Your community can take action to keep families in their homes now by opting into Good Cause Eviction Protections.

Resources:

Good Cause Outreach and Communications Toolkit

Sample Good Cause Opt-In Resolution

Local Good Cause Memo for Lawmakers

Understanding Good Cause Eviction Protections

What are Good Cause Eviction Protections?

Good Cause Eviction Protections make our housing system more stable and fair by protecting renters from rent hikes and unfair evictions, as well as guaranteeing lease renewals to tenants who’ve been paying rent and following their lease.

With Good Cause, if you pay rent and follow your lease, you get to stay in your home. Good Cause stops retaliation and discrimination by requiring landlords to show they have a “Good Cause” (e.g. not paying rent or violating the lease) to evict or non-renew a tenant.

It also allows tenants to challenge rent hikes that are more than 10% or the Consumer Price Index (CPI) + 5%, whichever is lower (8.82% in NYC and surrounding counties and 8.45% upstate as of August 2024). Read more about how tenants can use Good Cause Rights here.

How can my village, town, or city opt into Good Cause Eviction?

In April 2024, New York State passed Good Cause Eviction Protections after years of organizing by tenants across the state. But Good Cause was initially only in effect in New York City; every other town or city has to opt-in by passing a local law – you can find sample local law language here. So far six cities outside of New York – Albany, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Ithaca, Beacon, and Newburgh – have opted in under the strongest possible terms.

To start a campaign in your city, talk to your neighbors and your local elected officials, check out our toolkit for resources, and get in touch with us!

How do I make sure we opt into a strong version of Good Cause Eviction Protections that covers as many tenants as possible?

New York State allows villages, towns, and cities to modify who is and isn’t covered by the protections. Specifically, localities can modify two exclusions: excluding based on the size of a landlord’s portfolio and excluding based on how much a tenant pays in rent. Municipalities should adopt the strongest version of Good Cause possible by closing loopholes to ensure the maximum number of tenants gain housing stability by:

Closing the LLC Loophole: Municipalities should define the size of the portfolio exemption as 1 unit in the State of New York. Any other definition creates a loophole for landlords seeking to avoid the law to hide how many units they own behind anonymous Limited Liability Companies (LLCs), making it impossible for tenants in smaller buildings to know whether they have protections and exercise their rights.
Setting A High Luxury Exemption Threshold: Set the exemption threshold at 345% of area Fair Market Rent. If the threshold is too close to current market rate prices, it will become an incentive for landlords to increase the rent a little bit to avoid being covered by Good Cause.

FAQ

What are “Good Causes” to evict or non-renew a tenant?

-Nonpayment of rent
-Violating the lease
-The landlord wishes to recover the unit for personal use
-Causing a nuisance or violating of the law
-The owner intends to demolish or is taking it off the market
-Failure to sign lease renewal or provide access to apartment

Who is covered by Good Cause?

State law exempts many tenants from the law, but it does allow localities to adjust two of the exemptions. Good Cause covers tenants who:
-Live in a building built before 2009
-Do not live in an owner-occupied building with fewer than 11 units
-Do not live in a co-op, condo, or housing rented as part of an employment agreement
-Do not live in a rent-stabilized, subsidized, manufactured home, or public housing unit. (These have similar but separate protections)
-Pay less than a locally defined percent of Fair Market Rent. (Albany, Ithaca, and Poughkeepsie set the threshold at 345%)
-Rent from a landlord with a unit portfolio under a certain size, with the number defined by the locality. (An LLC loophole let landlords hide their portfolio size behind LLCs and evade the law, which is why Albany, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, Ithaca, and Newburgh closed the loophole by setting portfolio size at 1)

Will this hurt small landlords?

Landlords of any size who treat tenants with respect, provide proper services, raise the rent a reasonable but not exorbitant amount, and avoid unjust evictions have nothing to fear from Good Cause Eviction laws. Landlords will still be able to raise rents for increased costs and pursue evictions for valid reasons like failure to pay or damage. This legislation targets predatory landlords who raise rents out of greed and retaliate against tenants. If you maintain your property, raise rents in line with costs, and don’t retaliate, this legislation won’t affect you.

Will landlords still be able to raise rents?

Yes, Good Cause Eviction allows the landlord to raise the rent to whatever level they would like, but it also gives tenants the right to challenge exorbitant rent increases, like the 30, 40, 50 percent increases many tenants are facing now. If a tenant challenges the rent hike, and the landlord demonstrates that they raised rent beyond 10% or 5% CPI because of increased costs (e.g. increases in taxes, maintenance costs, or insurance), a judge will take that into account to determine what is a “reasonable” increase.