“Good Cause Eviction” is currently under consideration in the New York State Legislature. It would cap increases at 3% or 1.5 times the Consumer Price Index and would only allow landlords to deny a lease renewal under very limited circumstances.
If passed, Good Cause Eviction will lead to significantly higher rents on vacant units and will have almost no impact on how much current renters pay. A majority of economists believe that ‘Good Cause Eviction’ will lead to less creation of affordable housing, and that property owners will increasingly convert buildings into condos or co-ops.
Good Cause Eviction means higher property taxes, fewer quality homes, and impossible burdens on property owners, further distorting the market and turning owning and renting property into a money-losing proposition.
Now— more than ever — is the time to voice your opposition to the “Good Cause Eviction” bill.
With the exponentially rising costs of utilities, lumber and building supplies, and other management expenses, smaller landlords and mom-and-pop property owners would not survive the aftermath of this bill and many would be forced to sell their buildings, leaving behind even fewer desperately needed affordable housing options than there were before.
The Building & Realty Institute brings together business owners across all sectors of the real estate industry in Westchester County and the Hudson Valley. By uniting our voices, we can make a difference on the issues that affect our industry, and on the supply of affordable housing and good jobs in our area.
BRI members believe in advocacy. We come together to seek out opportunities to affirm principles of property rights, fair and due process, equal opportunity, sensible regulation, affordable housing, and the free and fair pursuit of a better living and working environment for all.
We need your help — email your legislators today!
The so-called “Good Cause” Eviction or “Lease for Life” bill S.305 (Salazar) was proposed in 2019 as part of the package of legislation that would become the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act. It did not pass as part of that law, which is why legislators and tenant advocates are pushing it this session.
If passed, the bill would create challenges for landlords trying to effectively manage their properties and limit the ability to remove problematic tenants, potentially putting other tenants at risk. It will also burden owners who are already struggling to make necessary renovations and improvements because of an inability to recoup their investment. If renovations should require a rent increase above the “unreasonable” rent increase threshold in the bill, owners would be stuck. This can potentially decrease the quality of life for residents, making it a lose-lose situation for everyone involved.
At a time when New York’s housing crisis has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, surging costs, and a lack of investment in rent-stabilized properties because of the changes from HSTPA, this bill would dramatically reduce the supply of rental housing and give New Yorkers even less affordable options for housing than they did before.
Email your legislators and let them know that there are BETTER solutions.
Urge them NOT to pass the Good Cause Eviction Bill!
