Albany mayor unveils rule to shield tenants
Proposed “good cause” law resets bar for eviction
Mayor Kathy Sheehan introduced a package of legislation Tuesday designed to protect tenants, reduce blight and overhaul the city’s rental registry.
The four pieces of legislation include a proposed “good cause” eviction law, which would ban landlords from evicting tenants unless they met specific conditions. If the Common Council passes it, the legislation would be the first good cause eviction law passed in the state. The other legislation updates the rules around the city’s rental occupancy permits and gives the city building department greater power to address buildings with code issues.
The legislation is the result of work and outreach paid for by the city’s Cities RISE program, which
is funded by a $1 million grant from the state attorney general’s office.
The city spent months surveying landlords and tenants and researching what other cities had done to reduce blight as part of its efforts to develop these proposals, Sheehan said at a news conference Tuesday.
“They create transformative fair housing rules designed to further stabilize city neighborhoods by providing landlords, tenants, and the city the tools they need to secure and provide housing in New York’s capital city,” she said.
The most substantial proposal is the good cause eviction law, which would create 10 possible “good causes” landlords would have to meet when they file eviction papers in court, such as nonpayment of rent, denying landlords reasonable access to the property and if a landlord decides to sell a property. Landlords would only have to meet one of the standards under the proposal for a successful eviction.
The proposed law would not apply to owner-occupied properties with four units or less.
Councilman Alfredo Balarin, the legislation’s sponsor and a landlord himself, said good landlords who follow the city’s rules and respect their properties have nothing to worry about. Balarin said absentee landlords are a drag on others who try to maintain their properties.
“This is good legislation that is going to hold people accountable,” he
said. “If you want to invest in our city, great. We welcome you but you’re going to do it in a way that respects our community, that respects the tenants you serve.”
There is similar good cause eviction legislation in committee in the state Legislature. Rebecca Garrard, the campaigns manager for housing justice for Citizen Action New York said the city’s proposal would help prevent no-fault evictions in cases where tenants advocate for repairs and in neighborhoods that see gentrification.
“I really can not overstate how important today is. For too long in Albany, low-income, Black and brown tenants have suffered at the hands of landlords who did not honor their responsibility but instead manipulated the power dynamic that puts tenants at a disadvantage,” she said.
Maria Markovics, cochair of Housing for All, said the bills are proposals that would benefit city neighborhoods through stronger code enforcement.
The new rental occupancy permit rules would require landlords to renew their permits every two years and post the permits in their building, along with code enforcement and tenant advocacy information. It also gives the city’s chief building officer the ability to revoke the permit under some circumstances, including threats to public health and safety.
The other two pieces of legislation would give the city greater power to deal with property owners that willfully ignore code violations. The city building department would be granted the ability to make repairs to properties in cases where landlords have ignored code violations and then bill those property owners for the costs of the repairs.
The legislation would also increase the penalties in cases of “wanton disregard” of safety issues, including fines and possible imprisonment.
The four separate pieces of legislation will likely be discussed by the Albany Common Council at its next meeting.