Albany right to shield tenants from predatory evictions

It’s good to see the city of Albany taking control of its blight problem in progressive ways. The inclusion of Good

Cause legislation in Mayor Kathy Sheehan’s fair housing package shows that she’s listening to her constituents.

The Good Cause measure provides at least ten reasons why tenants should not be evicted, protects them from no-fault evictions and aims to end the types of predatory evictions that Albany is well known for.

Health care and housing are inextricably linked. Because of COVID -19, it's even more important for individual and community health that people have safe, stable housing. By keeping good-faith tenants in their homes, this law will improve public health in the short term and promote economic security and growth in the long term.

That may be why, despite the false-flag campaigns from opponents, Good Cause is actually popular among New Yorkers, with 80 percent of people in support of it in a Data for Progress poll last year. It's good that

Albany is tackling this problem rather than waiting for action at the state level, where Good Cause legislation has been stalled by intense lobbying by the wealthy real estate industry.

There’s no question Albany is experiencing rapid growth and expansion as more people seek refuge in the region’s lower-cost

of living. But even as new buildings go up, Albany residents continue to deal with unscrupulous property owners who leave their properties in shambles. Albany is becoming a smorgasbord of new housing and deplorable housing — moving from one extreme to the other. The pandemic has only exacerbated these conditions, and for the past year, there has been little that tenants could do to address their housing concerns. Without the income to pay rent, tenants are also less likely to be able to afford the costs associated with home repairs.

But this is nothing new. Families have long been exposed to deplorable conditions like poison lead, rodent infestations, broken appliances and failing utilities like heat and hot water. And when they use their right to withhold rent, they’re subjected to “self-help” evictions, harassment and other forms of retaliation. One Capital Region property owner went as far as to kidnap tenants who were protected by New York’s pandemic eviction ban. Many tenants often suffer in silence just to keep a roof over their heads.

Prior to COVID, housing instability was becoming an even deeper crisis in Albany, with thousands of evictions every year. Historically, evictions in Albany, as elsewhere, fall disproportionately on Black and brown low-income tenants. That means this is not only a housing justice issue but also a racial justice issue.

Tenants are temporarily protected by Good Cause under the state’s emergency COVID-19 rental assistance program, but the emergency provision applies only to tenants whose property owners receive federal rent assistance and expires in one year. Good Cause is needed in Albany to help all tenants and the city’s new batch of small homeowners. Modeled after the state bill, which is sponsored by Assemblymember Pamela Hunter and Sen. Julia Salazar, Good Cause actually takes aim at corporate developers and holds bad actors accountable. Many Capital Region property owners already abide by what’s in the legislation.

The Albany Common Council must pass Sheehan’s Good Cause legislation and join her in recognizing what we all know to be true: Housing is a human right.