Lease pols can do for renters
ALBANY — A renewed push is on to pass “good cause.”
Proponents of the renter friendly legislation — which would require a landlord to show “just cause” for not renewing a lease — are preparing a fullcourt press, starting with a new video being released Thursday by the Legal Aid Society featuring Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-Brooklyn), state Sen. Julia Salazar (D-Brooklyn) and District Council 37 Executive Director Henry Garrido.
“Albany legislators must stand up for tenants and continue building on the historic housing reforms passed in 2019 to truly protect all tenants,” said Velazquez in the video.
The legislation, which failed to pass last year despite Democrats approving a slate of tenant-boosting bills, would give every tenant in the state, not just those under rent stabilization, the right to a renewal lease, protect against unreasonable rent increases and would require landlords to have “just cause” to evict a tenant in an unregulated or “market rate” housing unit.
In recent weeks, a majority of Democrats in the state Senate and Assembly have signed on to back the bill, encouraging supporters who are hopeful that lawmakers will bring the measure to the floor of both chambers soon.
And there’s no time to lose, advocates argue. In the 12 months since the bill was first introduced, at least 36,500 people across the state have faced eviction.
But landlord groups and real estate interests are putting up a fight. Opponents mounted their own campaign against the measure last month as the legislative session got under way. The Rent Stabilization Association, which reps landlords in Albany, released its own video about the bill aimed at upstate owners.
“On the surface, it sounds like it benefits tenants, but in reality it will eliminate landlords’ ability to maintain and upgrade their buildings, and diminish their control over property they own,” said Stabilization Association President Joseph Strasburg. “Tenants are already protected from unjust eviction.
“The state Legislature already targeted New York City property owners with new rent laws last June that have resulted in landlords abandoning thousands of apartment and building improvement projects, and many struggling and in danger of losing their buildings,” he added.