The Albany Common Council has opted in to Good Cause Eviction, the first city in the state outside of New York City to do so. It comes after the April passage of a state law authorizing the measure.
Under Good Cause, rent increases are limited and landlords are given criteria they must abide by when evicting a tenant. Fourteen Common Councilors voted yes Monday night on the measure, with one voting present. Albany had previously passed Good Cause Eviction protections in 2021, but the efforts were halted when a court ruled only the state was allowed to pass the measure.
Albany Common Council Member Alfredo Balarin of Ward 11, who introduced the opt-in resolution, is himself a landlord.
"It's very beneficial for both landlords and tenants is because if you're a landlord and you own in a neighborhood where you've been surrounded by other landlords that are not taking care of their property, and are not being good stewards of their assets, this will encourage them to make improvements to their property," Balarin said. "It will encourage the tenants to not be fearful of asking for improvement, which will bring everybody's property values up as well as tenants and homeowners' quality of life experience up. So I'm optimistic that this is going to not just protect tenants, but also encourage good landlords, you know, to continue to invest in our city and to continue to see an opportunity for growth in their investment."
Canyon Ryan, executive director of United Tenants of Albany, says rents rose 30% citywide from 2011 to 2022.
“Our common council understands the relevance and importance of good cause eviction, and kind of remains on the front line in that fight," Ryan said. "I also think it's significant that the timing of this is June because we anticipate in July that our vacancy study, determining whether or not the city can opt into the emergency Tenant Protection Act, otherwise known as rent stabilization, those numbers should come out in July as well.”
Ryan says the law applies to tenants renting from landlords who own more than one unit in the state. Eligible tenants must be living in homes that are not owner-occupied, built prior to 2009, and rent for below 345 percent of fair market rent. He adds that tenants can expect an annual rent increase of no more than 10%.
Connor Gillis addressed councilors on behalf of the Greater Capital Association of REALTORS®, saying the group has concerns about the impact on the rental housing market in the city.
“Decisions over whether a tenant gets to stay beyond the terms of the lease will be left to a court, requiring property owners to go to great lengths and expense to demonstrate good cause for eviction,” Gillis said.
Gillis contends Good Cause will result in perpetual residential leases, undermining private property rights.
“Landlords are now going to realize that good cause eviction is back in effect, but I think also, probably a lot of them saw it coming," Ryan said. "Considering that Albany's the first to pass it. It'll be really interesting to see how other cities deal with this, though, because Albany kind of already had this, you know, by definition, kind of alignment on being progressive on housing. It will be interesting to see whether other municipalities opt into good cause eviction now that it's completely legal, and how they respond to landlord concerns.”
The cities of Kingston and Ithaca are expected to opt in soon.
David Galin, Chief of Staff to Mayor Kathy Sheehan, released the following statement.
“Mayor Sheehan was the first Mayor in New York State to sign Good Cause Eviction Protections into law and is proud Albany is leading the way to codify the new law after New York State’s recent legislative changes. This legislation will help set clear protections for both tenants and landlords.”
