Advocates in Troy are again pushing the city council to consider “Good Cause” eviction legislation.
In 2024, a New York state law authorizing the measure that provides protections for renters from landlords was passed. Residents in Troy are urging city councilors to consider a local version.
The measure would cap rent increases to the Consumer Price Index plus 5 percent or 10 percent each year. It would also make it illegal for landlords to retaliate against tenants for speaking up about unfit living conditions. Examples of good cause to evict a tenant include non-payment of rent, illegal use of property, and malicious damage to property. The state legislation, which is only required in New York City, allows municipalities to opt-in by passing a local law.
At the council’s March 6th meeting, supporters of the law pleaded with councilors for more than an hour to adopt the law. Troy is a majority-renter city. Mark Speedy, a member of the Good Cause Troy coalition, says it's in the city’s interest to opt-in. Speedy spoke at the last two council meetings.
"Tenants already have a lot of rights in New York. There's an extent to which that statement is true. New York state law entitles residents to safe habitation, heating in the winter, swift repairs if something breaks, and more. However, tenants are not currently empowered to actually take advantage of these rights. We have heard from countless tenants that they are afraid to ask their landlords to fix things, because they know that if they're perceived as a ‘problem tenant,’ the landlord can choose not to renew their lease or cancel their month-to-month agreement at the drop of the hat," Speedy said.
Speedy says there’s no time like the present to take action.
“Every month you delay, there are more holdover evictions filed to displace Troy renters with nowhere else to go,” Speedy said.
Melissa Mullen has been renting in the city for 30 years. She says she hasn’t feared most of her landlords when asking for help, but says a rent increase of more than 10 percent would hurt her family.
“I am basically at poverty level to begin with, with supporting children with what I make,” Mullen said. “So, it would make it difficult to have groceries and just overall, supporting ourselves to have everyday necessities.”
The Lansingburgh resident who lives with two children says she’d like to see the city crack down on out-of-town landlords, too.
“I feel like a lot of these buildings that are rented out are slumlords that don't live in the city itself, so they don't care about their properties, and they just it brings down quality of life,” Mullen said.
Since last summer, the coalition has gathered roughly 1,800 signatures of registered voters in the city in support of the measure. They planned to submit the petition to the city and board of elections but were told the offices had no way off accepting ballot initiatives.
At an earlier meeting this year, the city’s corporation counsel, Rick Morrissey, echoed that view.
“New York does not have a ballot initiative for local legislation. It only has it for charter reform and amendment, and this law has nothing to do with the plan of government of the city of Troy,” Morrissey said. “So, Article 6A could be enacted by the council. It's Article 6A of the Real Property Law, but the citizens cannot enact it by themselves.”
Councilmember Aaron Vera of the 4th District says he’s open to discussing it with the council and working through legal questions. The Democrat says he supports the idea himself and thinks it would benefit residents.
“I think the concessions that landlords would have to make are relatively minimal,” Vera said. “But again, I do, I know some other municipalities have adopted it, and so it'll be interesting to see how numbers trickle in, and just take a look at the statistics and see how valuable it could be.”
In a statement, Mayor Carmella Mantello says she “strongly opposes” the legislation, saying it would hurt the local housing market and burden landlords who rely on rental income. Mantello says she supports tenants and landlords who uphold their end of leases, but opposes out-of-town LLCs. The first-term Republican adds she supports Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposal in this year’s budget that would “require private equity firms to wait 75 days before making offers on small homes.”
Last year, Albany's Common Council opted in, making it the first city in the state outside of New York City to do so.
Albany Common Councilor Alfredo Balarin of Ward 11, a landlord who introduced the measure, says it is working well for landlords and tenants who do what they’re supposed to do.
“You should still be able to still able to screen your tenants. You're still able to have your lease designed the way you use see appropriately and you still get to make reasonable, and appropriate increases in your rent, depending on any increases in your expenses,” Balarin said. “So, if you've been doing what you're supposed to be doing and taking care of your property and being held accountable to our neighborhood, you should've seen very minimum changes.”
Balarin says units that are owner-occupied where the landlord has fewer than 10 units are exempt. He adds, it is only applicable to renewals — not vacant units. Balarin says it’s up to landlords to take the brunt of cost-of living expenses, or divvy it up amongst tenants.
“I saw increase in one of my properties for over $3500. So that would be a justified increase to divide that by number of units in that building. And divide that by 12 and that would've given me a justify increase of roughly $100 a month. So now it's then decision as a business owner and a landlord to say am ‘I going to split difference with my tenants? Are the tenants I have worth keeping,” Balarin said.
Opponents of the measure say Good Cause is an attack on landlords and private property rights.
