Rochester City Council to Hold Final Public Hearing on Good Cause Eviction, Housing Advocates say Council Needs to Close Loopholes
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Rochester City Council will hold a public hearing Tuesday night on proposed Good Cause Eviction legislation.
The proposal aims to provide additional protection for renters in the city. The hearing will be at 6 p.m. at the Edgerton R-Center, 42 Backus St. No registration is needed. The hearing seeks input from tenants, landlords, and other community members.
If the Good Cause Eviction measure passes landlords with more than 10 rental units will be required to demonstrate valid reasons before evicting a tenant.
Valid reasons might include nonpayment of rent, illegal use of the unit, or actions that endanger other tenants.
Following the state legislature's passage of the measure earlier this year and Gov. Hochul signing it into law, municipalities outside New York City were given the option to adopt it. The bill gives a right to renewal, limits rent increases to 10% or 5% plus the consumer price index, whichever is less. Rochester City Council introduced the Good Cause Eviction legislation in June.
But according to Ritti Singh the version of the law Rochester City Council they are considering would be the weakest in the state, as it includes an “LLC loophole” that would exclude approximately 17,600 rental units, leaving an estimated 35,000 renters vulnerable to predatory landlords.
Singh is Communications Director for Housing Justice for All, a statewide coalition of over 80 groups representing tenants and homeless New Yorkers.
“Albany, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, and Ithaca’s versions of Good Cause close the ‘LLC loophole’ by narrowing the real estate portfolio exemption to 1 rental unit, preventing predatory landlords from evading the law by hiding their portfolios behind anonymous Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs),” Singh said in a press release.
“Albany, Poughkeepsie, and Ithaca also raised the high rent threshold to 345% of Fair Market Rent so that it becomes a true high rent threshold, instead of an incentive for landlords to increase the rent just to avoid the law.”
“Good Cause Eviction Protections are about making sure people aren’t getting pushed out of their homes just because landlords want to squeeze them for more money. But the current legislation leaves tens of thousands of tenants at the mercy of landlords who can exploit these gaps to maximize profits at the expense of our communities,” said City-Wide Tenant Union Tenant Organizer Lisle Coleman.
“We’re fighting to close these loopholes so that everyone in Rochester has the peace of mind that if they’re paying their rent and following the rules, they can stay in their home. It’s time to make sure that our housing system is fair and that our communities have the stability they deserve.”
Council Member Bridget Monroe of the northwest district will host the hearing, which is the final one of four public meetings on the topic.
City Councilmembers Kim Smith, Mary Lupien, and Stanley Martin have called on Council to follow the lead of other upstate cities by amending the local Good Cause legislation to expand protections.
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