Good Cause Eviction measure moving closer to law in Rochester
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Good Cause Eviction is one step closer to becoming law in Rochester.
City Council President Miguel Melendez released a report Friday afternoon, recommending that the council adopt Good Cause Eviction, with some alterations.
The report recommends the Rochester law require any landlord with two or more units to abide by the terms of good cause. State law exempts landlords with 10 or fewer units.
If City Council adopts the measure, landlords with two or more units would have to show good cause to evict a tenant, even after the lease expires.
There would also be a cap on how much those landlords can raise rent.
Melendez said the measure will be considered by the Council as soon as feasible, likely in November or December.
The City-Wide Tenant Union of Rochester called on Council to adopt these protections without delay . CWTU Tenant Organizer Lisle Coleman issued the following statement on behalf of the organization:
“This report confirms what the people of Rochester have been saying all along: our community needs strong Good Cause Eviction Protections to keep families in their homes, and we need them now. The overwhelming support for Good Cause from 90% of participants in four public forums — renters and homeowners alike — shows the deep, citywide demand for this essential legislation.
“Nine upstate cities have already taken action, passing comprehensive Good Cause Eviction Protection laws that prioritize stability and protection for renters. By closing loopholes and curbing exploitative practices, these communities have shown the way forward.
“We are grateful for City Council’s clear recommendation to pass the strongest version of Good Cause Eviction Protections possible and close loopholes that would leave out tens of thousands of tenants. Now it is time for Council to act decisively and fulfill the promise of stable, fair housing for all Rochester families by passing a strong Good Cause at November’s City Council meeting.”
Matt Drouin, an area landlord and president of Freedom First Real Estate Investors Association, issued the following statement Friday:
“We acknowledge that the housing system has been broken for decades. We appreciate that policy makers are making an attempt to fix it but Good Cause Eviction is not it. There are two problematic components of the legislation.
“1.) Lease for life. Ever since the Housing Stability And Tenant Protection Act of 2019 and the eviction moratorium during covid, these regimes have required housing providers to raise income requirements and credit requirements to lease apartments to residents. This has resulted in housing providers holding vacant housing units for significant periods of time due to the risk of nonpayment. Under the Lease For Life provision in GCE, imagine how many people would get married if you couldn’t get divorced? GCE will cause housing providers to be even more scruitinizing and not lease housing units to families that desperately need housing RIGHT NOW. Plus in regard to only being able to evict due to good cause. When it comes to reasons outside of nonpayment, what proof of violation would housing courts require to grant a warrant of eviction? I have had to evict tenants due to drug dealing before and it proved impossible. I couldn’t get a police report. I couldn’t get written accounts from neighbors because they feared retaliation.
“2.) Rent Control. In the city of Rochester, we don’t have a cost of housing problem, we have an income problem. In fact, according to the City’s registry there are currently 2,052 totally vacant residential units between 1-4 family. This does not count the number of partially vacant buildings which needs further investigation. Why are these units vacant? Primarily because they cost more to renovate and place back in service than tenant’s have the ability to pay in rent. If rental rates were too high, we wouldn’t have such an alarmingly high number of vacant housing. Furthermore, under GCE, it would encourage the proliferation of more slumlords. The only way a responsible housing provider can improve deteriorated rental housing (the city has a lot of it) is the ability to increase rents to finance the expense of doing so. Take this incentive away and housing, especially for low income families will get worse because the only people that will own or buy this type of housing are cash flow investors (aka slumlords) Additionally, GCE is not equitable. High income neighborhoods in the city that have rental stock are typically high turnover. People rent as a means to save money to buy a house and then they leave, allowing the housing provider to increase rent up to market rates to keep up. Making middle to higher income neighborhoods increasingly out of reach for lower income individuals. While at the same time, moderate to low income neighborhoods typically have higher retention, which will keep housing costs artificially low and eliminate the mix of incomes in communities.”