In April 2024, the NYS government gave cities the power to expand tenant protections. Now we are taking the fight for tenant protections to the Buffalo Common Council.
What is Good Cause?
Good Cause protections bar landlords from denying renewals or raising rent above a certain amount without proving a “Good Cause”. This is a revolutionary change to housing law — it bans discriminatory and retaliatory non-renewals and curbs runaway rent hikes.
To be more specific, Good Cause means:
📋 Guaranteed lease renewals
Rest easy knowing your lease renewal is guaranteed, even if you’re month-to-month.
⚖️ Limits on rent hikes
Tenants can force landlords to justify or reduce rent hikes above 10%, or CPI inflation plus 5%, whichever is lower.
🗓️ Max of one rent increase per year
Even for month-to-month tenants, price increases have a predictable schedule so you can plan ahead.
🔒 Protection from unjustified evictions
Landlords can’t evict without a “Good Cause”, like rent nonpayment or lease violations.
As of April 2024, Good Cause Eviction is New York State Law. However, it only applies directly to NYC, other NY cities must “opt-in” to the law to get these basic housing rights protected, which means residents across the state have had to organize and pressure their city councils to pass common-sense protections that you should already have. So far, Albany, Rochester, Poughkeepsie, Ithaca, and many other cities have won rights to Good Cause Eviction. States like Oregon, Colorado and NJ also have versions of Good Cause, and Canada also guarantees lease renewals.
In a city where more than 60% of residents rent a place to live, housing security is important. The Common Council must act now to curtail the effects of a nationwide housing crisis that has hit Buffalo especially hard since COVID. Out-of-state and private equity have bought up too much stately but aging housing stock, squeezing the rental market and forcing rents higher.
In Buffalo, tenants can be evicted without cause – things like requesting basic maintenance and repairs, asserting your rights to habitability, demanding a property be pest and rodent free, can lead to a landlord not renewing your lease in hopes of finding a tenant who will meekly tolerate these conditions because they are worried about keeping their housing. This results in landlords living in Williamsville and Orchard Park getting to dictate the laws that govern Buffalo residents, which isn’t right. Absentee landlords should not have the power to kick you out of your home for asserting your rights!