Earlier this year, a law passed applying to New York City, and it is slowly coming to upstate communities — good cause eviction. Towns and cities have been allowed to opt into good cause eviction if residents want it. Some places have voted this into their local laws already, including Albany, Kingston and Poughkeepsie. Syracuse and Rochester are two of the cities that have been having discussions about whether to vote good cause eviction into law.

A tenant who recently worked to pass a good cause eviction law in Ithaca says it’s a needed protection for renters.

“We realized that this would be a really great opportunity to promote housing stability in Ithaca,” said Katie Sims, co-chair of Ithaca Tenants Union.

What You Need To Know

  • The city of Ithaca recently passed a good cause eviction law

  • One of the main pillars of the law is requiring landlords to provide a reason for a tenant's lease non-renewal

  • Cities like Syracuse, Buffalo and Rochester are considering adopting the law

With the support of the Union, Ithaca recently passed a good cause eviction law. Sims says it applies to around 20,000 renters.

“These protections are protections that matter to upstate tenants. It's not just a New York City issue. It's not just a downstate issue. And so, we're really excited to work with our neighbors outside of the city to work on passing these protections that we all need,” said Sims.

Good cause eviction requires landlords to state a reason why they aren’t renewing a lease. And it could protect tenants from high rent increases.

“It also helps close a loophole for discrimination and retaliation. So, say you have a leak in your bathroom and it's making it super moldy and it's flooded all the time. And if you ask your landlord to fix that, historically it's been pretty easy for them to say, 'actually, no, you just aren't going to get a new lease,'” said Sims.

Ritti Singh, a renter, says when she moved into her first apartment, there were mice, rats and cockroaches.

“Initially, I complained a little bit to my landlord, and I was like, 'fix this, this is horrible. This is not a good way to live,'" Singh said. "And he did a little bit, but it didn't really go away fully. And after a while, I just gave up on it because I knew that my alternative was if I really raised my voice and pushed really hard, he could say, 'well, I'm not going to renew your lease anymore.'"

She works with Housing Justice for All and is supporting communities who want to pass this law.

“You deserve to know that you're going to have a safe place to stay. You're going to be able to keep a roof over your head without worrying about a rent hike or unfair eviction,” said Singh.

Stephen Skinner owns properties in Syracuse, a city that’s still considering a good cause eviction law.

“These are real people that matter. So, you know, I understand both sides of it, that investors are concerned with losing freedoms. And I would be concerned with some of those things as well. But I'm also very much concerned for the individual,” said Skinner. “I would hope that this would curb, if this is passed, this would curb bad landlords. I'll be really interested to see: Does it help protect good landlords?”

Under good cause eviction, landlords would be able to not renew leases for several reasons, including not paying rent, being a nuisance, or simply not renting the property anymore. Nuances of the law vary from place to place. According to Housing Justice for All, Albany, Beacon, Ithaca, Kingston and Poughkeepsie are some of the towns and cities that have opted in so far. Any community can put in the work to pass this law locally.