Rochester City Council is set to vote on a measure that would place new restrictions on when landlords can evict tenants.
Council will take up the proposed Eviction Reduction Law when it meets on Tuesday, March 15. The legislation, which was passed out of committee Thursday, was sponsored by Council Vice President Mary Lupien along with Councilmembers Stanley Martin and Kim Smith.
Under the proposed law, landlords could pursue evictions when tenants fail to pay their rent, provided that the landlords haven't raised their rents an "unconscionable" amount. Whether an increase is unconscionable would be at the discretion of a judge, who could consider factors such as a tenant’s ability to pay the increased rent or improvements the landlord made to the property.
The legislation would also require landlords to file a valid certificate of occupancy from the city with their eviction cases and would prohibit landlords from collecting rents if they do not have certificates of occupancy for their properties. But tenants beware, the law gives landlords the right to collect any accumulated back rents once they receive a C of O.
During the Council committee meeting Thursday, City Deputy Corporation Counsel Patrick Beath said that the bill would likely violate the state constitution and, if passed, would result in a legal battle.
"It's the law department's position that there is a conflict," Beath told the members of City Council.
Under the proposal, landlords would also be able to pursue evictions when tenants damage property, turn the premises into a public nuisance, use the premises for illegal purposes, or violate at least one significant term of their leases. Landlords could also move to evict tenants for other legal or health reasons, or when tenants repeatedly refuse their attempts to make repairs.
Council held a hearing on the legislation Thursday and speakers were split on the proposal. Tenants and tenants' rights advocates spoke in favor of the measure, while the landlords who spoke largely opposed it.
Dee Richardson with the Rochester City-Wide Tenant Union argued that in many cases where a landlord is seeking to evict a tenant for not paying rent, the tenant stopped paying because the landlord wasn't fixing or maintaining the property
"A tenant can call code enforcement, but code enforcement doesn't enforce the code," Richardson said. "If a landlord has good cause, they can still evict, this legislation doesn't stop that."
A letter of opposition to the law, signed by 126 landlords, argued that the legislation would make affordable housing less available and cause difficulty in removing tenants who damage property. The landlords also argued tenants could block their attempts at getting a certificate of occupancy by not allowing repair crews or inspectors into their units.
Prior to the hearing, Lupien submitted an amendment to the original proposal that would allow landlords to begin eviction proceedings without a certificate of occupancy if they are pursuing one in “good faith.” In an interview prior to Thursday's meeting, Lupien stressed that the amendment was meant to recognize that landlords may face obstacles beyond their control as they pursue a certificate of occupancy.
The proposal still didn't sit well with the vast majority of landlords who spoke during the hearing.
"You're pushing me out of the market," said landlord Rich Tyson. "I owned 37 properties in the city and I'm down to six."
Laws similar to the one proposed by Lupien, Smith, and Martin are already on the books in some New York municipalities, including the city of Albany. Some states, such as California and Oregon, also have good cause eviction laws.
Martin, prior to the committee meeting, said she hopes the legislation will reach a majority consensus by the Tuesday Council meeting.
"I'm uncertain, but hearing from community members and seeing how loudly they're speaking up, I would hope that Councilmembers listen to their constituents," Martin said.
If City Council adopts the measure and Mayor Malik Evans signs it, Rochester would be the largest city in New York to enact a good cause evictions law.
Gino Fanelli is a CITY staff writer.