Housing Justice For All, a statewide movement of tenants and homeless New Yorkers united in the fight to secure housing as a human right, which includes The Legal Adis Society, called on lawmakers in Albany to prioritize the passage of “Good Cause” (S3082/A5573) legislation that will protect tenants by preventing evictions without cause, as reported by City Limits.

A letter co-signed by over 70 housing advocacy organizations implores lawmakers in Albany to take immediate action to protect tenants who are still reeling from the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar laws have already proved effective in Hudson and Albany and these protections should apply statewide to all residents in unregulated units.

The letter states:

Despite progress combating the pandemic and returning the state to a sense of normalcy, millions of New Yorkers have lost their jobs, and many who were already struggling to survive remain at their absolute breaking point.

Roughly ​​1.6 million unregulated households​ across New York State continue to be in desperate need of additional protections to ensure that the devastating social and economic consequences of the pandemic are not allowed to turn a public health crisis into an eviction and homelessness crisis. We must act now to prevent this inequity from compounding once COVID-19 completely subsides.

“Good Cause” legislation would prohibit the eviction of residential tenants or the non-renewal of residential leases without legitimate reason and would require landlords to have “just cause” to evict a tenant in an unregulated housing unit. Since the bill was introduced in 2019, tens of thousands of people across the state have faced eviction. Many of those people would have remained in their homes had their unregulated apartments received the minimal protections “Good Cause” would provide.