The Legal Aid Society, working with Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, filed amicus briefs on behalf of Community Voices Heard and For the Many, nonprofit organizations that represent low-income tenants, in support of the City of Albany’s Good Cause Eviction law. In 2021, Albany passed a law that prohibited landlords from evicting tenants in the city except where “good cause” is established, such as the non-payment of rent. A group of Albany landlords sought to nullify the local law as preempted by state law.

At the Third Department, we argued that the trial court below was wrong to find that Albany’s Good Cause Law conflicted with state law. The State’s Real Property Law and its Real Actions and Proceedings Law leave intact the substantive common law tenancy categories and the common law rules concerning the termination of tenancies, which a municipality is permitted to modify. When the Third Department disagreed and ruled against Albany, we submitted an amicus brief in support of Albany’s motion for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals granted the motion for leave to appeal, but Albany withdrew its appeal due to the enactment of the state-wide Good Case Law. Learn more about New York State’s Good Cause Eviction Law here.