The Legal Aid Society and Legal Services of the Hudson Valley, on behalf of Community Voices Heard and For The Many, filed an amicus brief in Deborah Pusatere v. The City of Albany in support of the City of Albany’s “Good Cause” eviction law, which protects tenants in unregulated units from eviction for the nonpayment of astronomical rent increases and groundless evictions.

A landlord’s association, real estate companies, and property owners, filed litigation challenging the protections and the Albany County Supreme Court ruled in their favor. After an appeal, the decision is now being challenged in New York Supreme Court Appellate Division.

“In its ruling, the New York State Supreme Court correctly found that the ‘Good Cause’ Law does not serve as impermissible rent control and that most of the landlords’ challenges to this local law were without merit,” said Evan Henley, an attorney in the Civil Law Reform Unit at The Legal Aid Society. “However, it erred when it found that this local statute was preempted due to a direct conflict with state law.”

“We look forward to fighting in court on behalf of tenants in Albany and across New York whose only protection from unjust evictions is the ‘Good Cause’ Law, and we call on Albany lawmakers to immediately pass a statewide ‘Good Cause’ bill when the Legislature reconvenes in January,” he continued.

Legal Aid has long been an advocate for expanding “Good Cause” throughout the state and extending its common sense protections to all New Yorkers in order to stem the growing homelessness crisis.