Which upstate cities are adopting ‘good cause’ eviction and rent control?

Over the last few years, the state has passed new laws allowing upstate New York municipalities to adopt tenant-friendly housing policies – including rent stabilization and “good cause” eviction protections – that were previously exclusive to the New York City metropolitan area. 

Between the Emergency Tenant Protection Act, colloquially known as rent control, and “good cause” eviction, a law that sets further guidelines for evictions and rent increases, tenants and tenant advocates are relishing a new set of tools to combat housing insecurity. 

The Emergency Tenant Protection Act, first passed in 1974, brought rent stabilization in New York City and Nassau, Westchester and Rockland counties. The Housing Stability & Tenant Protection Act, passed in 2019, made all municipalities in the state eligible to declare a rental emergency and opt into rent stabilization. The law applies to buildings built before 1974 which contain six or more units. Once a municipality conducts a vacancy study and determines that the vacancy rate in applicable buildings is 5% or below, it can declare a housing emergency and allow a rent guidelines board to determine how much rents can increase each year. 

The measure has been very divisive among upstate property owners. They have not hesitated to launch legal challenges against municipalities, usually challenging the vacancy study that empowered a municipality to opt in to the Emergency Tenant Protection Act in the first place. They have had mixed results thus far. 

“Good cause” eviction protections were included in this year’s state budget after a years-long legislative push. The version that made it into the budget was weaker than the original “good cause” eviction bill and contained numerous carve-outs for small luxury apartments and small landlords. It also requires municipalities outside of New York City to opt in to the policy, rather than automatically applying to all eligible properties statewide.

There’s now an ongoing push in some upstate New York municipalities with distressed housing stock to find a path to adopt these measures. The Housing Justice for All coalition, which has supported tenant-friendly policies at the state level, has organized with local groups – including the Ithaca Tenants Union, Albany Tenants Union, Community Voices Heard, For the Many and the Mid-Hudson Valley chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America – to advocate for “good cause” eviction and rent stabilization.

So far, six cities have opted into “good cause” eviction, with a seventh considering the legislation. Four cities have opted into the Emergency Tenant Protection Act in order to pursue rent stabilization, and two more are in the process of doing so, though courts have blocked some cities’ attempts to adopt rent stabilization.

Here's a tracker of where each upstate city stands on adopting new housing regulations. This article was last updated on Sept. 11, 2024.

Albany

“Good cause” eviction: Yes

Rent stabilization: Pending

The Albany Common Council opted into “good cause” eviction June 3 with Mayor Kathy Sheehan providing her signature on July 5. Albany is in the odd position of being first twice. It was the first city to pass a local version of “good cause” eviction protections in 2021, before legal challenges struck down their version of the law. This time around, Albany narrowly edged out Kingston, another early adopter of the local law, to be the first to approve the updated version of the landmark housing bill. The city also set a precedent among adopters of “good cause” eviction by defining a “small landlord” much more narrowly than the state Legislature did. While the state defines a “small landlord” who is exempt from the law as one with 10 or fewer rental properties, Albany defines a “small landlord” as one with a portfolio of just one rental unit.

The state capital is also taking steps to adopt rent stabilization. Albany Common Council members approved funding for a vacancy study last November, and according to a notice released earlier this year, have already collected responses from property owners in the state’s capitol. If the vacancy study finds a vacancy rate of 5% or less, the city will be able to declare a housing emergency and opt into the Emergency Tenant Protection Act.

Kingston

“Good cause” eviction: Yes

Rent stabilization: Yes

The Kingston Common Council approved “good cause” eviction on July 2 and Mayor Steve Noble signed off on July 10. Seeing which way the legal winds were blowing, they repealed their local version of “good cause” eviction last April after passing the bill in 2022. 

Kingston opted into the Emergency Tenant Protection Act in 2022, and its Rent Guidelines Board voted to give tenants covered by the law a 15% rent reduction. Since then, though, the city has been involved in a protracted legal battle with the Hudson Valley Property Owners Association, which has repeatedly questioned the validity and methodology of the city’s vacancy study and attempted to use it as a basis to nullify the decisions of the city’s Rent Guidelines Board.

After back-and-forth legal decisions wound their way up the chain of New York’s court system, a state Appellate Court ruled in favor of Kingston and the city’s Rent Guidelines Board, validating its 15% rent reduction. After an initial dismissal, the Hudson Valley Property Owners Association has been granted leave to appeal the decision to the state Court of Appeals. In the meantime, Kingston’s Rent Guidelines Board has chosen to freeze rents.

Poughkeepsie

“Good cause” eviction: Yes

Rent stabilization: Challenged in court

The Poughkeepsie Common Council unanimously opted into “good cause” eviction on July 9 and Mayor Yvonne Flowers signed it into law on July 19. Its local version of the law was struck down in court in 2023 along with other cities in the region. 

The Poughkeepsie Common Council unanimously adopted the Emergency Tenant Protection Act on June 18 after a study found it to have a vacancy rate of 4.03%. But the Hudson Valley Property Owners Association filed suit against the city of Poughkeepsie on July 26. The property owners group claims that its own study found a vacancy rate of 6.69%, which would nullify the housing emergency declaration and make Poughkeepsie ineligible for rent stabilization. On July 30, a state Supreme Court judge issued a temporary restraining order against Poughkeepsie, prohibiting it from adopting the ETPA while the current litigation plays out. 

Newburgh

“Good cause” eviction: Yes

Rent stabilization: Struck down

Newburgh became the second upstate city to adopt the Emergency Tenant Protection Act on Dec. 18, 2023, after a vacancy study found that the city’s vacancy rate was 3.93%. The Hudson Valley Property Owners Association – which has filed a number of lawsuits against cities in the Hudson Valley seeking to adopt rent stabilization – sued Newburgh, challenging the validity of Newburgh’s vacancy study. In April, an Orange County Supreme Court judge ruled in favor of the landlords, that the city’s methodology used incorrect and imprecise information when calculating its findings. Following the decision, Mayor Torrance Harvey said that he would review the city’s options.

Newburgh’s City Council unanimously adopted “good cause” eviction on Sept. 9. It had a local version of the law on its books before a 2022 state Supreme Court decision rendered it null. The state government's new housing legislation has returned the tenant protections to the city. 

Rochester

“Good cause” eviction: Pending

Rent stabilization: Pending

The Rochester City Council is expected to vote on opting in to “good cause” eviction in September. The City Council voted not to adopt a local version in 2022, with some members viewing it as unenforceable. 

Unlike some other cities, which have defined “small landlords” more narrowly than the state Legislature did, Rochester plans to follow the state’s lead and exempt any landlord who owns 10 units or less from the law. This has upset some Common Council members and advocates, who have warned that approximately 17,600 rental units would be exempt from the new policy, leaving an estimated 35,000 people without protections. 

The western New York city is also taking steps to adopt rent stabilization. On May 22, the Rochester Common Council approved a resolution allowing for the consideration of a vacancy study, and it is now up to Mayor Malik Evans to devise a proposal. The city last conducted a vacancy study in 2019. That study, which suffered from poor participation, found a vacancy rate of 9%, well above the 5% threshold needed to declare a housing emergency. 

Ithaca 

“Good cause” eviction: Yes

Rent stabilization: No

The Ithaca Common Council opted in to “good cause” eviction on July 9 after a years-long push to get the law on the books in the Tompkins County municipality. Mayor Robert Cantelmo voted for the law.

Village of Nyack

“Good cause” eviction: No

Rent stabilization: Struck down

The Village of Nyack adopted the Emergency Tenant Protection Act on Nov. 9, 2023. Following lawsuits and a new housing study released in February, they later did not qualify to declare a housing emergency after a vacancy rate of 6.12% was identified.

Beacon

“Good cause” eviction: Yes

Rent stabilization: No

The City of Beacon opted in to “good cause” eviction on Aug. 19, putting the law back on the books after initial legislation was struck down by a local court last November. In the process of adopting the state’s “good cause” eviction law, Beacon Common Council members modified the legislation to apply to all landlords with more than one unit.