In response to an Albany judge ruling today on the City of Albany’s Good Cause tenant protections, Rebecca Garrard, Legislative Director for Citizen Action of New York, issued the following statement:
“Today’s ruling striking down the Good Cause tenant protections means that the tenants in the City of Albany, and every other municipality that has enacted local Good Cause legislation, are at immediate risk of no-fault evictions and predatory rent hikes that will ensure the mass displacement of Black, Brown, and low-income communities. This crisis of evictions exists across New York for unregulated tenants, which has been documented not just by the stories of tenants across the state but by the numerous city officials who have sought to pass these protections.
This ruling is further proof that our state legislature’s decision to abdicate their responsibility to protect renters is unacceptable. This inaction is the reason for the current, unprecedented housing crisis. State-level elected officials have chosen to ignore the plight of tenants in order to capitulate to the will of real estate special interests. They are responsible for every eviction, every displacement, and every newly unhoused family, and it can no longer be tolerated. We call on the state legislature to immediately call a special session in order to pass statewide Good Cause tenant protections.”
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