Landlords and tenants packed the Syracuse Common Council chambers on Thursday to talk about 'good cause' eviction protection legislation. Lawmakers plan to vote Monday on the legislation. Credit: Eddie Velazquez | Central Current

Landlords, tenants, and housing advocates packed the Syracuse Common Council chambers Thursday night for a town hall meeting on “good cause” eviction protections.

Councilors say they expect to vote on the legislation Monday despite pleas from landlords who want the council to further study the local law or establish a local task force to identify housing instead of passing good cause. Several landlords also alluded to raising their rent on tenants prior to the passage of the bill.

The council has been considering opting into local good cause protections, which would allow tenants to challenge in court unjust rent hikes and unfair eviction filings, since 2024. 

Opting into good cause, tenants and housing advocates said at the meeting, would help prevent homelessness and allow tenants abiding by the terms of their lease to remain in their homes. Protections against homelessness, they said, could help curb a steadily rising number of unhoused residents in Central New York at a time when rents are high and housing options appear scarce.

“Housing is no longer affordable,” said Megan Stuart, the executive director of the Housing and Homelessness Coalition of Central New York. “This is a protection to help folks find themselves in stable housing and not in homelessness. Homelessness is traumatic, it is stressful, it is detrimental to the children in this city.”

Five councilors brought good cause back into the council chambers in early February, after the bill had laid dormant for a year. At least five of them have told Central Current in the past month they expect to vote in favor. Councilor Marty Nave, one of the bill’s sponsors, said earlier this month he is undecided.

Under the bill, tenants:

  • Could challenge evictions filed in court for reasons not stated in the lease agreement.
  • Could contest at eviction hearings rent increases above 10% of the yearly rent or 5% plus the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.
  • Would be allowed to renew their lease automatically if they are caught up on rent and have abided by the terms of their lease.

Some property owners who spoke against the law asked the council to create a task force to study the effects of the law, which has been opted into by 19 municipalities across New York. Others said that the bill is best suited for downstate municipalities and that it would ultimately disproportionally affect property owners with smaller portfolios. 

Instead, property owners said, Syracuse lawmakers should come up with a law they feel fits the needs of city tenants and landlords.

Greater Syracuse Association of Realtors Board President Don Radke proposed the council establish a task force to study the effects of good cause. 

“We don’t have data,” he said. “We are Syracuse, let’s talk about doing our own legislation that we can change as the marketplace dictates.”

Timeline of stories about ‘good cause’ in Syracuse

Landlords’ appeals to councilors not to opt into good cause are part of a push on social media and in the digital archives of Syracuse.com by property owners to dissuade the council from voting in favor of the legislation or at least delay the vote. 

Rick Destito, the owner of the Gear Factory, an apartment complex built on the shell of a former industrial property, sent a letter to the editor, aiming to rally property owners against the bill. 

Destito said his letter to the editor garnered attention from social media groups representing different neighborhoods, as well as from community leaders and politicians. Those residents and elected leaders, he noted, said they did not know much about the bill or how it works or that it was even up for a vote next Monday. Voting on the bill should be tabled for one month to allow landlords and tenants to catch up on good cause, Destito said.

“It’s really fast,” Destito said. “The council may have been talking amongst themselves for the past two years, and with some tenants and landlords over that time as well, but there’s a huge number of neighborhood groups and homeowners and tenants who don’t have a clue what this really is.”

Good cause has not seen any public discussion, Destito said. He wants to see more informational material about the effects of good cause and what landlords could be exempt from the bill.

For housing advocates and lawmakers, the bill has seen plenty of debate not just in Syracuse, but around the state. Good cause was introduced in the State Legislature in 2019 and later included in the state budget in 2024, allowing municipalities to opt in. The bill was the center of discussions in Albany around tenant protections every year until its passage. Assemblymember Pamela Hunter, a Syracuse Democrat, introduced the bill in the assembly. 

“With respect, that boggles my mind,” Andrew Sievers, an organizer with New York State Tenant Block, said of Destito’s comments. Tenant Bloc is an advocacy organization seeking to politically organize tenants statewide. 

“It is hard to believe that professionals operating rental businesses in New York are only now discovering it,” Sievers said. “This has not been hidden. This has not been rushed. It has been an open policy discussion.”

Councilor Hanah Ehrenreich, one of the co-sponsors of good cause, said she is sympathetic to residents who feel local government can be opaque in some instances. When it comes to good cause, however, Ehrenreich said she thinks the information has been available. 

“I would love to make local government more accessible and more understandable,” Ehrenreich said. “I don’t see where that is actually an issue with this case.”

Some landlords said the legislation would put a cap on how much they can raise their rent. Passing the bill, they noted, would push them to raise their rent — in some cases — significant amounts. Good cause, however, doesn’t institute a cap on how much rent can be raised. Instead, the legislation allows tenants to challenge in court, during an eviction proceeding, a rent hike beyond 10% of the yearly rent or 5% plus the rate of inflation, whichever is lower.

Pat Goodyear, a landlord who said she rents her properties significantly below market value, said good cause would sink her equity in her homes “in the toilet.”

“When I tell Natasha and Fred that their rent is going from $950 to $1,600 so I don’t lose equity in my two-families… that comes back on all of you,” Goodyear said addressing the councilors.

Tom Riddel, the president of CNY Landlords association, said he will raise his rent too if the bill is enacted.

“I will have to adjust all of my tenants’ rents, which penalizes the good tenants,” Riddell said.

Advocates say landlords publicly discussing rent increases if the city opts into good cause is a threat to renters.

“We keep hearing, if this passes, the landlords will be forced to raise rents,” Sievers said. “Sounds a lot like a threat to me.”

Good cause will be on the council’s agenda for the Feb. 23 meeting.

Read more of Central Current’s coverage

Eddie Velazquez is a Syracuse journalist covering economic justice in the region. He is focused on stories about organized labor, and New York's housing and childhood lead poisoning crises. You can follow...