Syracuse City Hall Credit: Chris Libonati | libonati@centralcurrent.org

The Syracuse Common Council hosted its third public hearing on “good cause eviction” legislation on Wednesday, attempting to hear from lawyers representing city tenants and landlords in court about how evictions work and how the local law could impact that process.

Councilors say they will need more input and time to deliberate on “good cause,” the series of eviction protections that housing advocates at the city and state levels say could help cool rent hikes and undue evictions. Advocates of the bill have long maintained that “good cause” is an essential tool to fight Syracuse’s housing crisis. Renters are facing some of the sharpest increases in rent in the country, and they are also being evicted at high rates. 

“We’re gathering information so that we can as a council reflect on it, and then we’ll see,” said Councilor Rita Paniagua, who directed the hearing. 

The bill has been considered by the council since August, but they have had the opportunity to opt into a local version of “good cause” since it was packaged in the state budget in April.

Wednesday’s hearing, held as part of a joint committee meeting, comes roughly a month after the council hosted landlords and realtors at the council chambers to discuss how “good cause” would impact them. 

Two councilors told Central Current reporters after Wednesday’s hearing that they would host at least one more hearing involving tenants’ rights advocacy groups, likely in January.

Under the bill, first proposed in the State Legislature five years ago, 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.

Reactions from councilors and advocates show “good cause,” a bill initially discussed in August, may not be any closer to being a reality in Syracuse. Eleven other municipalities in New York have opted into “good cause,” including the cities of Ithaca and Albany. 

The council seems divided on the effectiveness of Wednesday’s hearing. Some councilors have seen the hearings and any subsequent public forums on the issue as opportunities to consider how the bill would impact tenants and property owners. 

“We are on a listening tour right now,” said Councilor Jimmy Monto. “‘Good cause eviction’ legislation sitting on the agenda for a few months is good practice, letting the community react and speak.”

Others think the meeting was redundant. So far, the council has brought on experts from CNY Fair Housing, an agency that deals mostly with housing discrimination cases, and property owners and realtors to discuss the impacts of the bill. 

“We’ve gone down that rabbit hole, we know this,” Patrona Jones-Rowser, the chair of the Neighborhood Preservation, Homeless and Housing Vulnerable Committee told Central Current.

For advocates, the hearing was a good opportunity to discuss how “good cause” works and what it could do to help city tenants remain in their homes, said Volunteer Lawyers Project of Central New York Executive Director Sal Curran. 

Curran, who directed a presentation on “good cause” during the hearing, said the bill would make rent increases predictable and more manageable for tenants at a time when Syracusans face some of the highest rent increases in the nation. 

In just one year, rent for one-bedroom apartments in Syracuse have increased about 22%, according to one study.

“Tenants deserve to know that predictability … to the increases so that they know that they are not going to get more than a 10% increase so that they can budget for it,” Curran said. 

“Rent shouldn’t be determined by how much a landlord can possibly get out of someone,” Curran said.

For Curran, “good cause” is only one component of the solution to the city’s housing issue. Curran said re-investment in dilapidated properties is another key factor that would help repopulate the rental market and also help tenants remain in their homes.

“We need to say the county and city need to take their discretionary dollars and put it toward improving housing by making that money available as grants to landlords who want to make repairs,” Curran said. 

“We all want safe, stable housing,” Curran said.

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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...

Patrick McCarthy is a staff reporter at Central Current covering government and politics. A graduate of Syracuse University’s Maxwell and Newhouse Schools, McCarthy was born and raised in Syracuse and...