This week, a New York state Supreme Court judge struck down Albany’s Local Law F which established “good cause” eviction standards. The ruling said the law was preempted by state law and had set improper regulations on evictions and rental rates. Cea Weaver, campaign coordinator at Housing Justice for All, told Capital Tonight that the striking down of the local law shows that the state must enact its own good cause eviction law.

The Albany good cause law affords a tenant the right to renew their lease and put restrictions on the amount a rent could be increased by. A tenant could still be evicted if they failed to pay rent, engaged in illegal or nuisance activity in the unit, or substantively violated their lease. Weaver says the ruling in the Albany case is specific to the capital city but could lead to property owners in other cities with the law to challenge it.

Property owners have opposed the legislation arguing that the law added monetary and time costs when trying to evict bad tenants to protect good tenants.

The statewide version of the bill is sponsored by Brooklyn Democratic Senator Julia Salazar and Syracuse Democratic Assemblymember Pam Hunter. The bill has not made it to the floor in either house of the legislature and will need to be reintroduced when the legislature returns for a new session in January.