Coming to the United States from Turkey, Alp is taking the opportunity to learn more English, so he can go back to his home country and become an English teacher there.

While he’s here in Newburgh, he appreciates the protection he feels he has under the city’s Good Cause Eviction law.

“These are the current residents of the city and tenants are important because they are living in the houses," he said. "They have problems and, of course, landlords should cope with these problems.”

The much-debated Good Cause Eviction laws are designed to allow landlords to evict tenants for reasonable cause. These laws exists in cities across New York including Newburgh, Kingston and Albany. They are intended to protect tenants from unlawful evictions, by defining specific criteria for an eviction, as well as placing caps on rent increases.


What You Need To Know

  • Good Cause Eviction laws were passed in cities across New York this past year to protect tenants from unjust evictions

  • Albany's law was overturned after being challenged in court, pending an appeal

  • Newburgh's is facing a legal challenge from the same attorney who filed against the Albany law

Newburgh’s law is facing a legal challenge after a lawsuit filed by a group of landlords trying to have the law overturned.

Jason Mays is the deputy director of the Hudson Valley Justice Center, which provides free legal counsel in civil matters.

“People who are challenging these local bills are saying that these laws constrict landlords’ rights more than the local governments are permitted to," Mays said.

Ben Neidl is an attorney challenging Newburgh’s law after successfully winning a case against Albany’s good cause law.

“These laws are really just an attempt to redefine what tenancy is," Neidl said. "To turn it into something like, what we lawyers call a 'life estate,' so instead of, 'I stay in the apartment for as long as I bargained for in the lease, 'pretty much, 'I stay here for as long as I want to.'"

Mays said keeping laws like this are important right now. His group is being inundated with requests for assistance from tenants.

“There are a lot of eviction proceedings. The reason there are a lot of eviction proceedings has to do with rents going up, has to do with people wanting to turn over the tenants, rehab their apartments," he said. "There’s a lot of different reasons.”

Neidl said a court ruling is expected to come soon, and he thinks the outcome in Newburgh will be the same as in Albany.