NEW PALTZ – Following a series of reported tenant’s rights violations in the Village of New Paltz, community and student organizations held a forum on tenant’s rights and the protections under state law that have occurred in the past year.
Three pieces of legislation regarding tenant rights had been passed in 2019, but many tenants in the village are still unaware of those updates. Additionally, 74.3 percent of village residents are renters.
New Paltz Village Trustee Alexandria Wojcik said she is constantly being informed of tenant issues in the village and it was time to hold an open forum to clear up what those tenants are entitled to and where landlords may be breaking current laws.
“I can’t walk down a street without someone telling me about another horror story, with their privacy being invaded, or feeling harassed, or not having the right communication with their landlord, not getting security deposits back, being charged exuberant fees that are no longer even legal, the litany goes on and on,” said Wojcik. “It’s clear that we need to all have more of a big conversation, get everybody updated about the new laws,” she said.
Kieran Cavanagh of New Paltz Socialists Tenants’ Rights working group said they conducted a recent survey of approximately 70 tenants in the village to see what their experiences were as renters. Participants cited issues such as mold, untimely repairs, issues with security deposits and rent increases; but, about 20 percent reported instances of harassment, which is now considered to be a misdemeanor in New York pending the most recent legislation.
“Tenants reported landlords screaming and yelling at them if they went up to their landlords to talk about things like rent and repairs. People have also reported being ‘slut-shamed’ by their landlords, landlords walking in without prior notice- one person said they were naked when their landlord walked in,” said Cavanagh.
Wojcik said she is intending to present a series of local measures to combat these issues following input from the survey and forum.
She added two crucial pieces of information village renters should know are: security deposits have been capped at one month’s rent, as of June 2019 and security deposits needs to be paid back within 14 days of moving out.
