KINGSTON – The City of Kingston joins the ranks of the cities of Poughkeepsie, Newburgh, Hudson and Albany with common council adoption of good cause eviction legislation.
Lawmakers approved the measure in a special session Thursday.
The legislation aims to bolster tenant rights by protecting against unfair evictions and predatory rent increases.
Jonathan Bix, director of the grassroots group For the Many said those protections are urgently needed.
“I think it’s huge that Kingston passed good cause eviction just a couple of days before the state eviction moratorium expires and I think helps show that we need the state to step up and pass this on the state level as well,” he said.
The law states that landlords shall not remove tenants except under several listed circumstances, such as the tenant violating an obligation of their lease, or the landlord wanting to reclaim the property for personal use. The law also prevents evictions in cases where the tenant fails to pay rent due to a pattern of “unconscionable” rent increases.
Bix is working with the City of Beacon and Village of New Paltz in hopes of convincing them to adopt similar legislation.
