The city of Binghamton is on track to become the latest upstate municipality to opt in to New York’s “good cause eviction” law. The Binghamton City Council, which is made up of all Democrats, voted unanimously Wednesday night in favor of the renter-protection law.
Good cause eviction was passed by New York state last year. It went into effect immediately for New York City, but upstate municipalities have the option to opt in to it.
The law limits how much landlords can raise rent at one time to five percent, plus inflation. In Binghamton, rent increases would be capped at 8.45 percent. Under the law, landlords can still raise rents if they can show their insurance, maintenance or repair costs have increased.
The law also limits the reasons a landlord can terminate a paying tenant’s lease. A landlord can still evict a tenant who breaks the lease or does not pay rent. The landlord can still terminate a lease if they are taking the unit off the market or repurposing the unit for their own personal use.
Council Member Nate Hotchkiss, who proposed the legislation in December, said the cost of living in the city continues to rise.
“This gives us an opportunity to begin to stabilize at least one portion of that, which is the housing expenses and rent,” Hotchkiss said. “It still allows landlords to make rental increases. But it makes it so that they're a little less jarring and more predictable. I think that's absolutely necessary, given the conditions that we're in right now.”
Council Member Rebecca Rathmell noted that homelessness, particularly among families with children, continues to rise in the area.
“City leadership has been ‘forming committees’ and ‘commissioning task forces’ to discuss local housing inequities for over a decade, yet almost 2,000 individuals - including over 700 families with children - faced homelessness in Broome County last year,” Rathmell said in a statement released after the vote. “‘Pressing pause’ on this legislation is the kind of inaction that got us here. It will not get us out.”
Good cause would not apply to any new housing built since 2009, or owner-occupied buildings with 10 or fewer units. It also wouldn’t apply to public housing or luxury units with rent higher than 345 percent of the fair market price.
Several council members did express a desire to reassess its impact on housing conditions in the future.
“The status quo that's been going on has failed this city for decades,” Council President Mike Dundon said. “I do think we need to go forward with this law, but I definitely want to stay in touch with the realtors association, and I would like to circle back in a year to see if there's any amendments that need to be added or changed to the law, just in case it does have a side effect that maybe I'm not aware of.”
In a statement Wednesday night, Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham, a Republican, pushed back on the law, saying it would have “far-reaching implications for the local housing market.”
"Binghamton has made real progress on housing in recent years, with my administration leading the way in cutting red tape around construction, prosecuting slumlords and investing in neighborhoods,” Kraham wrote. "Bringing NYC-style housing regulations to Binghamton will backfire, pushing out good landlords who are providing quality housing to families, discouraging investment in rental properties and hurting the very people this legislation intends to help."
Kraham will hold a public hearing on the law before either signing or vetoing it. If he vetoes the law, the city council could override his veto.