Eligible landlords must show ‘good cause’
The Beacon City Council on Monday (Aug. 19) adopted a law limiting when landlords can evict tenants or refuse to renew leases, four months after the state authorized municipalities to opt into a measure enacted in April.
The “good cause” eviction law, approved 5-0 with two council members absent, restricts landlords who own more than one unit from evicting tenants except in specific circumstances, including when they have arrears that are not due to “unreasonable” rent increases.
An unreasonable increase is defined by the state as 5 to 10 percent, depending on the consumer price index. In Dutchess County in 2024, it is 8.82 percent or more.
Tenants who violate lease conditions, cause substantial damage or commit or permit a nuisance are also not afforded protections under the law, which will sunset on June 15, 2034, when the state legislation expires. Landlords can also refuse to renew a lease if they want to convert a unit to personal use.
New York State’s enabling legislation, included in the 2024-25 budget, generally exempts landlords owning 10 or fewer units and does not extend protections to tenants paying more than 245 percent of their county’s fair market rent, but it allows municipalities to change those criteria.
Beacon chose to apply its version to landlords owning more than one unit and raise the fair-market-rent threshold to 345 percent, which is $4,900 for a one-bedroom unit, $6,300 for a two-bedroom and more for larger units.
The state law exempts for 30 years buildings that received a certificate of occupancy on or after Jan. 1, 2009, which means nearly all apartments constructed in Beacon during its recent development boom are exempt.
Council Member Paloma Wake had sought a threshold of 500 percent of fair market rent that would have expanded the law’s reach to more high-end properties. No tenant should be evicted “without any reason,” she said.
Monday’s vote also repealed good-cause legislation that Beacon adopted in 2022. The city was one of five municipalities in the state to adopt a local act; all were struck down in court or repealed, with judges ruling that the municipalities lacked authority under state law.
City Court Judge Rebecca Mensch ruled in November that Beacon’s good-cause law was unconstitutional as part of her denial of a Main Street resident’s motion to dismiss an eviction proceeding.
The landlord, identified in court documents as 201-211 Main St. LLC, went to court in July 2023 when the tenant refused to vacate his apartment after receiving 90 days’ notice that his lease would not be renewed.
Essential Invest LLC also challenged the city’s good-cause law when a tenant who had been paying subsidized rent of $850 at 455-457 Main St. faced eviction after the company did not renew his lease.
Mayor Lee Kyriacou voted against Beacon’s law in 2022, warning the council about its legality. While he voted for the measure adopted on Monday, he noted that most evictions will not qualify for good-cause protection because they are for nonpayment of rent or other reasons not covered by the law.
“I also take some objection to dividing the world into good people and bad people, and assuming that all landlords are greedy and that all tenants require protection,” said Kyriacou. He said that “rents would be plummeting” if new housing had been built to address a statewide shortage.
“For the rents to be where they are isn’t the cause of one side or the other,” said Kyriacou. “It’s the nature of the market.”
Beacon joins a growing list of municipalities approving good-cause.
Albany, the first city in the state to have its local good-cause law struck down, became the first municipality outside New York City to opt into the state program in July. Kingston, Ithaca and Poughkeepsie followed suit and the City of Newburgh is expected to vote next month on its version.
