Emergency session called to revise eviction law | Columbia County | hudsonvalley360.com - Hudson Valley 360
HUDSON — The Hudson Common Council called an emergency Legal Committee meeting for Thursday following an outcry from council members and the public to pass a revised version of the “good cause” eviction law.
The law, adopted by the Common Council on Sept. 21 but vetoed by Mayor Kamal Johnson at the council’s request to make changes, aims to broaden protections for tenants from eviction. Members of the committee debated Nov. 4 whether municipalities have the jurisdiction to enact such a law or if such matters are handled by the state, leading to two resolutions brought before the Common Council at its informal meeting Monday.
The law requires landlords to justify rent increases in certain cases. Introduced to the council Aug. 17, the law establishes 10 conditions that must be presented before a judge to issue eviction notices, requires judges to consider a tenant’s ability to pay when deliberating an eviction over failure to pay rent and protects against eviction due to “unreasonable and repeated” rent increases by requiring annual increases greater than 5% to have detailed justification.
The same legislation was passed by the Albany Common Council in July, which served as the model for Hudson’s proposal.
The committee had been asked by the mayor to draft revisions to the law to bring before the full council, Common Council President Tom DePietro said.
First Ward Alderwoman Rebecca Wolff presented two changes to the law as passed by the council Sept. 21: Removing language that allows the court to investigate a tenant’s ability to pay increased rent as a factor of market rate changes and that a landlord can use the sale of a building as a reason to evict tenants.
But at last week’s Legal Committee meeting, council members decided to present two resolutions to the full council while revising the law: the first asking the state Attorney General’s Office for guidance on whether the city is within its jurisdiction in passing such a law and the second supporting the statewide bill under consideration.
Some contested spending time Monday on resolutions that do not directly help Hudson residents.
“I’m getting a whole bunch of messages from constituents and people now about having this law that I’m going to read it to you. It says, “We should only be discussing shoring up the legislation that was previously passed by the Common Council voted for in favor of the ‘good cause,’” Garriga said.
Wolff said the changes are necessary to strengthen the impact of the law.
“The law as it was originally presented had a loophole in it that said that if the market supported it, then the law would not be in effect. Essentially, if the market supported the rent going up ... basically, people could make money off of it, then the law would not be in effect. That loophole had been removed by other places,” Wolff said.
A central point of debate was based on home rule and the city’s authority to pass the law. Assistant corporate counsel Jeff Baker and Fifth Ward Alderman Dominic Merante previously expressed concern over whether the law would pass state muster.
Judith Goldiner, attorney in charge of the Civil Law Reform U”nit at the Legal Aid Society, said she has worked on housing law for decades and the city is within its rights to pass a “good cause” eviction law.
“The fact that both the state and local laws seek to regulate the same subject matter does not give rise to an express conflict. So what I’m here to say is based on my long experience of 33 years working on these areas, this locality clearly has the power to pass this good cause law and I urge you to do so,” she said.
Rebecca Garrard, legislative director at Citizen Action of New York, who has been working on the law with council members, said in October that the mayor’s veto was a procedural decision to pass the law “in the most expeditious way.” But Monday, she expressed disappointment over the present circumstances.
“Mayor Johnson vetoed this in good faith — in good faith — because the assurance was that this legislation was being edited to be stronger. And then a new version would be put on his desk for him to sign. And yet, here we are. I don’t know how. I don’t know why. Here we are, somehow, with revisiting this idea that this municipality doesn’t have the authority,” Garrard said.
Because the current council’s term ends in January, the revised law must be considered at the council’s November meeting, DePietro said.
The Legal Committee will hold an emergency meeting Nov. 11 at 6:30 p.m. to revise the law.
source: https://www.hudsonvalley360.com/news/columbiacounty/emergency-session-called-to-revise-eviction-law/article_07fcb381-9619-5cbb-b744-ed4467449a3d.html
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