Good cause eviction bill cut from NY budget. What’s next for tenants, landlords?

“A proposal meant to limit how landlords evict tenants didn’t make it into New York’s final $229 billion budget, leaving both supporters and opponents lacking an attractive solution to the current housing crisis.

Good cause eviction policies — which would prevent landlords from evicting tenants except for lease violations, like failure to pay rent — have faced court challenges by landlord groups since a few Hudson Valley cities passed similar laws protecting renters. Local judges have pushed the issue to state lawmakers.

In Newburgh, an hour-and-a-half from New York City, René Mejia, a 29-year-old organizer at For the Many, a left-leaning Hudson Valley advocacy group, found himself fielding calls from tenants about what to do with their eviction notices after a court struck down the city’s good cause eviction statute in December.

On March 30, Mejia’s landlord told his family, including his parents and his sister, to leave the three-bedroom home they’ve rented for 12 years, Mejia said in an interview. The landlord plans to sell the property to a buyer who wants it vacated, he added.

While they have yet to be served an eviction notice, his family knows their rights.

“It’s a wakeup call to people when it happens,” he said. “But when it happens, it’s too late.”

The legislative session ends June 8.”