Good cause eviction efforts continue

As the sun was fading Tuesday, activists and city and Ulster County lawmakers gathered outside of the Ulster County Courthouse to lobby for action on Good Cause Eviction legislation on the state and county levels.

“It’s to help the millions of renters who do not have any protection from eviction at the moment,” said Jonathan Bix, executive director of For the Many, an activist group calling on state and county lawmakers to pass this legislation. “If the landlord wants to skyrocket the rent for a new tenant, they can evict the current tenant – even if they have done nothing wrong. This legislation is saying they have to have good reason to evict them.”

This type of legislation has already passed in the cities of Kingston, Newburgh and Poughkeepsie. It was introduced in the Ulster County Legislature at the end of 2021, but it has been held up because of an ethics recommendation to legislators, who are landlords, advising them to recuse themselves from voting or discussing this type of legislation.