The City of Troy won’t opt-in to Good Cause Eviction.
Ahead of the city council’s finance meeting Thursday, residents and advocates gathered outside of city hall for a rally.
They were pushing councilors to adopt a local law known as Good Cause Eviction.
The measure would limit rent increases to the Consumer Price Index plus 5 percent or 10 percent each year. It would also make it illegal for landlords to retaliate against tenants for speaking up about unfit living conditions. Examples of good cause to evict a tenant include non-payment of rent, illegal use of property, and malicious damage to property.
State legislation passed in 2024 only requires good cause in New York City, allowing municipalities to opt-in by passing a local law.
Following a lengthy public comment session ahead of the meeting, majority Republicans voted down a measure to hold a public hearing on the idea with a 4-3 vote.
Mark Speedy is an organizer of the coalition in the majority-renter city.
“If I'm going to take you seriously and believe that you just have an honest disagreement and you genuinely want to help the tenants of Troy, if not this, then what,” Speedy said.
Councilor Ryan Brosnan of District 2 says he held an extensive meeting at his apartment last fall with advocates for the measure, but came away feeling like it wouldn’t do enough to protect renters. The Republican says instead, properties should be issued Residential Occupancy Permits. The councilor seeking a second term says that would require an annual inspection from the city’s code enforcement department.
“It does protect you even more from retaliation, on top of what's already going on, and it also generates revenue for the city,” Brosnan said. “So, it's not just a piece of legislation that you're already getting evicted, you're already going to court, you're already suffering. This will help fix that. Instead of putting a band-aid on after you get shot, it's taking the guns out of hands, you know, just making sure people aren't in danger anymore.”
Democratic Council President Sue Steele says while she’s not surprised by the outcome, she’s disappointed.
“Unfortunately, the majority showed their cards early on in the process that they were not going to be supportive of tenants,” Steele said. “It's regrettable, but kind of expected.”
Council President Pro Tem. Thomas Casey gave a lengthy speech about the risk Good Cause poses. The Republican, who is also seeking re-election, says the legislation has the potential to hurt good tenants and reward bad ones. And he claimed it violates the Fifth Amendment by violating private property rights.
“They [landlords] have a chance of losing everything. You know, renters get a U haul and move on,” Casey said. “It's the same when people try to make the correlation between employer and employee. There's not an equal footing there.”
The legislation is for tenants already in units, not new-builds or new-renters. For vacant units, landlords could charge their desired amount without needing to abide by Good Cause rules.
Landlord Sylva Menard of Menard Properties says at first, she was wary of the “undue burden” the measure would have on landlords. But after doing some research, she changed her mind.
“I realized that as a responsible landlord, I was already doing most of what good cause covered, if not all of it, and I've been doing it for years,” Menard said. “I've kept rent increases reasonable. I've made sure any evictions are for compelling legal or contractual reasons, and I've offered lease renewals unless there's a legitimate reason not to, to put it plainly, if you're already operating like an ethical landlord, then you have absolutely nothing to fear with good cause legislation.”
Councilor Bill Keal, a Republican from District 1, says you get what you pay for.
“A lot of times, all these, all these complaints are somebody who took the lowest cost rental unit available. And, you know, is almost kind of it works out that way,” Keal said.
Katie Spain-McLaren, a Democratic councilor from District 1 seeking re-election, says it’s not just about rent costs, but the threat unstable housing poses to other facets of the community like schools.
“I can count five families right off the top of my head, who we won't see next year, because that was not remedied, and they've had to go on from living in a hotel to finding housing in a different area,” Spain-McLaren said.
Mayor Carmella Mantello says she strongly opposes the legislation, saying it would hurt the local housing market and burden landlords who rely on rental income. Mantello says she supports tenants and landlords who uphold their end of leases, but opposes out-of-town LLCs. Mantello encourages residents to call the city’s code enforcement department when problems arise.
“We are not going to take the side of the property owner. We're not going to take the side of the tenant. We're going to be fair,” Mantello said. “And what we want here in Troy is tenants like that to understand to call us, you know, don't have that fear. Don't have that fear of retaliation. So also, be aware, I mean, you know, I'm doing everything humanly possible to hold property owners accountable, whether it be with debris, whether it be with illegal dumping.”
The first-term Republican adds she supports Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul’s proposal included in this year’s budget requiring “private equity firms to wait 90 days before making offers on small homes.”
Advocates plan to continue meetings, hold a tenant issue candidate forum for councilors and new candidates, and keep the fight alive ahead of November’s election.
Elected councilors serve a two-year term while the citywide council president post serves for four.
