New York City Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams is leading calls from a coalition of city elected leaders and advocates for Albany to enact Good Cause eviction protections and fund the Housing Access Voucher Program as part of the delayed state budget. At a Thursday press conference, they highlighted the importance of these measures as the city faces a homelessness and eviction crisis, with rents skyrocketing, and urged lawmakers to prioritize housing and tenant protections in the final days of negotiations.
“Instead of prioritizing urgent issues like housing in the state budget, negotiations are being centered around yet another attempt to roll back bail reform,” said Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams. “This is becoming an annual effort, at the expense of tenants and others suffering in our city and state’s housing and homelessness crisis. The legislature, along with tenants across the city and state, are pushing for vital Good Cause eviction protections and voucher programs to help New Yorkers find and stay in their homes. These programs must be at the forefront of the discussion and the foundation of our state’s budget and housing strategy.”
Good Cause Eviction protections would grant every tenant in New York State safeguards against unjust evictions and unreasonable rent hikes. It would require landlords to justify rent increases beyond 3% or 150% of the Consumer Price Index, protecting 1.6 million households in New York State and helping to stem the rising tide of evictions. The coalition pushed back on misinformation surrounding the measure spread by its opponents and highlighted the importance of these tenant protections as essential to any affordable housing plan on a state level.
During the press conference advocates also urged Albany to enact the The Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP), which would establish a state-level rental subsidy program for low-income New Yorkers who are homeless, facing eviction, or at risk of losing their housing because of hazardous living conditions or domestic violence. HAVP would allow tenants to be able to afford units previously inaccessible to them by capping rent burden at 30% of a tenants' income. It would help to get people out of temporary shelters and into permanent homes, regardless of of immigration status.
The coalition stressed that these two measures, which would have benefit statewide, are absolutely essential to address the housing crisis in New York City, where over two thirds of residents are renters and rents have skyrocketed to all-time highs.
“In a city where renting is the primary form of housing, New York has a responsibility to protect tenants from arbitrary and unjust eviction," said Comptroller Brad Lander. "Any housing deal in Albany must provide stable and secure housing to millions of New Yorkers. Good Cause Eviction will protect tenants from price-gouging and unfair evictions, so that every New Yorker can live in dignity and security.”
“Any budget devoid of ‘Good Cause’ will fail the millions of tenants throughout New York State who need immediate protections now from unwarranted evictions and exorbitant rent increases,” said Adriene Holder, chief attorney of the Civil Practice at The Legal Aid Society. “With eviction filings spiking statewide, inflation at unprecedented levels and economic uncertainty abound, lawmakers must ensure that this needed measures is adopted into New York’s upcoming budget.”
"New Yorkers know the most effective pathway in achieving a truly safer state is by investing in housing and tenant protections. It's a problem that our Governor has not recognized this. Churches United for Fair Housing is calling on our state legislators to hold the line for our communities being priced out of their homes, for the hundreds and thousands of New Yorkers in eviction court, because we cannot wait on delivering for tenants (again) during a mass housing and eviction crisis," said Whitney Hu, Director of Civic Engagement and Research at Churches United for Fair Housing (CUFFH)
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