Over 75 Binghamton residents flooded into City Council chambers Monday night, for a town hall session that ran until 9 p.m., focused on the continuing debate over “Good Cause” eviction.
In April 2024, the Good Cause Eviction law went into effect, offering tenant protections in those municipalities that chose to adopt it.
The topic stirred debate in December, when the city’s mayor argued such conditions would put Binghamton at a competitive disadvantage, and a city council member called the claims fearmongering.
Monday night’s meeting centered around proposing Good Cause Eviction legislation in Binghamton, which would increase protections for tenants against what City Council called landlords’ predatory practices.
More: Binghamton weighs ‘Good Cause’ eviction: What you need to know
Over 75 people crowded into Binghamton’s City Council chamber for a Monday night town hall.
What is ‘good cause’ eviction?
Good Cause Eviction prohibits landlords from ending a tenancy without a covered reason. Tenants are then allowed to use the protection provided by the law as a defense in Housing Court. Good Cause Eviction would allow renters to challenge rent increases and the ending of tenancy.
City Council said Monday’s meeting was designed to receive community feedback regarding the law, which has been adopted in other cities including Albany, Rochester and Ithaca.
Landlords, landlord attorneys and real estate groups representatives told council members there had not been enough time to analyze the impacts of the legislation in other municipalities to warrant implementing it in Binghamton.
Landlords would be forced to pursue nuisance-based evictions through a time-consuming court system where the burden of proof is entirely on the landlord, they argued, and existing tenants would be impacted by higher rent prices and the increased difficulty of evicting problematic tenants.
Supporters of the legislation argued the law would protect tenants from landlords using unfair eviction practices, resulting in less housing insecurity.
City of Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham called on City Council to continue public discussions before proceeding with the legislation.
“The concerns raised Monday night by residents and taxpayers about the proposed good cause eviction legislation deserve careful consideration,” Kraham said in an email statement Tuesday. “With questions about the law’s implementation and impact still unresolved – and residents’ concerns largely unanswered – I am once again urging City Council to pause, examine the data, and engage both landlords and tenants in continued discussions.”
City Council members Michael Dundon, Nate Hotchkiss and Rebecca Rathmell joined Citizen Action members at a rally on Friday.
Downtown Binghamton rally involving Anzaroot property eviction
On Jan. 10, Binghamton City Council President Michael Dundon and members Nate Hotchkiss and Rebecca Rathmell joined Citizen Action of New York members in downtown Binghamton, where they spoke out against the eviction of a disabled veteran living at 42 Fayette St., a property previously owned by Isaac Anzaroot.
In 2023, Anzaroot was barred from owning property within the City of Binghamton, and 26 properties were transferred to the City of Binghamton. Many of those properties, including 42 Fayette St., have been or are in the process of being demolished.
During the rally, Dundon claimed the situation offered an example of why Good Cause Eviction is necessary within the City of Binghamton.
“Good cause eviction is exactly what is needed for tenants like the tenant here, so we don’t have unscrupulous landlords letting properties go beyond repair getting knocked down,” said Dundon. “They can actually hold the landlords accountable, investing in the property and making the property stay up to code standards.”
According to Kraham, the property must be demolished because it is unsafe to live in due to various code violations. It is one of multiple Anzaroot properties which will be demolished or rehabilitated throughout the city.
“The attempt by City Councilmembers and Citizen Action to tie this to an ‘urgent need for good cause eviction’ is both misguided and misleading,” Kraham said. “Good cause eviction would offer no extra protections to a resident who has never paid rent to the City, has no known lease and has received notice to vacate a building that is unsafe. Everyone deserves a safe place to call home. 42 Fayette St. is not that.”
Binghamton City Council did not announce any next steps at Monday’s meeting or a vote on the legislation.
This article originally appeared on Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin: Good Cause Eviction debated at Binghamton town hall: What happened