Last year my daughter was hospitalized for a week. The mold in our apartment had gotten so bad that she needed immediate medical attention to treat her severe respiratory problems. As a parent, it is heartbreaking to see your child so desperately ill. But the worst part is that this was completely preventable. For years I had been demanding that my landlord repair the parts of my home that made it uninhabitable, but they refused to do so. Even more frustratingly, they had been trying to kick us out of our home due to our complaints to city officials. Just a few days ago we were forced to leave due to the poor living conditions.
My story is, unfortunately, not unique. Everyone deserves a safe and affordable home in White Plains. That’s why I’m calling on the White Plains Common Council members to pass Good Cause legislation with no loopholes based on how many units a landlord has. This would protect families like mine from landlords who retaliate against their tenants for demanding liveable homes.
We already know that New York is grappling with an affordable housing crisis, and White Plains is not immune to this problem. In the past year, rents have skyrocketed an average of 13.5% for a one-bedroom apartment, the second-highest yearly increase in the New York metro region. In White Plains, nearly half of the housing units are occupied by renters. That means that half of the residents could be susceptible to eviction and homelessness due to ever-increasing housing costs or for no good reason. If we were to opt-in to Good Cause protections, however, tenants would have a defense to fight against rental increases of more than 5% plus the consumer price index, which is pegged to cost of living increases. This would serve as a lifeline for many working-class families.
When Good Cause legislation became New York State law last year, it included a way for local governments to opt-in to the housing protections. So far, a number of cities and towns have chosen to strengthen tenant protections, like Albany, Kingston, Poughkeepsie and Newburgh.
White Plains must adopt Good Cause protections
White Plains should be next. To be clear: Good Cause legislation does nothing to prevent good landlords from evicting tenants who don’t pay their rent, are a nuisance to their neighbors, or engage in criminal acts in the units. It simply prevents hardworking families like mine from being kicked out of our homes by a derelict landlord or exorbitant rent increases.
Every locality that has passed Good Cause so far has done so with a one-unit portfolio. That means that a landlord only needs to own one apartment or home that is being rented in order to be subject to Good Cause legislation. The law already exempts owner-occupied buildings of up to ten units. Some in the White Plains City Council are pushing to increase that limit to four units. This might sound reasonable, but it would essentially gut the law for many renters, making it unenforceable. Additionally, this will create a terrible precedent that other municipalities may follow.
Let’s take my situation to see why the four-unit minimum would be so detrimental. I had known for years that my home needed drastic repairs. The paint in the entire apartment was peeling off. Water drips all over the house, which caused the mold that sent my daughter to the hospital. There were holes in the apartment where mice and other insects came out of and my landlord refused to pay someone to seal them. Finally someone from the city visited and ordered the landlord to make repairs, which they still refused to do. But because of my constant demands for a safe home, the landlord kept attempting to evict us and succeeded.Good Cause could have protected my family from being displaced, but not if there is a four-unit minimum. You see, I have no idea how many units my landlord owns; many landlords own buildings in separate LLCs, which make it look on paper as though they own fewer units than they really do. Either way, it is nearly impossible for renters like me to find out. How would I be able to protect my family if I have no way of knowing whether I would be eligible for protections under the law? This requirement would add yet another burden to working-class communities to get the relief they deserve. By adding a four-unit minimum, some city council members are trying to weaken the law before it ever even passes. They are also creating a system where some tenants get protections while others don’t. The Good Cause standards are honestly pretty basic and should be the minimum that landlords are required to abide by. Nevermind the fact that the rental increases allowed in the law are already quite high for my family and many other working tenants.
White Plains council vote is June 10
Thanks to Councilman Jeremiah Frei-Pearson and Councilwoman Jennifer Puja we’ve been able to keep Good Cause legislation on the table in White Plains. Next week, on June 10, the White Plains Common Council members will be voting on Good Cause Opt-In. But with a four-unit portfolio, the law will not go far enough to protect my family and many like it. What we need is for city council members to demonstrate strong leadership by going back to their original proposal of a one-unit portfolio to pass Good Cause protections and secure the wellbeing of countless families across White Plains.
Mario Reyes is a resident of White Plains.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: White Plains Council must vote to adopt Good Cause protections | Opinion
Reporting by Mario Reyes / NorthJersey.com
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