Beacon goes for good cause, following in Albany’s footsteps

Another city in New York opted into good cause eviction legislation this week.

The Beacon City Council unanimously adopted a resolution prohibiting evictions without “good cause” in a vote on Monday night. The resolution was made possible in part due to the state budget deal reached several months ago.

Under the state law, tenants in good standing must receive a lease renewal. If an annual rent increase is more than 10 percent, or inflation plus 5 percent, and tenants challenge an eviction in court, a landlord must prove that the increase was justified.

There are several exemptions baked into the Beacon legislation. Small landlords, defined as those with just one rental unit, are exempt from the legislation, a much lower threshold than the ten-unit exemption set by the state law. Additionally, apartments deemed affordable to those earning up to 345 percent of Dutchess County’s Area Median Income are exempt.

Beacon’s law is set to expire in 10 years, contingent on the status of the state law in 2034. As of March, the average rent for an apartment in Beacon is $2,053, according to RentCafe.

On social media, several tenant organizations celebrated the resolution’s adoption. Mid-Hudson Valley DSA, Housing Justice for All and ForTheMany were among those welcoming the resolution on X, with the latter declaring Hudson, Newburgh, Middletown, Poughkeepsie and New Paltz in its sights.

Beacon was one of the cities in New York to get a good cause law on the books several years ago. A state judge, however, wiped an Albany law off the books in 2022, effectively nullifying other city’s laws in the process.

Albany was the first municipality to adopt good cause eviction legislation after the state budget deal came to be. Since then, a handful of other cities and towns have followed suit with similar laws.

The state budget caused landlords to worry about perpetual tenancies and universal rent control. Supporters of the state measure, meanwhile, said it too weak, partly because it was not made automatic outside of New York City.

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