A Good Cause for Renewal? How Tenants Navigate Lease Renewals Under Good Cause Eviction Laws

• In Event: Before Evictions: Rental Housing Instability and the Role of Local Regulations

Abstract

Good cause eviction laws have rapidly spread around the country in the past decade. In the past two years, nearly 20 New York State municipalities have passed good cause laws. In addition to restricting the reasons a landlord can evict a tenant, these New York laws guarantee tenants a lease renewal offer and cap the rent increases these offers can include. However, lease renewal offers, despite being regulated, lack a formal monitoring and enforcement process. Tenants are left responsible for ensuring that their lease renewal abides by these new regulations and research on rent control in New York City has found that relying on tenant enforcement can prove ineffective. In New York City, studies have found that a minority of covered tenants know about their rent control coverage and that landlords often raise rents above allowable increases (Ambrose et al., 2024; Chen et al., 2023). In this case study, I examine the implementation of a good cause law in Kingston, NY, seeking to understand how tenants engage with this law at the time of lease renewal. Data come from observations of community-based information sessions aimed at teaching tenants about good cause, interviews with the crafters and advocates for good cause local laws, and interviews with tenants. Additionally, I analyze lease renewal packets for compliance with good cause regulations. Preliminary findings indicate that community-based organizations and tenant union organizers play vital roles in tenants’ knowledge of good cause eviction-related tenant protections and that the coexistence of rent control in Kingston has fostered an increased awareness of lease renewal regulations among tenants. These preliminary findings suggest that the effectiveness of good cause eviction policies relies heavily on community-based implementation and that future research on rent regulations should more granularly capture how tenants experience lease renewals. These findings will inform future research on a wider array of tenant protections beyond good cause by expanding understandings of lease renewal processes.

Author

• Sophia Fox-Dichter, Rutgers University - New Brunswick
  Presenting Author