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The legislation would expand the criteria for town and cities to show they’re experiencing a housing emergency. Under current rules, localities can only opt into rent regulation if they conduct a survey to prove their housing vacancy rate is below 5 percent. A pair of state lawmakers introduced a bill Tuesday that would make it easier for localities outside New York City to adopt rent stabilization, expanding the criteria for town and cities to show they’re experiencing a housing emergency. Under current rules, local governments can only opt into rent regulation if they conduct a survey to prove their housing...

Tenants in L.A. County reeling financially from the January wildfires could be protected from eviction for the next six months. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors considered a proposal Tuesday to temporarily bar landlords from evicting renters who have taken a significant financial hit from the fires. The motion, put forward by Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, is meant to encompass not just renters who lost homes in the fires but anyone whose livelihood was affected, including landscapers, housekeepers and caregivers. It would apply to all of L.A. County, including the areas devastated by the Eaton and Palisades fires. “These workers live...

HARRISBURG — In his annual budget address, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro urged the divided Pennsylvania legislature to pass a measure that would seal eviction records for potentially hundreds of thousands of people. In 2024 alone, more than 115,000 tenants in Pennsylvania faced eviction filings. And while most filings end with rulings in favor of landlords, housing advocates told Spotlight PA that about a quarter do not, and some are never even adjudicated. Regardless of the outcome, that original eviction filing stays in a tenant’s public records indefinitely and can negatively impact their ability to find a place to live. Often,...

Rochester, N.Y.— People in Rochester's 19th Ward rallied Tuesday for the Good Cause Eviction law to be passed after they claim a tenant was served an "unjust eviction." Lakeisha Ward claims she was served an eviction notice after raising concerns about the property and taking the issues to the city. MORE:Rochester City Council says new eviction law would exclude 35,000 renters Ward said she's not behind on rent and kept up her rent. Torres Turn Key Property Management LLC said Ward was issued a notice to vacate because the owner has different plans for the property. "I have emails saying...

The D.C. Council unanimously passed an emergency bill Tuesday to roll back pandemic-era eviction protections and rental-assistance policies that city leaders say have led to a crisis of unpaid rent, causing some affordable housing developments to be on the brink of foreclosure. The legislation centers on D.C.’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program, which aids people with rent payments if they are experiencing emergencies and are at risk of eviction. While the council earlier in the pandemic sought to make it easier for people to access those funds and avoid eviction, Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) has acknowledged that those changes have...

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse Common Council is looking for community input before they vote to opt in or out of the state's Good Cause Eviction Law. The policy aims to protect tenants, requiring landlords to have a legitimate reason to raise their rent or evict them. The law is mandatory in New York City, but local municipalities outside New York City have the option to adopt the policy or remain without it. Outside Syracuse City Hall on Monday, the Syracuse Tenants Union voiced its support for Good Cause Eviction at a rally, arguing it would help more tenants stay...

DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) — Local leaders are looking to help more renters find a stable place to live with a new court-instituted rule. The Dayton Municipal Court will now seal eviction records. Dayton Clerk of Courts Marty Gehres says the goal is to create a fairer housing market. “Some local landlords and landlords across the country use databases that do background checks and if an individual does have an eviction on their record, it becomes extremely difficult for them to actually obtain long term stable housing,” said Gehres. Gehres says the new rule will also have an impact on children....

BRIGHTON, N.Y. — A new program in Brighton hopes to help stabilize folks in poverty. The Brighton Landlord Tenant Project will connect pro-bono lawyers with people facing evictions. Forty-two percent of people in Brighton are renters. Town Supervisor Bill Moehle says the goal here is to tackle systemic poverty and stop people who are in a bad situation from making it worse. This program is run by the local nonprofit Just Cause. When you show up in Brighton Town Court a volunteer lawyer will be there, offering to help you with your eviction case. Most of the time they don’t...

Los Angeles County’s Board of Supervisors unanimously voted Tuesday in favor of creating a plan to provide free attorneys to low income renters facing eviction. The policy — which still needs a final vote before it is scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2025 — would be the first of its kind in Southern California. It comes at a time when lapsed pandemic renter protections have caused a spike in eviction filings leading to thousands losing housing. “Housing is a fundamental human right,” said Sup. Holly Mitchell, who first introduced the idea for a “Right To Counsel” program last...

Governor Kathy Hochul announced that 213 municipalities in New York have launched applications to be certified as Pro-Housing Communities, with 61 already certified. This certification, part of a program initiated by Governor Hochul last year, makes municipalities eligible for up to $650 million in state discretionary funding. The Pro-Housing Communities Program acknowledges localities committed to housing growth. Six communities in the Finger Lakes – including the city of Canandaigua, and villages of Dundee and Newark received certification from the state. Governor Hochul emphasized the importance of building safe and affordable housing. “My administration is ready to work with any community...

The Minnesota Senate on Friday approved a package of partisan changes to landlord-tenant law that are poised to make housing more expensive for renters and create significant burdens for landlords. The landlord-tenant conference report is the product of an agreement between Democrat House and Senate negotiators on SF 3492, the landlord-tenant bill the Senate passed by an overwhelmingly partisan vote in April. Sen. Eric Lucero (R-St. Michael), the lead Republican on the Senate’s Housing and Homelessness Prevention Committee, issued the following statement sharply criticizing the misplaced priorities in the bill: “The cost of housing in Minnesota is dramatically more expensive...

New York State housing advocates say they are furious about the so-called “good cause eviction bill” in the new state budget. It grants tenant protections to people in New York City but all other municipalities will need to opt in. It also requires renters to know their landlord’s portfolio to determine eligibility for “good cause” eviction protections and the information can be hard to find. Ritti Singh, communications organizer for the group Housing Justice for All, said previous iterations would have balanced tenant and landlord interests. “What it required landlords to do was to show they had a valid cause...

(Colorado Newsline) Colorado landlords will now need a specific reason to evict or not offer a lease renewal to a tenant under a new law signed by Democratic Governor Jared Polis on Friday. It is a victory for tenants-rights organizers and progressive legislators who seek to include renters in the conversation about how to address the state’s housing and affordability issues. Colorado is the sixth state to enact such a policy. “Everybody here wants to prevent unnecessary evictions and save families money. And House Bill 1098 does these things while placing no financial burdens on landlords. This is the right...

Heads up to all NYS property owners (yes upstate too) Not only is "Good Cause" back on the table, but the Winter Eviction Moratorium is also on the floor in the NY Legislature. If you want to sell your property and get out of the landlord biz, as hoards of mom and pop landlords are doing due to the overly restrictive regulations of 2019, you'll have to WAIT to evict them between October and April. As you know, if "Good Cause" goes through, you will be unable to "not renew" a lease. All "non renewals" will be turned into a...

PHOENIX — Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes is suing several owners of apartment complexes throughout the Valley for allegedly engaging in illegal "price-fixing" and creating a mechanism that's exacerbated Arizona's housing crisis. The state's top legal official announced Wednesday her office had filed a lawsuit against nine major residential apartment landlords in Arizona and RealPage Inc. for allegedly conspiring to inflate rental rates and eliminate competition in the market. "One reason renters in the Phoenix and Tucson metropolitan areas are paying more is because RealPage has facilitated a price-fixing conspiracy among a large share of multifamily apartment lessors in Arizona,"...

(KRON) — With the new year comes new changes involving housing in California. Governor Gavin Newsom signed several bills into law this year that will go into effect starting Jan. 1, 2024. Some bring changes to the workplace, others to the state’s official symbols. Here are five impacting housing that you’ll want to be aware of: 1. Security deposits Tenants will no longer have to fork over several month’s rent as a security deposit. A new bill caps the amount a landlord can charge to one month’s rent. 2. Evictions based on alleged criminal activity Tenants will not be able...

A Queens landlord was killed by her teen tenant during a fight that erupted this week when he failed to make good on rent, authorities said Thursday. Davi Vidal, 19, lashed out at Leo Zoraida, 55, around 5:15 p.m. Tuesday inside their building on 96th Street near Northern Boulevard in East Elmhurst, cops said. Vidal hadn’t been paying rent, sparking the deadly altercation with Zoraida. Cops say the landlord was found unconscious and unresponsive with scratches on her face inside an apartment.

The city of Rochester has asked a state judge to order an out-of-town real estate investor to pay more than $131 million for code violations at derelict properties he owns. The request is by far the largest judgment sought since the city began more aggressively pursuing neglectful landlords in court a year ago. Citations for rodent infestations, holes in walls, smashed windows, and dilapidated roofs are among the more than 470 violations that have accumulated at 15 single-family homes and apartment houses owned by Meyer Hirschhorn, of Rockland County. Hirschhorn, who has real estate holdings across New York and New...

A D.C. landlord who tells the News4 I-Team he hasn’t been paid rent in three years will have to wait at least another four months to get a trial on evicting the tenants. John Jones owns a single two-bedroom unit in Southeast D.C. The I-Team first met him when he complained he was missing $14,000 from a COVID-era rent relief program. City documents show a check was sent in 2021 to the tenants, and that check was cashed — but the tenants never sent the money to Jones. He says they hadn’t paid rent for a few months before, and...

California lawmakers have voted to strengthen eviction protections for renters, closing an existing loophole allowing landlords to circumvent the state's rent cap. SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The California Legislature voted Thursday to bolster eviction protections for renters and close a loophole in an existing law that has allowed landlords to circumvent the state’s rent cap. The eviction reform bill was among hundreds approved before the end of a late legislative session, including giving striking workers unemployment benefits and reforms to the state’s mental health system. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has until Oct. 14 to act on the bills by signing them...