“Good Cause” Eviction Law passed in the City of Rochester

The City of Rochester recently became the largest city in New York outside of New York City to adopt “Good Cause” eviction protections in its local law. The enhanced rental protections include limitations on rent increases and requiring “Good Cause” for certain rent increases, refusals to renew a lease and evictions.

The December 2024 law passed by the Rochester City Council follows the Good Cause legislation signed by Governor Kathy Hochul in April 2024.

Under Rochester’s new law, legally sufficient reasons for a nonrenewal or eviction of a tenant include the nonpayment of rent (provided the nonpayment did not stem from an unreasonable rent increase) or a tenant’s refusal of a reasonable rent increase. Rent increases exceeding 5% plus the local Consumer Price Index, or 10%, whichever is lower, are presumed unreasonable. Landlords are required to justify any greater increases based on rising operating costs, such as taxes or necessary repairs.

Additional Good Causes for nonrenewal or eviction include a tenant’s violation of a substantial lease obligation; causing or allowing a nuisance on the property; grossly negligent damage to the premises; interfering with the comfort or safety of the landlord or other occupants; using the property for an illegal purpose; and unreasonably refusing a landlord access to the property for necessary repairs. Further acceptable causes for eviction: an owner recovering a unit for use as a principal residence, demolition or withdrawal of the rental unit from the rental market altogether.

Exemptions to Rochester’s Good Cause Eviction Law

There are specific exemptions for which this new law will not apply. These include:

• Units in which rent exceeds 245% of the local fair market rent (for the class of unit) for Monroe County;
• Buildings issued a certificate of occupancy after Jan. 1, 2009 (which will remain exempt for 30 years from such issuance);
• Units already subject to city, state, or federal rent regulations, or subject to affordability requirements related to tenant income;
• Units owned by “small landlords” who disclose full ownership details (designed to prevent landlords from evading the law by hiding behind LLCs) and own just one unit;
• Owner-occupied buildings with a single rental unit;
• Manufactured homes within manufactured home parks;
• Condominium units or units in a building owned as a cooperative;
• Hotel and hospital rooms;
• Housing associated with religious facilities;
• Seasonal-use dwellings;
• and, housing which is incident to a tenant’s employment.

It is important to note that tenants cannot waive their protections under the Good Cause Eviction Law, and any agreement purporting to do so is void.

Regardless of whether a unit is subject to, or exempt from, this legislation, all new leases, renewals, predicate default and eviction notices, and court-related documents must include the “Good Cause Eviction Law Notice.” This notice must clearly state whether a particular unit is exempt from the law and, if so, must specify the applicable exemption.

Good Cause Law will Likely Lead to Litigation

Now more than ever, it is important for landlords to diligently maintain complete and detailed records of all repairs, rent increases, tenant communications and notices, and the applicable just cause(s) for any rent increases, non-renewals or evictions, to avoid legal challenges. Landlords also must ensure the Good Cause Eviction Notice is incorporated into their processes and procedures and include appropriate notices identifying exemptions, when applicable.

Unfortunately, this law will impose challenges on landlords for which no exemption is applicable, as they are now burdened with establishing “Good Cause” to substantiate any significant rent increase, non-renewal and eviction. This will likely lead to litigation in which a court will be tasked with determining whether legally sufficient “Good Cause” existed to justify the landlord’s actions. Landlords will need to thoughtfully adapt to these new restrictions. Meanwhile, the city must manage the potential impacts of landlords withdrawing units from the market if and when adapting to these restrictions becomes infeasible, which was a concern raised by some councilmembers (the City Council voted 7 to 2 to opt into the law).

This alert does not purport to be a substitute for advice of counsel on specific matters.

Harris Beach Murtha’s lawyers and consultants practice from offices throughout Connecticut in Bantam, Hartford, New Haven and Stamford; New York state in Albany, Buffalo, Ithaca, New York City, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Syracuse, Long Island and White Plains, as well as in Boston, Massachusetts, Newark, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.harrisbeachmurtha.com.