The City-Wide Tenant Union of Rochester hosted a rally outside Rochester’s City Hall at 5:20 p.m. on Thurs., Sept. 19 to promote the passage of Good Cause legislation, which is slated to be voted on in October. Speakers, advocates, and community organizers lamented City Council for their alleged inability to pass the strongest version of Good Cause, which would protect up to 127,000 tenants from facing no-cause evictions.
Good Cause protections require landlords to have “good cause” when evicting a tenant, including non-payment of rent, substantial damage to the rental property, and more. With Governor Kathy Hochul instituting the bill statewide in April, Rochester’s fight has spanned years — with tenants, families, and individuals being affected to this day.
“Last year in Rochester, there were over 2,700 evictions, and we’re on track for even more in 2024,” said Kelly Cheatle, legislative assistant to councilmember Mary Lupien. “Our people are getting lost in these numbers because every eviction is a fresh crisis for a family, and their struggles demand our attention.”
For Ember Mendez, the situation hits close to home. Mendez is the child of Yadira Susseth, a mother of seven who is also facing a no-cause eviction. With her eviction being slated for October, the pressure for her comes not just from finding a new place to live — but from making sure she can provide for her family.
“Seeing what my mom has had to deal with has been really, really rough,” they stated. “Seeing [her] go through daily anxiety attacks, daily crying because she doesn’t know where she’s going to place her family isn’t right … seeing my siblings going through anxiety because they don’t know where they’re going to [live].”
Rochester’s Good Cause protections have sat on the Neighborhood, Jobs & Housing committee since June with the alleged lack of support necessary to bring the bill to a vote. The current proposed legislation stands at odds with pro-tenant organizers, who claim that the bill is too lenient on property owners and does not do enough to protect tenants.
At the top of their concerns includes the alleged “LLC loophole”: that because Rochester’s legislation makes landlords with up to 10 properties exempt from Good Cause, LLCs can split their properties up among landlords to appear as though they were small, evading protections altogether.
At the City Council’s Speak to Council session, organizers took their concerns directly to their legislators.
“I live at Pinnacle Place, and there are so many code violations there,” stated Esther Rivkin, a speaker from the East District. “I’m paying [more than] 30% of my income … We’re struggling here. We just want to survive. Rochester is a poor town. We could do so much better.”
Mickey Przepiora, speaker from the South District, stated that “Over 63% of people rent their homes in the city. Rochester’s 2023 homeless count was 803, and 30% of those were youth under 18 years old … Good Cause is a brunt of what the public deserves.”
Though it is unclear what the future of the legislation will entail, the struggles of tenants who have faced no-cause evictions become more evident by the day. With the City-Wide Tenant Union continuing to host rallies and public forums to promote their support for Good Cause, the question now lies in the hands of legislators who have the power to enact it.
