Speak Out for Housing Justice and Racial Justice!

Speak to Council:

Speak to Council is on February 15, 2022 at 6:30 pm. You can speak live on Zoom OR you leave a voicemail or email in advance. You must register in advance. Registration instructions and talking points below.

Tell Council and the Evans Administration to:

  1. Pass the Eviction Reduction Law in March which includes No Eviction without a Good Cause and a Certificate of Occupancy

  2. Form a Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) Legislative Co-Governance Working Group, starting in February, to work with tenants, administration and City Council to craft TOPA legislation and an associated Tenant Purchase Assistance Program (TPAP).

What is the Eviction Reduction Local Law?

The Eviction Reduction Law includes two measures:

  1. Good Cause Eviction Protections gives tenants the right to renew their tenancy, protects against retaliatory evictions, and protects against unreasonable rent hikes. Good Cause requires landlords to show there is a GOOD CAUSE, including nonpayment or a lease violation, for an eviction.

  2. No Eviction Without a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) would prohibit a landlord from starting an eviction without first having a valid C of O. While the City of Rochester already requires a C of O in all rental buildings, there is currently no adequate enforcement process. The City has allowed hundreds of landlords to rent out and evict tenants from buildings without a C of O.

What is the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA)?

Decades of racist housing policies have blocked Black and brown tenants and low-income tenants from homeownership. TOPA gives tenants the opportunity to purchase their rental buildings when they are up for sale and give tenants control of their own housing and neighborhoods. 

TOPA would also need an associated Tenant Purchase Assistance Program (TPAP) to help tenants with financing and other assistance so they can purchase their homes.

Talking Points for Speak to Council:

  • Share your own story with rent hikes, trouble finding affordable housing, living in poor conditions, fear of retaliatory evictions for speaking up, or any other forms of housing injustice.

  • TOPA and the Eviction Reduction Law are the first steps towards undoing the harms of decades of racist housing policies.

  • Pre-pandemic, Rochester saw 8,000 evictions filed a year -- about 1 eviction filed for every 10 Rochester households.

  • Housing is the foundation for healthy families and communities; as Rochester faces unprecedented crises across violence, education, and public health, we need stable housing and neighborhoods now more than ever. 

  • Rochester has been in a housing crisis long before the pandemic and
    will stay in one for good unless you act now.

  • An ACLU study found that in New York State, Black women face evictions at over double the rates of white tenants.

 

Registration instructions:

1. LIVE ON ZOOM: To sign up to speak live via Zoom, call 585-428-7538 or email council@cityofrochester.gov no later than 3:00PM on Tuesday, February 15. Please include “Speak to Council'' in the subject line or email content. Staff will email the Zoom link and instructions on how to access the meeting around 5:00 PM on the meeting day.

2. VOICEMAIL COMMENTS: You may submit a voicemail comment by calling 585-428-7538 no later than 3:00PM on Tuesday, February 15. A staff member will collect your contact information and provide a direct phone number to record your voicemail; please only share your name and comments as this voicemail will be shared live.

3. WRITTEN COMMENTS: You may submit written comments by emailing council@cityofrochester.gov no later than 3:00PM Tuesday, February 15. Please include “Speak to Council” in the subject line or email content