Example Successes of Our Union

LOCAL TENANT REFORMS

Creation of the city’s first Tenant Emergency Repair Program

  • If a landlord is unwilling to correct health and safety violations that pose an immediate hazard to Rochester families this program is available.  In this program, the City can hire contractors to fix uncorrected immediate hazards and the City will bill the landlord for the repairs.  If the landlord doesn’t pay the bill, the unpaid amounts are added on to the building’s taxes. 

Creation of a process where the City Sues the landlord for Receivership of Rents

  • If a landlord is unwilling to correct serious health and safety violations can City can sue the landlord and ask for the court order to correct all the violations and an order for receivership of rents where the landlord no longer can collect rents and rents would be collected by a receiver (a court appointed property manager responsible for using the tenants rent to correct the repairs under the courts supervision). 

Having the city create a new “underlying condition” code violation.  This can prevent closing of a healthy and safety violation through band aid repairs that doesn’t address the real issue causing the visible health and safety violation.  For example, a leak issue may be caused by a problem with the roof that needs to be cited and corrected before closing the leak violation–it might not be currently leaking only because it might not be currently raining. 

STATEWIDE REFORMS

Rent Stabilization & Good Cause Eviction Protections

Create the ability for Rochester to Opt-in the NYS Good Cause Law 

  • Before April 2024, state courts deemed it illegal for cities to enact Good Cause protections

Expansion of the Ability for the Rochester to opt into the NYS Rent Stabilization System 

  • Before 2019, only New York City and municipalities in the three suburban counties (Westerheter, Rockland, and Nassau Counties) could opt in.  We helped amend the NYS Rent Stabilization Law so it applies to all 62 counties where any city, town, or village in NYS can opt in.  

Creating minimal standards for Rent Stabilization Vacancy Studies 

  • Creating minimal standards for rental vacancy studies that are necessary for municipalities to opt into the NYS Rent Stabilization System.  These reforms will ensure greater accuracy and higher community confidence in the results of vacancy studies–the first step to opt into Rent Stabilization. 

Tenant Enforcement of Habitability Standards 

Right for Tenants to Sue Landlords for Repairs

  • While landlords can easily take tenants to court, before December 30, 2023, there was no clear process for tenants to take landlords to court for repairs.  Through the Tenant Dignity and Safe Housing Act, tenants now have the right to take their landlord to court and get court-ordered repairs to improve their living conditions.   

  • Right for Tenants to Sue for a Building-Wide Administrator of Rents to Make Repairs (State reforms). This law used to just apply downstate (NYC and the 4 surrounding counties) but we were able to expand it statewide.

    • When there are hazardous conditions, this action can strip the landlord of their ability to collect rent and profit from building.  The court can appoint an Administrator to collect rents and make repairs.  This process can create leverage to transfer the building to a new owner.  This could include transferring the building to the tenants or some other form of social housing.

Expansion of Other Basic Tenants Rights

  • In 2019 we fought for and won the passage of the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) which created 25 new statewide tenant protections statewide including…

    • Limitations on Application Fees, Security deposits, tenant screening based on past evictions

    • Expanded notice requirements and standards for evictions and rent increases 

    • Expanded tenant protections for breaking a lease, rent receipts, against retaliatory evictions

    • Stronger penalties and enforcement of Unlawful Evictions

  • Right for Tenants to Sue for a Building-Wide Administrator of Rents to Make Repairs (State reforms)

    • This law used to just apply downstate (NYC and the 4 surrounding counties) but we are able to expand it statewide

    • When there are hazardous conditions, this action can strip the landlord of their ability to collect rent and profit from building.  The court can appoint an Administrator to collect rents and make repairs.  This process can create leverage to transfer the building to a new owner.  This could include transferring the building to the tenants or some other form of social housing.