Why Contractors, Brokers and Building Owners Rally Against Good Cause Eviction

April 28, 2022 Andressa Randis

Photos by Andressa Randis

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This afternoon dozens of small property owners, contractors, and brokers gathered near Grand Central Station to hold a rally and protest against the proposed Good Cause Eviction legislation in the State Legislature. The working-class immigrants are concerned the bill would deter the development of housing and ultimately exacerbate the supply problems plaguing New York City.

New York City has failed to build enough housing to support the massively growing demand due to increasing job growth. According to recent reports, there is a shortage of more than 600,000 units of affordable housing in New York. This has led to skyrocketing rents on vacant apartments and huge increases for some tenants on lease renewals.

“These bidding wars are because there is not enough supply in the market. Good Cause eviction will just make that problem worse because it will drive down supply,” said Sam Rubin, a broker from EXR. “If supply gets worse it will be even harder for low-income New Yorkers to find apartments, unless they have a perfect credit score and a lot of money in the bank.”

Supporters of Good Cause Eviction claim that the bill, which would give tenants the right to challenge any rent increase above 3% in court, would lead to lower rents, ultimately helping tenants. The protesters argue that it will ultimately hurt tenants because there will be fewer homes and the asking rents of existing apartments will skyrocket.

Contractors in attendance say the fear of Good Cause Eviction passing has already led to fewer housing developments and less work for them. Property owners at the rally also expressed concern that this law will make it harder for them to remove tenants that are harassing other renters, creating a worse living experience for the majority of people in a building.