KINGSTON, NY — Kingston became the second upstate city, after Albany, to opt-in to the state’s Good Cause Eviction Protections law.

New York passed the law in April. It aims to protect tenants against unfair evictions and predatory rent increases.

The version of the law passed by Kingston includes a “portfolio size” exemption for landlords with only one rental unit, except for owner-occupied buildings of 10 units or less. This is designed to prevent larger corporate landlords from exploiting loopholes and to cover as many tenants as possible.

Tenants living in buildings built before 2009 are eligible for these protections. For the Many, a grassroots organizations that pledges to fight “greedy corporations, billionaires, and political elites,” plans to educate tenants about their rights through a tenant hotline.

For the Many political director Brahvan Ranga said Kingston’s decision sets a precedent for other cities to address the housing crisis. 

In 2022, Sullivan County’s eviction rate surpassed most other counties, according to the Cornell ILR Eviction Filings Dashboard for New York State, presented by the Cornell University ILR School Buffalo Co-Lab. (blogs.cornell.edu/nysevictions). Sullivan had the sixth-highest eviction rate out of 62 New York counties that year.