Mark Goshgarian | January 28, 2025

Leaders with the Partnership for the Public Good, a network of community groups and nonprofits advocating for policies and programs in hopes to create a more viable and equitable region, are preparing to appeal a recent state Supreme Court ruling.

A judge earlier this month dismissed the partnership's lawsuit filed last July against the City of Buffalo, alleging the city violated its own Proactive Rental Inspections Law by only inspecting about 4,000 single and double non-owner occupied homes, out of the nearly 36,000 rental properties in the city.

"We were really disappointed in the judge's interpretation of the law here," said Andrea Ó Súilleabháin, executive director, Partnership for the Public Good. "For us, that is not compliance. That is refusal to implement and that's why we're going to appeal. We don't believe that fulfilling a law in 1% of what you're supposed to do counts as implementation."

Partnership leaders say the inspections are to be completed before a tenant moves in, followed by a certificate of compliance. 

Inspections include locks on doors, leaks in the ceiling, mold, working smoke detectors, and chipping and peeling lead paint.

"The health of housing determines so much about people's lives," said Ó Súilleabháin. "Improve people's job, improve neighborhoods, make healthier residents and none of that is going to be possible unless we have a healthy housing stock to live in."

Leaders say cities like Rochester and Syracuse, which established rental programs years ago, have seen lower lead levels, for instance, in children, while the rate they say in Buffalo remains steadily high. 

"Cities in New York state that have similar housing stock, old wood-framed housing have already gone through this process," said Ó Súilleabháin. "And it works to lift up the type of conditions people are living in."

The Partnership for the Public Good has sent a letter to Acting Buffalo Mayor Chris Scanlon, looking to work together to come up with a schedule to complete the overdue inspections. 

In response, the city says its does not comment on pending litigation, and though there is no pending appeal at the moment, there is still no comment at this time.