News Take Action

Community Groups Urge Council Members Pass Good Eviction Protections for Tenants

Date: November 6, 2026
Share:
Community Groups Urge Council Members Pass Good Eviction Protections for Tenants

In Buffalo, landlords can ask tenants to leave their homes with as little as 30 days’ notice. Landlords can also drastically increase the rent—whether they’ve made improvements to the home or not. And, if a tenant can’t pay a sudden $500 increase on their $1,000 rent, they’ll have to find a new home. For these reasons, tenants often avoid making repair requests. They don’t want to damage their relationships with their landlords because it may put them at risk of a forced move.

Thankfully, it doesn’t have to be this way! On October 28, the Buffalo Housing Justice Coalition met with several Buffalo Common Council Members to ask that they opt in to the Good Cause eviction protection law. Good Cause would guarantee automatic lease renewals unless the landlord had a “good cause” for evicting the tenant, such as non-payment of rent or damage to the property. It would also prevent landlords from evicting tenants based on unreasonable rent increases, while allowing landlords to increase rent annually to keep up with inflation.

Council Majority Leader Leah Halton-Pope, Council Member Rasheed Wyatt, Council Member David Rivera, and Council Member Bryan Bollman were all in attendance. They expressed that they’d heard many complaints from tenants over the years about housing quality and retaliatory landlords. That said, some council members had concerns about the impacts of Good Cause on small landlords. The mood was generally receptive and positive.  

Buffalo wouldn’t be the first municipality to opt into Good Cause. Twenty municipalities across New York State have already opted in—including Rochester, Albany, and Binghampton. The state of New Jersey has had Good-Cause-like protections for 50 years!

Advocates from PUSH Buffalo, Housing Opportunities Made Equal, Buffalo Democratic Socialists of America, 1199 SEIU, Our City Buffalo, and PPG spoke in favor of the legislation. We look forward to the conversations we’ll continue to have with council members as we’d like to pass this legislation by the end of the year. Everyone deserves safe, affordable, quality housing, and Good Cause protections are a significant step toward getting us there.

Photo Credit: Sarah Wooton, PPG