Westchester’s first municipality opts in to Good Cause Eviction Law

CROTON-ON-HUDSON — A lifelong resident of Croton-on-Hudson, Ryan Arecco experienced a spiral of hardship after his father had lost his job. They could not pay for the heat first and started taking cold showers with pots of water warmed on the stove, then came the eviction.

Years later, he became an advocate to protect tenants. He believes recently launched state legislation — the Good Cause Eviction Protection Law — is the remedy.    

“With good cause eviction’s strongest protection, we can protect my family and yours from being priced out of Croton,” Arecco said at a Jan. 8 public hearing on the village’s proposal to adopt the law.    

Shortly after the hearing, the village board of trustees unanimously passed a local version of the Good Cause Eviction Protection Law, which makes it the first municipality in Westchester to opt into the state law.

What is the Good Cause Eviction Protection Law?

The law would prohibit landlords from terminating lease or evicting tenants without good cause, such as nonpayment of rent, violating lease terms or tenants are found engaging in illegal activity. It allows landlords to evict if they or a family member intend to occupy the unit, plan to demolish the property or take it off the market.

The original state law, passed by state legislators in April 2024, aims at protecting tenants who reside in market-rate housing units. It restricts increases in monthly rent to 5% plus the rate of inflation, with a maximum of 10% when a lease is renewed.

The village of Croton-on-Hudson modified the state law by extending coverage to units at up to 345% of fair market rent. The fair market rent for a one-bedroom unit in Westchester is $1,934.

Unlike rent-regulated housing units that are governed by a special board and evictions are more closely restricted, the good-cause provisions would expand a form of those protections to the private market.

Croton-on-Hudson mayor Brian Pugh said the goal is to provide stability and security to tenants.

“A lot of us take security for granted, especially for homeowners. This will give tenants a little more security,” Pugh said.

The village has a population of 8,100. About 20% are renters and 40% of those are considered rent burdened, meaning they spend more than 30% of monthly income on rent and utilities. Housing rent in Croton-on-Hudson went up by 35% from 2018 to 2023.

The village court processed 33 eviction cases from January 2022 to July 2024, all related to nonpayment of rent — half resulted in eviction and half were settled. Village officials believe the move is a proactive approach to protect tenants although the case load is relatively small.

“It will establish a tool and defense that tenants can use in eviction proceedings,” Pugh said.

A mix of reactions from residents and landlords

Some residents applauded the proposal at the hearing saying it would help curb rent increases, provide tenants a sense of stability and foster affordable housing options.

Theo Oshiro, a Croton-on-Hudson resident who helped facilitate the state Good Cause Eviction law, said the law would empower tenants while preventing unjustifiable rent increases.

“The law would not mean that landlords cannot raise rents. If a landlord makes improvements or experiences an increase in costs, they will be able to raise rents. But unjustified and exorbitant rent increases would be a thing of the past,” Oshiro said.    

Sydney Regier, of Croton-on-Hudson, said she hopes the law would make housing more affordable for the young generation.

“I would like the opportunity to be a tenant, but right now I can’t afford it. Many of my peers are in the same position as me, who would like to live in the same community they grew up and they can’t afford it. So it would be nice to have protection like Good Cause for myself and my peers,” Regier said.

Some landlords and real estate professionals were concerned the law would inadvertently affect good landlords and discourage them from conducting maintenance and upgrades.  

Joe Lippolis, a Croton-on-Hudson resident and owner of River Towns Real Estate, said the law would hurt small landlords who rely on rent revenues to make a living. He recalled landlords suffered from financial hardships due to nonpayment of rent during the pandemic when a statewide eviction moratorium was in place.

“They may own multiple properties, but they are still individuals that have expenses to meet,” Lippolis said. “A lot of landlords including myself, we don’t raise rent on a regular basis. But if you’re going to force us to go to the court and ask for increases, those rents are going to increase on an annual basis.”

Crystal Hawkins-Syska, Westchester regional director at Hudson Gateway Association of Realtors, urged village officials to vote down the proposal given it would disincentive landlords on making upgrades. She suggested alternatives such as offering rental assistance programs and facilitating mediation on landlord-tenant disputes.

The village has received about 250 letters regarding the proposal from the public with a majority of realtors and a handful of residents.

“We understand the issues they have raised but believe the fear that this new avenue is going to provide to both landlords and realtors will not be realized,” said Len Simon, deputy mayor of Croton-on-Hudson.          

Croton-on-Hudson will join forces with New York City and ten other communities across the state, including Nyack, Newburgh, Poughkeepsie and Beacon, in upholding the provisions that cover more than 8 million tenants, about 44% of the state population.

Helu Wang covers real estate, economic growth and development for The Journal News/lohud and USA Today Network. Reach her at hwang@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Good Cause Eviction Law approved for Croton-on-Hudson NY

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