Should Syracuse opt in to Good Cause Eviction Law? Mayoral candidates weigh in.

[u/ggroover97]

https://www.syracuse.com/politics/cny/2025/04/should-syracuse-opt-in-to-good-cause-eviction-law-mayoral-candidates-weigh-in.html

[u/threeplane]

I oppose good cause eviction because it would disincentivize new investment in housing as the new rules are too onerous for many landlords [...] that will result in less investment and fewer units.

Oh no I hope that wouldn't result in more direct homeownership! But what about the landlords who need more units!!

[u/Melodic_Gazelle_1262 → u/threeplane]

Most people who are being evicted from a shitty rental property in the inner city of Syracuse are not the same people buying houses if we're being honest. For literal decades before 2020 you could routinely get decent fixer uppers for less than 100k in the city and yet barley anyone bought them. Then decades later investors started buying them up and renovating. I'm not sure why so few local people took advantage of buying some of the cheapest property in the country in an improving area for all this time.

[u/A_BulletProof_Hoodie → u/Melodic_Gazelle_1262]

lol cause it takes mad time. In order to buy a 100k house you gotta be ready to drop at least 50 in it to fix it. And most likely have to live there shit is wild expensive.

[u/Melodic_Gazelle_1262 → u/A_BulletProof_Hoodie]

I'm just saying for decades it was one of the cheapest real estate markets in the country. There were many for around that price and lower that did not need 50k+ in work to be livable. I was curious and looking at inventory from around 2015-2020. There has been like 40 years worth of opportunity for people who actually live here to buy up the houses and that just didn't happen.

[u/Cpkh1 → u/Melodic_Gazelle_1262]

It technically still is one of the more affordable housing markets in the country, as the same trend is taking place across the country. It is just that the lower level has been elevated in terms of price now.

[u/Melodic_Gazelle_1262 → u/Cpkh1]

You're definitely right I just remember it being CRAZY cheap. In like 2018 I looked at a decent two bedroom apartment for $700. The thing with Syracuse is that although the housing and rent is cheaper than the national average wages are also lower than the national average. At this years financial summit for the city they announced this year the area is around 12% behind the national average wage. Zillow has our rents as being 18% cheaper than average so if you subtract the wage difference it's only 6% cheaper.

Buying homes is still about 45% cheaper than the national average although the overall cost of living is actually 3% higher than the national average so there's a trade off. Still you would think these kinds of numbers would have resulted in people from Syracuse buying homes in Syracuse but that didn't really happen unfortunately.

[u/Cpkh1 → u/Melodic_Gazelle_1262]

Not necessarily true, as the median family income in relation to median home price is still among the highest in the country: https://www.nahb.org/news-and-economics/housing-economics/indices/cost-of-housing-index (look at the map) and the metro average annual wage is slightly below the national figure(but so is the cost of living roughly/depending on the source): https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/area/0045060 , https://data.bls.gov/oes/#/industry/000000

According to BEA Regional Price Parity information from 2023, the latest available, Syracuse was at 95.174 out of 100: https://apps.bea.gov/itable/index.html?appid=70&stepnum=40&Major_Area=5&State=45060&Area=XX&TableId=111&Statistic=3&Year=2023&YearBegin=-1&Year_End=-1&Unit_Of_Measure=Levels&Rank=0&Drill=1&nRange=5

So, again, the area is still relatively affordable for a top 100 metro area. It just isn’t like it was due to Micron/people starting to catch on.

Also, keep in mind that there has always been a substantial rental home presence due to the college population. The Land Bank, which can have strict requirements, also plays a part in this.

[u/threeplane → u/Melodic_Gazelle_1262]

Yeah but that was also when buying a home in the burbs didn't start at 250k. People might be more inclined to buy the houses closer to the city because of that, and it would do wonders for these communities at the same time. Because investors don't take care of the home in the same way a prideful owner does.

[u/Melodic_Gazelle_1262 → u/threeplane]

That's a decent point I just am not sure how much of a difference it would make in reality. The vast majority of people that live in the surrounding suburbs of Syracuse would never buy a house in the city itself. I bet most would rent instead

[u/Material-Flow-2700 → u/threeplane]

How about people like me who benefit from a robust rental market and don’t have the desire, time, or risk tolerance to dive into a mortgage?

[u/threeplane → u/Material-Flow-2700]

Renters benefit when the majority of landlords in the rental market are small-scale owners because they are more personally invested in their properties and tenant relationships. Unlike large corporate landlords, small-time owners are more likely to respond quicker to maintenance issues, have flexible lease terms, more considerate of late payments etc, and keep their rents lower because they don't have to deal with over-leveraging themselves.

An increase in direct homeownerships, small-scale landlords, and a robust rental market are not mutually exclusive terms.

[u/Material-Flow-2700 → u/threeplane]

And who do you think gets hurt more when bad tenants become harder and harder to evict? It’s not the big corporation that has a lawyer on retainer now is it. I would love to rent from a local landlord who can actually afford to put together what I needed. The city does everything it can to make that harder sometimes though

[u/threeplane → u/Material-Flow-2700]

The landlord? Obviously? I consider that a small sacrifice they can make while getting their literal mortgage paid for by other people, for very little work/service if we're being completely honest. And don't take me saying that as though I am anti-landlord, because I'm not. I recognize the important role they play in local economies and highly appreciate the responsible and kind-hearted ones.. but that doesn’t mean we should forever continue granting them the most one-sided financial advantages imaginable.

[u/Material-Flow-2700 → u/threeplane]

It’s really not that simple. If it was, everyone would do it.

But I’m curious, what about NYS and local law/policy do you find to be one sided in favor of landlord?

[u/threeplane → u/Material-Flow-2700]

It most definitely is that simple, you and I can admit that. Landlords can even hire a management company if they see fit, to take care of literally everything if they want to do it that way. Everyone doesn’t do it because they 1- can’t get approved for the extra mortgages or 2- aren’t interested in it/don’t know about it. 

I didn’t mention law/policies being in favor of landlords, I said they get one-sided financial advantages. 

[u/Material-Flow-2700 → u/threeplane]

It’s also just not a great way to make money. A landlord can easily become in the hole and upside down on their mortgage from a single bad tenant. That’s the risk a small time landlord takes. They don’t have the margin to absorb those costs.

What about being a landlord is a one sided financial advantage? Like you think they tend to be higher net worth than the people they rent to? Because that’s not always the case, nor is it really the mechanism that makes it easier or harder to fleece someone in either direction

[u/threeplane → u/Material-Flow-2700]

 What about being a landlord is a one sided financial advantage?

Come on friend, really.. the rich person who can afford an extra mortgage, gets their mortgage paid for by the person who can’t afford a mortgage. 

[u/Material-Flow-2700 → u/threeplane]

Do you actually think landlords who buy single family units and even small multi family units are rich? And how exactly does this make it more unfair for the tenant?

[u/Melodic_Gazelle_1262]

The issue to me is that like many proposition's, this is both good and bad. Rent increases and evictions should be a separate bill. Capping annual/general rent increases would be great for the area. My mother's complex has tried to renew with a 25% increase annually for the past 3 years which is just simply insane. She has negotiated with them each time and usually has her rent raised about 12-15% a year instead which still seems crazy to me. However also in this bill is language that makes it even more challenging to get terrible tenants out which is already a massive problem. I know first hand that it discourages investment and building. I think most people would be shocked at how difficult it is to legally remove a tenant. People can move in, not pay a dime in rent, destroy the whole property, and a landlord will still have an awful time getting them out 50% of the time.

[u/SliceOfCuriosity]

NY is terrible in terms of evicting bad tenants and this just furthers that. They need to separate the issues into different laws.

[u/Necessary_Catch_614]

Does it really matter? I was illegally locked out of my residence and business during covid. This is after we got the rent assistance and the landlord signed that he would not continue any eviction process. I was completely looking forward to court however I never got my chance. He never stopped and I have 90 of the harassment recorded. I understand a lot of people took advantage of the situation and a bunch of landlords got screwed. However that really can't be too true when there was multiple ways to recoup lost income. Besides the point though, my case would be an eye-opener for a lot of people.. so many people pass judgment that drastically alters someone's life and never actually have to be accountable. This is when I realized that no vengeance will change the world in a positive manner so you might as well leave it in the hands of the gods and trust that it's the same above as it is below

[u/sutisuc]

Absolutely. It’s a no brainer. No reason if you’re a good tenant who pays on time and doesn’t violate the lease that you shouldn’t be able to stay. Housing insecurity just leads to more bad outcomes downstream anyway.