Albany — Residents of the Danker Village Apartments on Lincoln Avenue in Albany are fighting back after being told they would be raising their rent by as much as 30 percent.
This case is being watched by many as it is one of the first cases of the city’s good cause eviction law being enforced.
Eviction for cause has been one of the most controversial measures in the state capital in recent years after Governor Kathy Hochul and the state legislature finally passed expanded tenant protections in the last legislative session and allowed communities in the Upstate to opt in to the law. The city of Albany was the first community in the Upstate to opt in to the law, as the City Council passed the law in June and Mayor Kathy Sheehan signed it in July.
“We have some incredible landlords in the city of Albany who are very supportive of their tenants, who work really hard to have good, nice places to live and who understand the importance of housing. And then there are also a lot of people who, rightly or wrongly, only look at the bottom line,” says Ginnie Farrell, representative of Albany’s 13th District Council.
As for Danker Village, residents say recent lease renewals have charged rents between $200 and $700 more than their last annual lease. They have formed a tenants’ association to voice their concerns to property owner Cass Hill Development.
“It’s very stressful because most of the people here are hard-working immigrants, and Americans too,” says Mahmood Chaudhary, a local resident and president of the union. “After receiving these letters with the huge rent increase, the children are very depressed because they are afraid to change schools.”
Chaudhary says he was paying $1,150/month and is now being asked to pay nearly $1,500/month. He has until August 15 to decide, and after that his lease ends on September 30. He says other tenants were paying only $800/month and are now also being asked to pay $1,500/month.
“Thanks to the eviction for cause, these tenants did not have to fear retaliation or non-renewal of their lease without cause for participating in organizing and demanding a fair rent increase and appropriate maintenance,” said Canyon Ryan of United Tenants of Albany. “These tenants should not have to accept rent increases of more than 8.45 percent unless the landlord can show cause, which we believe is not the case.”
The owner did not respond to CBS6, but told the Times Union that the price increases were justified to make necessary upgrades and that the majority of residents had renewed their leases.
Residents held a rally on August 3 with a list of demands, including maintenance issues, and are demanding a response from the administration by August 10.
“There are too many complaints in the residential units, especially about mice, rats, cockroaches and on top of that, safety deficiencies,” says Chaudhary.
Questions remain about the timing of the lease renewals, many of which were sent out before the law came into effect, but at the same time these leases do not begin until after the July signing date. Depending on the owner’s response, this could be a case study in how these questions will be answered in court.
