Voting Postponed: Binghamton City Council Reschedules Original Voting Date for Good Cause Eviction Proposal
The Good Cause Eviction proposal has caused mixed feelings among landlords and officials in Binghamton these last few weeks.
"This is a pretty, pretty big change. And people want to learn more about like what's what's actually happening," City of Binghamton's Fourth District Councilman Nate Hotchkiss said. "So we want to take the time to educate the public and make them aware of what this is and what it isn't."
Yesterday, City of Binghamton Mayor Jared Kraham held a presser encouraging the city council to take a pause on the proposal before coming to a decision.
Kraham also stated these regulations could make the city a less attractive location for mom-and-pop landlords and bring the risk of more vacant rental properties.
However, Hotchkiss says the decision to postpone the vote came before Kraham's presser yesterday.
Local landlord for numerous buildings in Binghamton Dave Drew agrees with Kraham's stance, saying it takes away the landlord's rights to own and control the property.
"What laws like this really intend to produce is protections for especially folks in the lower income segment in that market," Drew said. "What ends up happening is that segment of the market becomes less attractive to landlords as you take their rights to own their own property and control it away.
At tonight's Binghamton City Council meeting, Drew told the council a hasty decision is the wrong move and the proposal could end up hurting residents in the long run.
The local landlord told us it's important to note the difference between up-to-code and "Very nice apartments."
"When landlords are unable to collect revenue, they don't have additional money to go and improve the units," Drew said. "So they stay status quo and ultimately over a longer period of time they deteriorate."
Hotchkiss says he has spoken with landlords in the Binghamton community and the extended period gives a chance for better understanding amongst everyone.
"People's nerves are kind of cranked up because they there's like a perception of what the good causes versus like the reality of it," Hotchkiss said. "Every single time I've had a conversation with a landlord, they're like, oh, this is this is less bad than I thought it was."
Despite not having a new voting date set, Hotchkiss says it shouldn't go past January 2025.