“Just cause eviction” laws (sometimes called “good cause eviction laws) are, according to housing advocate Shelter Force, “a legal framework that requires landlords to provide sufficient grounds for any attempt to remove a tenant from [sic] through eviction….” Currently, four states and more than twenty cities have just cause eviction laws. While the details vary, such laws can literally hold a landlord hostage. Just cause eviction laws are unjust.
A good cause bill considered in New York State would have given tenants the “right” to renew a lease regardless of the landlord’s desire. A New York City Councilmember who supports the state bill acknowledged the problems the law might impose on small landlords. But those problems, he said, are minor compared to that of tenants facing eviction. “The trauma for tenants who get evicted in a tight real estate market is far more severe than the challenges facing a small landlord,” he said. And so, he has no qualms about imposing problems on landlords for the alleged benefit of tenants. He has no qualms about subordinating individuals to the group.
Another supporter of the bill, Ithaca, New York, alderman Ducson Nguyen, wrote “good landlords have nothing to fear from good cause eviction legislation. But the protection such a law provides is essential for preventing housing discrimination.” Apparently, a landlord who renews leases indiscriminately is “good,” and landlords who don’t are bad. And bad landlords should be forced to do to do the “right” thing as defined by housing activists. Individuals should be subservient to the collective.
Just cause eviction laws create a one-sided relationship. They give the tenant a choice, but they deny choice for the landlord. Just cause eviction laws aren’t about justice. They are about control of landlords.