I recently had the pleasure of joining a couple of my peers on the DJ STARR Let’s Talk Show.  We discussed the state of housing in WNY and what your rights are as either a tenant or a property owner.  

I was looking online for debates on one side or the other, landlord rights vs tenant rights and I felt that there was nothing where people on one side or the other were actually sitting at the same table.  Nothing is black and white, there is a huge mix of opinions and I feel like this is a good opportunity to get those ideas out there.  

Alongside Christina Tretter-Herriger and Adam Bojak, we hashed out a variety of topics effecting housing in WNY, here are some highlights.

The Good Cause Eviction Bill is currently pending in NYS legislature and the hope is to stabilize housing and neighborhoods and keep the market healthy.  Though well intentioned, it may not impact the tenants as they want.  Find out the reason why in the video below.  

We also discuss why legislation being passed that targets huge real estate conglomerates has a good chance to push out the small, committed landlords and what some worst possible scenarios could be for both the property owner and the tenant. 

Affordable housing is huge on my plate right now and we talk about how availability and affordability affects housing here in WNY and what is driving up the cost.  Buffalo is experiencing a shortage of housing although it is not a new problem as thousands of empty homes have been torn n down in the past several decades.  We discuss how the federal Government is failing low income tenants.

At the end of the day, 60% of the population in Buffalo are renters – and half of those renters are paying more than 30% of their income in rent.  How did housing become so unaffordable and what can we do in an attempt to fix this lack of a social safety net?

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