One place to start is fixing the eviction court system. I have been a landlord for 40 years in Sullivan County. I am selling all my apartments. I had 5 evictions in the first 35 years. Since covid that number has increased 5 fold in only a couple years. Evictions need to be fair for both tenants and landlords. Until then, affordable housing will be a dream. It costs approx $10,000 for an eviction between lawyers and lost rent. That amount is added to other good tenants rent making rentals higher. Further, buildings costs to build new are very high and building codes are becoming restrictive and expensive. Property taxes in the 80's and 90's typically represented 1/12 of total income. Now they are far higher. The system can be fixed but it will not happen magically. Government needs to start addressing these issues. Mark McLewin
Please explain the inappropriate content below.
