Community Groups Sue Over Rental Law In Buffalo

Just a few months ago, a coalition of community groups joined together to protest against what many describe as a lack of enforcement of various aspects of housing law in the City of Buffalo.

Chief among those complaints was that City officials did not follow through with implementing the City of Buffalo's Proactive Rental Inspection Program.

Read More: City of Buffalo to Require All Rental Properties To Be Inspected

The PRI law requires all non-owner occupied one and 2-unit properties to be registered as a rental property and be inspected annually by Buffalo's Department of Permits and Inspections. These rules apply to all rental units, whether occupied or vacant, and owners must maintain an Annual Certificate of Rental Compliance. This program aimed to force landlords to ensure their properties meet New York State's required habitability standards, along with complying with fire safety rules and other health-related rules like mold, asbestos, rodents, and lead.

The program will be implemented ... to ensure that these rental properties are safe, habitable and in compliance with applicable city and building codes.
-City of Buffalo the Department of Inspections

In a city with a lead problem described as worse than the problem in Flint, Michigan, you would think that officials would be moving deliberately to rectify the issue.

READ MORE: Buffalo's Lead Problem

Before when the 39 community groups protested, they hand-delivered a letter to Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown's office demanding that the city begin complying with its laws within 30 days and share proof of it, and if they did not do so, then they would pursue legal.

If the city does not comply, we are prepared to look at legal action to enforce this law... We have used every traditional advocacy tool that we can, as you will know there has been relentless media stories about lead poisoning in Buffalo for 10 years. 30 years when you go back into media records. We've been in the Council, we've been with the department so there's not much left except to really keep pushing in the media and explore legal action.
-Andrea Ó Súilleabháin, Executive Director, Partnership for Public Good

READ MORE: Community Groups Demand Help With Housing Quality in Buffalo, NY

Now, nearly five months later, those community groups have filed their lawsuit against the city, as it seems that next to zero progress has been made on the demands or shared with those who requested them.

According to WKBW-TV, the lawsuit filed in the New York State Supreme Court seeks to force the city to inspect more than 36,000 rental properties as required by the PRI law.

READ MORE: How Much You Need To Make To Afford The Average House In Buffalo, New York

To date, only approximately 5,000 properties have been inspected since 2020.