To protect tenants and prevent homelessness, advocates rally for Just Cause Eviction legislation

We need a just cause eviction policy that guarantees lease renewals, limits rent hikes, and stops unjust evictions for tenants in good standing," said Representative Cherie Cruz.

Cherie Cruz

Rhode Island State Representative Cherie Cruz and Senator Tiara Mack held a press conference in the State House on Tuesday to announce legislation ending no-fault evictions for renters.

The Just Cause Evictions Act (H5503, S0212) prevents larger landlords from evicting tenants without cause and allows renters to renew their leases. The bill seeks to make families and communities more secure and help tackle homelessness.

Here’s the video:

The bill is supported by a coalition of community and labor groups led by Reclaim RI, a housing justice organization supporting tenants in the fight for social and economic justice in Rhode Island. Labor and advocacy organizations supporting the bill include the Rhode Island Center for Justice, the West Warwick Health Equity Zone, the RI Working Families Party, and SEIU 1199NE. The Just Cause Evictions Act enjoys support from legislators across the state. It is a top legislative priority of the Rhode Island Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian-American, and Pacific Islander (RIBLIA) Caucus.

The bill seeks to protect the rights of almost half the Rhode Island population. Around 40% of households are in rented accommodations across the state. Meanwhile, Rhode Island renters are experiencing some of the highest year-over-year price increases in the U.S. The average price of a one- or two-bedroom apartment in Providence increased by over 20% between 2024 and 2025.

See also: Just-cause eviction protections do what they are intended to do without negative impacts

“There are people who work double shifts just to make sure they pay rent every month,” said Representative Cruz. “They never miss a payment. Then their heat stops working or their stove breaks, and when they ask for repairs, instead of fixing it, their landlord threatens to throw them out of their home or raise the rent. Passing the Just Cause bill would go a long way toward fighting Rhode Island’s homelessness crisis and ensuring everyone has a safe, stable place to live.

“We can’t let large landlords and real estate companies continue to make homelessness worse. We need a just cause eviction policy that guarantees lease renewals, limits rent hikes, and stops unjust evictions for tenants in good standing.”

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“Just cause provisions for eviction are common sense, prevent unnecessary evictions, and prevent homelessness,” said Senator Mack. “Most people don’t realize our state laws do not currently prevent your landlord from filing an eviction for no reason. With over 40% of our state being renters, we need common sense legislation that protects tenants from legal action that can prevent them from accessing housing for years or put them on a path to homelessness.”

As much as 20% of evictions in Rhode Island are due to reasons other than nonpayment, so most renters who pay on time and respect the conditions of their lease are still at risk. Additionally, Rhode Island tenants face eviction after speaking up about unsafe conditions.

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“I’m living through my third winter with a faulty heating system that doesn’t keep me warm,” said Melissa Potter, a Rhode Island renter who helped found the Elmwood Tenants Union last year. Just Cause seeks to protect no-fault tenants like Potter, dramatically reducing unfair evictions. “I organized a tenants’ union with my neighbors to win repairs and security in our homes - and have been fighting off retaliatory eviction attempts since then. Tenants in Rhode Island cannot exercise our rights to safety and to organize when landlords can use arbitrary eviction as a weapon against us. We must pass Just Cause this year to protect vulnerable tenants and stabilize our communities.”

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“My landlord is a slumlord being sued by the Attorney General. That is how I found my way to Reclaim RI and The Rhode Island Tenants Union,” said tenant union member and organizer James Field, addressing the epidemic of profiteering rent increases. “Since then, I have become a very active tenant organizer and have seen firsthand how much help tenants in Rhode Island need. I witnessed tenants in one building be forcibly ‘evicted’ by having their rents raised 700, 800, and even 900 dollars. I have also heard stories from tenants of multiple landlords actively pricing out their tenants by raising rents every year. These rent increases are effectively becoming evictions because your average everyday Rhode Islander can’t keep up with them.”

Unjust evictions have a significant impact on the health and safety of families. Extractive property management tactics are linked with higher crime rates and incidences of assault. Mothers and children who have been evicted have worse health outcomes, with Black and Latino families disproportionately affected. Families who have been evicted are more likely to experience significant material hardship in the ensuing years, higher rates of depression for adults, and greater likelihood of hospitalization for children.

Also speaking at the press conference was homelessness expert Dr. Molly Richard, a postdoctoral fellow at Boston University. “Just Cause Eviction policies help people stay in their homes by reducing eviction and displacement. Emerging research finds no negative impact of such tenant protections on housing production. We face a deepening housing affordability and homelessness crisis. Research continues to underscore that stable housing is not just a matter of shelter but is a major determinant of health and wellbeing, so policies targeting housing stability can have radiating, positive effects for Rhode Islanders.”

Most tenants in the United States live in buildings owned and operated by large corporate landlords. Just Cause is designed to protect these tenants’ rights, focusing on landlords who own more than four units. The bill excludes local mom-and-pop landlords and owner-occupiers, who make up around 30% of landlords across the United States.

Just Cause has proven highly effective at increasing housing stability and preventing community displacement. Seven states, including New Hampshire, New York, and California, have adopted Just Cause measures.

“Housing instability negatively impacts physical and mental health, job opportunities, job performance, children’s school performance; it increases the risk of displacement and homelessness; it increases the need for crisis services,” said Reclaim RI volunteer Michele Seyler. “It decreases the quality of life for all of us as a community. But the collective good is not the concern of corporate landlords. Their focus is the bottom line. So it is up to us - the people - through our elected representatives - to put in guardrails that protect not just tenants, but all of us.”

This report was made with the help of a Reclaim RI press release.