Roger Hannigan Gilson reports in the Times Union that Hudson's Common Council voted unanimously last week to enact a tough anti-eviction law because of the current local housing crisis. Claire Cousins of the Hudson-Catskill Housing Coalition said the law "is an acknowledgment of the crisis that our community is currently in.... We believe that our City understands what is at stake, and is taking the necessary steps to make Hudson an equitable, fair place for people to remain citizens in." Landlords will now bring eviction proceedings in front of a city judge in the rapidly gentrifying community of 5,900. Tenants can now only be evicted for legitimate reasons outlined in the law, and if nonpayment of rent is the issue, they cannot be kicked out if the rent is being raised more than five percent in a year. Landlords get an exemption on the five percent rule if improvements are made to the property. Hudson's Common Council passed a similar law before, but Hudson Mayor Kamal Johnson vetoed that effort, saying he wanted to give tenants more rights. Similar so-called "Good Cause" eviction laws have passed recently in Albany, Newburgh, and Poughkeepsie. Of these four cities, Hudson's version of the law is the only one that does not allow landlords to remove tenants if the property is being sold. "What we're seeing is a lot of people buying property, displacing tenants and flipping them for a higher price," Johnson said. A housing report issued earlier this year.said Columbia County housing prices rose 40 percent in 12 months. Hudson will hold a public hearing on the law next month before Johnson can sign the bill into law. NOTE: Johnson is a WGXC volunteer programmer. Read more about this story in the Times Union.