By: Alex Georgiadis and Tram Hoang
Background
Just cause tenant protections—also referred to as “good cause” or “for cause”—are designed to prevent arbitrary, retaliatory, or discriminatory evictions by establishing that landlords can only evict renters for specific reasons. In many jurisdictions, landlords can evict tenants or simply not renew leases without providing any reason at all.
Just cause legislation is an important policy tool to prevent displacement and promote tenant stability, especially in neighborhoods where rents are rising and vacancies are low, and where landlords may seek to evict existing tenants to renovate their buildings and attract wealthier renters at higher prices. Just cause also protects tenants who report inadequate housing conditions or request repairs, making it less risky to exercise their right to livable conditions.
While many cities have just cause ordinances, there has been a surge of state-level legislation in recent years. California and Oregon legislatures passed statewide just cause in 2019, Washington passed it in 2021, and both Colorado and New York passed it in the 2024 legislative session. These states join New Jersey and New Hampshire, who passed just cause legislation in 1974 and 2015, respectively.
Tool Guide
This tool is designed to help advocates compare and contrast each state’s just cause legislation, which is linked at the top of each column. Each row describes a component of the law, and includes notes on whether that component of the law applies to the legislation in each state. A checkmark means that element of the law applies to that state’s legislation. An “X” means that element of the law does not apply to that state. Additional notes, such as definitions of specific terms, are provided to elaborate on specific applications of the law.
