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The Albany Common Council has passed a series of local fair housing laws introduced by Mayor Kathy Sheehan in March. The Democrat running for a third term says the package allows the buildings department to intervene to make repairs to dwellings rather than declaring them unsafe and displacing residents, with the owner billed for the cost of repairs. The goal is to reduce the number of abandoned buildings in the city. In a first, the measure also forces landlords to demonstrate “good cause” to evict tenants, and prohibits rent increases of more than 5% a year when they are used to circumvent eviction laws. We speak with Mayor Sheehan.