Bill Text: NY A06617 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Exempts COVID-19 stimulus relief for individuals and families with children from money judgments; provides that in services of notices, forms, and procedures for claims of exemptions that a restraining notice or notice of levy by execution issued against a bank account shall have language to inform the holder of such account that funds for COVID-19 stimulus relief for individuals and families with children are exempt and cannot be taken.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 47-0)
Status: (Passed) 2021-05-13 - signed chap.107 [A06617 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A06617-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6617--A 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY March 22, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. WEINSTEIN, JOYNER, CAHILL, GALEF, GOTTFRIED, MAGNARELLI, JACKSON, MITAYNES -- Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. ABINANTI, AUBRY, BENEDETTO, BICHOTTE HERMELYN, BRONSON, BURDICK, BURGOS, CLARK, CYMBROWITZ, DICKENS, DILAN, DINOWITZ, ENGLEBRIGHT, EPSTEIN, FAHY, FORREST, FRONTUS, HYNDMAN, LAVINE, MAMDANI, McDONALD, McMAHON, O'DONNELL, PAULIN, PEOPLES-STOKES, PERRY, PICHARDO, RAJKUMAR, J. RIVERA, D. ROSENTHAL, L. ROSENTHAL, SEPTIMO, SILLITTI, SIMON, STECK, TAYLOR, ZEBROWSKI, ZINERMAN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Codes -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the civil practice law and rules, the banking law and the debtor and creditor law, in relation to exempting COVID-19 stimu- lus relief for individuals and families with children from money judg- ments The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph 2 of subdivision (l) of section 5205 of the civil 2 practice law and rules, as amended by chapter 24 of the laws of 2009, is 3 amended and a new subdivision (p) is added to read as follows: 4 2. For purposes of this article, "statutorily exempt payments" means 5 any personal property exempt from application to the satisfaction of a 6 money judgment under any provision of state or federal law. Such term 7 shall include, but not be limited to, payments from any of the following 8 sources: social security, including retirement, survivors' and disabili- 9 ty benefits, supplemental security income or child support payments; 10 veterans administration benefits; public assistance; workers' compen- 11 sation; unemployment insurance; public or private pensions; railroad 12 retirement; [and] black lung benefits; and emergency relief funds. 13 (p) Exemption for emergency relief funds. Any payments to individuals, 14 including tax refunds, recovery rebates, refundable tax credits, and any 15 advances of any tax credits, under the federal Families First Coronavi- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD10569-03-1A. 6617--A 2 1 rus Response Act (FFCRA), Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security 2 Act of 2020 (CARES Act), Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, and 3 American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARPA) are exempt from application to 4 the satisfaction of a money judgment. This exemption shall not apply 5 (i) if the debt enforced is for child support, spousal support, mainte- 6 nance, alimony, a distributive award in a matrimonial action, or resti- 7 tution in a family offense proceeding, or (ii) to that portion of any 8 money judgment awarded on a claim that the emergency relief funds refer- 9 enced herein are the rightful property of the judgment creditor. 10 § 2. Subdivision (e) of section 5222 of the civil practice law and 11 rules, as amended by chapter 575 of the laws of 2008, is amended to read 12 as follows: 13 (e) Content of notice. The notice required by subdivision (d) of this 14 section shall be in substantially the following form and may be included 15 in the restraining notice: 16 NOTICE TO JUDGMENT DEBTOR OR OBLIGOR 17 Money or property belonging to you may have been taken or held in 18 order to satisfy a judgment or order which has been entered against you. 19 Read this carefully. 20 YOU MAY BE ABLE TO GET YOUR MONEY BACK 21 State and federal laws prevent certain money or property from being 22 taken to satisfy judgments or orders. Such money or property is said to 23 be "exempt". The following is a partial list of money which may be 24 exempt: 25 1. Supplemental security income, (SSI); 26 2. Social security; 27 3. Public assistance (welfare); 28 4. Spousal support, maintenance (alimony) or child support; 29 5. Unemployment benefits; 30 6. Disability benefits; 31 7. Workers' compensation benefits; 32 8. Public or private pensions; 33 9. Veterans benefits; 34 10. Ninety percent of your wages or salary earned in the last sixty 35 days; 36 11. Twenty-five hundred dollars of any bank account containing statu- 37 torily exempt payments that were deposited electronically or by direct 38 deposit within the last forty-five days, including, but not limited to, 39 your social security, supplemental security income, veterans benefits, 40 public assistance, workers' compensation, unemployment insurance, public 41 or private pensions, railroad retirement benefits, black lung benefits, 42 or child support payments; 43 12. Railroad retirement; [and] 44 13. Black lung benefits; and 45 14. COVID-19 stimulus relief for individuals and families with chil- 46 dren. 47 If you think that any of your money that has been taken or held is 48 exempt, you must act promptly because the money may be applied to the 49 judgment or order. If you claim that any of your money that has been 50 taken or held is exempt, you may contact the person sending this notice. 51 Also, YOU MAY CONSULT AN ATTORNEY, INCLUDING ANY FREE LEGAL SERVICES 52 ORGANIZATION IF YOU QUALIFY. You can also go to court without an attor- 53 ney to get your money back. Bring this notice with you when you go. You 54 are allowed to try to prove to a judge that your money is exempt from 55 collection under New York civil practice law and rules, sections fifty- 56 two hundred twenty-two-a, fifty-two hundred thirty-nine and fifty-twoA. 6617--A 3 1 hundred forty. If you do not have a lawyer, the clerk of the court may 2 give you forms to help you prove your account contains exempt money that 3 the creditor cannot collect. The law (New York civil practice law and 4 rules, article four and sections fifty-two hundred thirty-nine and 5 fifty-two hundred forty) provides a procedure for determination of a 6 claim to an exemption. 7 § 3. Paragraph 4 of subdivision (b) of section 5222-a of the civil 8 practice law and rules, as added by chapter 575 of the laws of 2008, is 9 amended to read as follows: 10 4. Content of exemption notice and exemption claim form. a. The 11 exemption notice shall be in the following form: 12 "EXEMPTION NOTICE 13 as required by New York Law 14 YOUR BANK ACCOUNT IS RESTRAINED OR "FROZEN" 15 The attached Restraining Notice or notice of Levy by Execution has 16 been issued against your bank account. You are receiving this notice 17 because a creditor has obtained a money judgment against you, and one or 18 more of your bank accounts has been restrained to pay the judgment. A 19 money judgment is a court's decision that you owe money to a creditor. 20 You should be aware that FUTURE DEPOSITS into your account(s) might also 21 be restrained if you do not respond to this notice. 22 You may be able to "vacate" (remove) the judgment. If the judgment is 23 vacated, your bank account will be released. Consult an attorney 24 (including free legal services) or visit the court clerk for more infor- 25 mation about how to do this. 26 Under state and federal law, certain types of funds cannot be taken 27 from your bank account to pay a judgment. Such money is said to be 28 "exempt." 29 DOES YOUR BANK ACCOUNT CONTAIN ANY OF THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF FUNDS? 30 1. Social security; 31 2. Social security disability (SSD); 32 3. Supplemental security income (SSI); 33 4. Public assistance (welfare); 34 5. Income earned while receiving SSI or public assistance; 35 6. Veterans benefits; 36 7. Unemployment insurance; 37 8. Payments from pensions and retirement accounts; 38 9. Disability benefits; 39 10. Income earned in the last 60 days (90% of which is exempt); 40 11. Workers' compensation benefits; 41 12. Child support; 42 13. Spousal support or maintenance (alimony); 43 14. Railroad retirement; [and/or] 44 15. Black lung benefits; and/or 45 16. COVID-19 stimulus relief for individuals and families with 46 children. 47 If YES, you can claim that your money is exempt and cannot be taken. 48 To make the claim, you must 49 (a) complete the EXEMPTION CLAIM FORM attached; 50 (b) deliver or mail the form to the bank with the restrained or 51 "frozen" account; and 52 (c) deliver or mail the form to the creditor or its attorney at the 53 address listed on the form.A. 6617--A 4 1 You must send the forms within 20 DAYS of the postmarked date on the 2 envelope holding this notice. You may be able to get your account 3 released faster if you send to the creditor or its attorney written 4 proof that your money is exempt. Proof can include an award letter from 5 the government, an annual statement from your pension, pay stubs, copies 6 of checks, bank records showing the last two months of account activity, 7 or other papers showing that the money in your bank account is exempt. 8 If you send the creditor's attorney proof that the money in your account 9 is exempt, the attorney must release that money within seven days. You 10 do not need an attorney to make an exemption claim using the form." 11 b. The exemption claim form shall be in the following form: 12 NAME OF COURT, NAME OF COUNTY 13 -------------------------------------x 14 PLAINTIFF/PETITIONER/CLAIMANT INDEX NO. 15 V. 16 DEFENDANT/RESPONDENT EXEMPTION CLAIM FORM 17 -------------------------------------x 18 NAME AND ADDRESS OF JUDGMENT NAME AND ADDRESS OF FINANCIAL 19 CREDITOR OR ATTORNEY INSTITUTION 20 (To be completed by judgment (To be completed by judgment 21 creditor or attorney) creditor or attorney) 22 ADDRESS ADDRESS 23 A_____________________ B______________________ 24 ____________________ _____________________ 25 Directions: To claim that some or all of the funds in your account are 26 exempt, complete both copies of this form, and make one copy for your- 27 self. Mail or deliver one form to ADDRESS A and one form to ADDRESS B 28 within twenty days of the date on the envelope holding this notice. 29 **If you have any documents, such as an award letter, an annual state- 30 ment from your pension, paystubs, copies of checks or bank records show- 31 ing the last two months of account activity, include copies of the docu- 32 ments with this form. Your account may be released more quickly. 33 _________________________________________________________________________ 34 I state that my account contains the following type(s) of funds (check 35 all that apply): 36 ____Social security 37 ____Social security disability (SSD) 38 ____Supplemental security income (SSI) 39 ____Public assistance 40 ____Wages while receiving SSI or public assistance 41 ____Veterans benefits 42 ____Unemployment insurance 43 ____Payments from pensions and retirement accounts 44 ____Income earned in the last 60 days (90% of which is exempt) 45 ____Child support 46 ____Spousal support or maintenance (alimony) 47 ____Workers' compensation 48 ____Railroad retirement or black lung benefitsA. 6617--A 5 1 _____COVID-19 stimulus relief for individuals and families with children 2 ____Other (describe exemption):_________________________________ 3 I request that any correspondence to me regarding my claim be sent to 4 the following address: 5 _____________________________________________________________________ 6 (FILL IN YOUR COMPLETE ADDRESS) 7 I certify under penalty of perjury that the statement above is true to 8 the best of my knowledge and belief. 9 _________________________________________________________________________ 10 DATE SIGNATURE OF JUDGMENT DEBTOR 11 § 4. Subdivision 1 of section 9-g of the banking law, as added by 12 chapter 10 of the laws of 1980, is amended to read as follows: 13 1. (a) No banking institution shall assert, claim or exercise any 14 right of set off against any deposit account into which social security 15 or supplemental security income payments are deposited pursuant to an 16 agreement with such banking institution which provides that such 17 payments be deposited directly into such deposit account without presen- 18 tation to the depositor at the time of deposit. 19 (b) No banking institution shall assert, claim or exercise any right 20 of set off against any payments referred to in subdivision (p) of 21 section fifty-two hundred five of the civil practice law and rules. 22 § 5. Section 3 of the debtor and creditor law is amended by adding a 23 new fifth undesignated paragraph to read as follows: 24 The right of any person to payments, including tax refunds, recovery 25 rebates, refundable tax credits, and any advances of any tax credits, 26 under the federal Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), Coro- 27 navirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act of 2020 (CARES Act), 28 Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021, and American Rescue Plan Act of 29 2021 (ARPA) shall not be transferable or assignable, at law or in equi- 30 ty. 31 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately.