Bill Text: NY A07175 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Extends the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020" and the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021" until August 31, 2021.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 10-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2021-05-03 - substituted by s6362a [A07175 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A07175-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7175--A R. R. 64 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY April 23, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ, EPSTEIN, L. ROSENTHAL, OTIS, BARRON -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary -- reported and referred to the Committee on Rules -- ordered to a third reading -- amended on the special order of third reading, ordered reprinted as amended, retaining its place on the special order of third reading AN ACT to amend chapter 381 of the laws of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020", in relation to extending the effectiveness thereof; and to amend chap- ter 73 of the laws of 2021 relating to establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021", in relation to extending the effectiveness thereof The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 1 of part A of chapter 381 of the 2 laws of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclo- 3 sure Prevention Act of 2020", is amended to read as follows: 4 4. "Hardship declaration" means the following statement, or a substan- 5 tially equivalent statement in the tenant's primary language, in 6 14-point type, published by the office of court administration, whether 7 in physical or electronic written form: 8 "NOTICE TO TENANT: If you have lost income or had increased costs 9 during the COVID-19 pandemic, or moving would pose a significant health 10 risk for you or a member of your household due to an increased risk for 11 severe illness or death from COVID-19 due to an underlying medical 12 condition, and you sign and deliver this hardship declaration form to 13 your landlord, you cannot be evicted until at least [May 1] August 31, 14 2021 for nonpayment of rent or for holding over after the expiration of 15 your lease. You may still be evicted for violating your lease by persis- 16 tently and unreasonably engaging in behavior that substantially 17 infringes on the use and enjoyment of other tenants or occupants or 18 causes a substantial safety hazard to others. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11083-02-1A. 7175--A 2 1 If your landlord has provided you with this form, your landlord must 2 also provide you with a mailing address and e-mail address to which you 3 can return this form. If your landlord has already started an eviction 4 proceeding against you, you can return this form to either your land- 5 lord, the court, or both at any time. You should keep a copy or picture 6 of the signed form for your records. You will still owe any unpaid rent 7 to your landlord. You should also keep careful track of what you have 8 paid and any amount you still owe. 9 For more information about legal resources that may be available to 10 you, go to www.nycourts.gov/evictions/nyc/ or call 718-557-1379 if you 11 live in New York City or go to www.nycourts.gov/evictions/outside-nyc/ 12 or call a local bar association or legal services provider if you live 13 outside of New York City. Rent relief may be available to you, and you 14 should contact your local housing assistance office. 15 TENANT'S DECLARATION OF HARDSHIP DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC 16 I am a tenant, lawful occupant, or other person responsible for paying 17 rent, use and occupancy, or any other financial obligation under a lease 18 or tenancy agreement at (address of dwelling unit). 19 YOU MUST INDICATE BELOW YOUR QUALIFICATION FOR EVICTION PROTECTION BY 20 SELECTING OPTION "A" OR "B", OR BOTH. 21 A. ( ) I am experiencing financial hardship, and I am unable to pay my 22 rent or other financial obligations under the lease in full or obtain 23 alternative suitable permanent housing because of one or more of the 24 following: 25 1. Significant loss of household income during the COVID-19 pandemic. 26 2. Increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to performing 27 essential work or related to health impacts during the COVID-19 pandem- 28 ic. 29 3. Childcare responsibilities or responsibilities to care for an 30 elderly, disabled, or sick family member during the COVID-19 pandemic 31 have negatively affected my ability or the ability of someone in my 32 household to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or increased my 33 necessary out-of-pocket expenses. 34 4. Moving expenses and difficulty I have securing alternative housing 35 make it a hardship for me to relocate to another residence during the 36 COVID-19 pandemic. 37 5. Other circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic have negative- 38 ly affected my ability to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or 39 have significantly reduced my household income or significantly 40 increased my expenses. 41 To the extent that I have lost household income or had increased 42 expenses, any public assistance, including unemployment insurance, 43 pandemic unemployment assistance, disability insurance, or paid family 44 leave, that I have received since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic 45 does not fully make up for my loss of household income or increased 46 expenses. 47 B. ( ) Vacating the premises and moving into new permanent housing would 48 pose a significant health risk because I or one or more members of my 49 household have an increased risk for severe illness or death from 50 COVID-19 due to being over the age of sixty-five, having a disability or 51 having an underlying medical condition, which may include but is not 52 limited to being immunocompromised.A. 7175--A 3 1 I understand that I must comply with all other lawful terms under my 2 tenancy, lease agreement or similar contract. I further understand that 3 lawful fees, penalties or interest for not having paid rent in full or 4 met other financial obligations as required by my tenancy, lease agree- 5 ment or similar contract may still be charged or collected and may 6 result in a monetary judgment against me. I further understand that my 7 landlord may be able to seek eviction after [May 1] August 31, 2021, and 8 that the law may provide certain protections at that time that are sepa- 9 rate from those available through this declaration. 10 Signed: 11 Printed name: 12 Date signed: 13 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 14 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 15 you know is false." 16 § 2. Sections 4, 6 and 7 of part A of chapter 381 of the laws of 2020 17 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention 18 Act of 2020", are amended to read as follows: 19 § 4. Prohibition on initiation of eviction proceeding. If there is no 20 pending eviction proceeding and a tenant provides a hardship declaration 21 to the landlord or an agent of the landlord, there shall be no initi- 22 ation of an eviction proceeding against the tenant until at least [May231] August 31, 2021, and in such event any specific time limit for the 24 commencement of an eviction proceeding shall be tolled until [May 1] 25 August 31, 2021. 26 § 6. Pending proceedings. In any eviction proceeding in which an 27 eviction warrant has not been issued, including eviction proceedings 28 filed on or before March 7, 2020, if the tenant provides a hardship 29 declaration to the petitioner, the court, or an agent of the petitioner 30 or the court, the eviction proceeding shall be stayed until at least 31 [May 1] August 31, 2021. If such hardship declaration is provided to the 32 petitioner or agent, such petitioner or agent shall promptly file it 33 with the court, advising the court in writing the index number of all 34 relevant cases. 35 § 7. Default judgments. No court shall issue a judgment in any 36 proceeding authorizing a warrant of eviction against a respondent who 37 has defaulted, or authorize the enforcement of an eviction pursuant to a 38 default judgment, prior to [May 1] August 31, 2021, without first hold- 39 ing a hearing after the effective date of this act upon motion of the 40 petitioner. The petitioner or an agent of the petitioner shall file an 41 affidavit attesting that the petitioner or the petitioner's agent has 42 served notice of the date, time, and place of such hearing on the 43 respondent, including a copy of such notice. If a default judgment has 44 been awarded prior to the effective date of this act, the default judg- 45 ment shall be removed and the matter restored to the court calendar upon 46 the respondent's written or oral request to the court either before or 47 during such hearing and an order to show cause to vacate the default 48 judgment shall not be required. 49 § 3. Subdivision a of section 8 of part A of chapter 381 of the laws 50 of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure 51 Prevention Act of 2020", is amended to read as follows: 52 a. (i) In any eviction proceeding in which an eviction warrant has 53 been issued prior to the effective date of this act, but has not yet 54 been executed as of the effective date of this act, including evictionA. 7175--A 4 1 proceedings filed on or before March 7, 2020, the court shall stay the 2 execution of the warrant at least until the court has held a status 3 conference with the parties. (ii) In any eviction proceeding, if the 4 tenant provides a hardship declaration to the petitioner, the court, or 5 an agent of the petitioner or the court, prior to the execution of the 6 warrant, the execution shall be stayed until at least [May 1] August 31, 7 2021. If such hardship declaration is provided to the petitioner or 8 agent of the petitioner, such petitioner or agent shall promptly file it 9 with the court, advising the court in writing the index number of all 10 relevant cases. 11 § 4. Subdivision 4 of section 9 of part A of chapter 381 of the laws 12 of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure 13 Prevention Act of 2020", is amended to read as follows: 14 4. If the petitioner fails to establish that the tenant persistently 15 and unreasonably engaged in such behavior and the tenant provides or has 16 provided a hardship declaration to the petitioner, petitioner's agent or 17 the court, the court shall stay or continue to stay any further 18 proceedings until at least [May 1] August 31, 2021. 19 § 5. Section 13 of part A of chapter 381 of the laws of 2020 estab- 20 lishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act 21 of 2020", is amended to read as follows: 22 § 13. This act shall take effect immediately and sections one, two, 23 three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and twelve of this act 24 shall expire [May 1] August 31, 2021. 25 § 6. Section 2 of subpart A of part B of chapter 381 of the laws of 26 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure 27 Prevention Act of 2020", is amended to read as follows: 28 § 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this act, "Hardship Declaration" 29 means the following statement, or a substantially equivalent statement 30 in the mortagor's primary language, in 14-point type, published by the 31 office of court administration, whether in physical or electronic writ- 32 ten form: 33 "NOTICE TO MORTGAGOR: If you have lost income or had increased costs 34 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and you sign and deliver this hardship 35 declaration form to your mortgage lender or other foreclosing party, you 36 cannot be foreclosed on until at least [May 1] August 31, 2021. 37 If your mortgage lender or other foreclosing party provided you with 38 this form, the mortgage lender or other foreclosing party must also 39 provide you with a mailing address and e-mail address to which you can 40 return this form. If you are already in foreclosure proceedings, you may 41 return this form to the court. You should keep a copy or picture of the 42 signed form for your records. You will still owe any unpaid mortgage 43 payments and lawful fees to your lender. You should also keep careful 44 track of what you have paid and any amount you still owe. 45 MORTGAGOR'S DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP 46 I am the mortgagor of the property at (address of dwelling unit). 47 Including my primary residence, I own, whether directly or indirectly, 48 ten or fewer residential dwelling units. I am experiencing financial 49 hardship, and I am unable to pay my mortgage in full because of one or 50 more of the following: 51 1. Significant loss of household income during the COVID-19 pandemic. 52 2. Increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to performing 53 essential work or related to health impacts during the COVID-19 pandem- 54 ic. 55 3. Childcare responsibilities or responsibilities to care for an 56 elderly, disabled, or sick family member during the COVID-19 pandemicA. 7175--A 5 1 have negatively affected my ability or the ability of someone in my 2 household to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or increased my 3 necessary out-of-pocket expenses. 4 4. Moving expenses and difficulty I have securing alternative housing 5 make it a hardship for me to relocate to another residence during the 6 COVID-19 pandemic. 7 5. Other circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic have negative- 8 ly affected my ability to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or 9 have significantly reduced my household income or significantly 10 increased my expenses. 11 6. One or more of my tenants has defaulted on a significant amount of 12 their rent payments since March 1, 2020. 13 To the extent I have lost household income or had increased expenses, 14 any public assistance, including unemployment insurance, pandemic unem- 15 ployment assistance, disability insurance, or paid family leave, that I 16 have received since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic does not fully 17 make up for my loss of household income or increased expenses. 18 I understand that I must comply with all other lawful terms under my 19 mortgage agreement. I further understand that lawful fees, penalties or 20 interest for not having paid my mortgage in full as required by my mort- 21 gage agreement may still be charged or collected and may result in a 22 monetary judgment against me. I also understand that my mortgage lender 23 or other foreclosing party may pursue a foreclosure action against me on 24 or after [May 1] August 31, 2021, if I do not fully repay any missed or 25 partial payments and lawful fees. 26 Signed: 27 Printed Name: 28 Date Signed: 29 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 30 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 31 you know is false." 32 § 7. Sections 5, 7, 8 and 12 of subpart A of part B of chapter 381 of 33 the laws of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Fore- 34 closure Prevention Act of 2020", are amended to read as follows: 35 § 5. If a mortgagor provides a hardship declaration to the foreclosing 36 party or an agent of the foreclosing party, there shall be no initiation 37 of an action to foreclose a mortgage against the mortgagor until at 38 least [May 1] August 31, 2021, and in such event any specific time limit 39 for the commencement of an action to foreclose a mortgage shall be 40 tolled until [May 1] August 31, 2021. 41 § 7. In any action to foreclose a mortgage in which a judgment of sale 42 has not been issued, including actions filed on or before March 7, 2020, 43 if the mortgagor provides a hardship declaration to the foreclosing 44 party, the court, or an agent of the foreclosing party or the court, the 45 proceeding shall be stayed until at least [May 1] August 31, 2021. If 46 such hardship declaration is provided to the foreclosing party or agent 47 of the foreclosing party, such foreclosing party or agent shall promptly 48 file it with the court, advising the court in writing the index number 49 of all relevant cases. 50 § 8. In any action to foreclose a mortgage in which a judgment of sale 51 has been issued prior to the effective date of this act but has not yet 52 been executed as of the effective date of this act, including actions 53 filed on or before March 7, 2020, the court shall stay the execution of 54 the judgment at least until the court has held a status conference with 55 the parties. In any action to foreclose a mortgage, if the mortgagor 56 provides a hardship declaration to the foreclosing party, the court, orA. 7175--A 6 1 an agent of the foreclosing party or the court, prior to the execution 2 of the judgment, the execution shall be stayed until at least [May 1] 3 August 31, 2021. If such hardship declaration is provided to the fore- 4 closing party or agent of the foreclosing party, such foreclosing party 5 or agent shall promptly file it with the court, advising the court in 6 writing the index number of all relevant cases. 7 § 12. This act shall take effect immediately and sections one, two, 8 three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and eleven of this act shall 9 expire [May 1] August 31, 2021. 10 § 8. Subdivision 3 of section 2 of subpart B of part B of chapter 381 11 of the laws of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and 12 Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020", is amended to read as follows: 13 3. "Hardship Declaration" means the following statement, or a substan- 14 tially equivalent statement in the owner's primary language, in 14-point 15 type, whether in physical or electronic written form: 16 "OWNER DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP 17 I am the owner of the property at (address). Including my primary 18 residence, I own, whether directly or indirectly, ten or fewer residen- 19 tial dwelling units. I am experiencing financial hardship, and I am 20 unable to pay my full tax bill because of one or more of the following: 21 1. Significant loss of household income during the COVID-19 pandemic. 22 2. Increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to performing 23 essential work or related to health impacts during the COVID-19 pandem- 24 ic. 25 3. Childcare responsibilities or responsibilities to care for an 26 elderly, disabled, or sick family member during the COVID-19 pandemic 27 have negatively affected my ability or the ability of someone in my 28 household to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or increased my 29 necessary out-of-pocket expenses. 30 4. Moving expenses and difficulty I have securing alternative housing 31 make it a hardship for me to relocate to another residence during the 32 COVID-19 pandemic. 33 5. Other circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic have negative- 34 ly affected my ability to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or 35 have significantly reduced my household income or significantly 36 increased my expenses. 37 6. One or more of my tenants has defaulted on a significant amount of 38 their rent payments since March 1, 2020. 39 To the extent that I have lost household income or had increased 40 expenses, any public assistance, including unemployment insurance, 41 pandemic unemployment assistance, disability insurance, or paid family 42 leave, that I have received since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic 43 does not fully make up for my loss of household income or increased 44 expenses. 45 I understand that lawful fees, penalties or interest for not having 46 paid my taxes in full may still be charged or collected and may result 47 in a foreclosure action against me on or after [May 1] August 31, 2021, 48 if I do not fully repay any missed or partial payments and fees. 49 Signed: 50 Printed Name: 51 Date Signed: 52 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 53 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 54 you know is false."A. 7175--A 7 1 § 9. Subdivision 3 of section 3 of subpart B of part B of chapter 381 2 of the laws of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and 3 Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020", is amended to read as follows: 4 3. The submission of such a declaration, unless withdrawn by the 5 owner, shall act as a temporary stay applicable to all entities and 6 persons of all such tax lien sales and tax foreclosure actions and 7 proceedings against such owner for such property that have been 8 commenced or could have been commenced before [May 1] August 31, 2021. 9 § 10. Section 4 of subpart B of part B of chapter 381 of the laws of 10 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure 11 Prevention Act of 2020", is amended to read as follows: 12 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and sections one and two 13 and subdivisions one, two, three, four and five of section three shall 14 expire [May 1] August 31, 2021. 15 § 11. Subdivision 2 of section 1 of subpart C of part B of chapter 381 16 of the laws of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and 17 Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020", is amended to read as follows: 18 2. Hardship declaration. For purposes of this act, "hardship declara- 19 tion" shall mean the following statement, or a substantially equivalent 20 statement in the owner or mortgagor's primary language, in 14-point 21 type, whether in physical or electronic written form, and the department 22 of financial services shall publish a copy of the hardship declaration 23 on its website: 24 "NOTICE TO OWNER/MORTGAGOR: If you have lost income or had increased 25 costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and you sign and deliver this hard- 26 ship declaration form to your lending institution, you cannot be 27 discriminated against in the determination of whether credit should be 28 extended or reported negatively to a credit reporting agency until at 29 least [May 1] August 31, 2021. 30 If a lending institution provided you with this form, the lending 31 institution must also provide you with a mailing address and e-mail 32 address to which you can return this form. You should keep a copy or 33 picture of the signed form for your records. 34 OWNER/MORTGAGOR DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP 35 I am the OWNER/MORTGAGOR of the property at (address of dwelling 36 unit). Including my primary residence, I own, whether directly or indi- 37 rectly, ten or fewer residential dwelling units. I am experiencing 38 financial hardship, and I am unable to pay my mortgage in full because 39 of one or more of the following: 40 1. Significant loss of household income during the COVID-19 pandemic. 41 2. Increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to performing 42 essential work or related to health impacts during the COVID-19 pandem- 43 ic. 44 3. Childcare responsibilities or responsibilities to care for an 45 elderly, disabled, or sick family member during the COVID-19 pandemic 46 have negatively affected my ability or the ability of someone in my 47 household to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or increased my 48 necessary out-of-pocket expenses. 49 4. Moving expenses and difficulty I have securing alternative housing 50 make it a hardship for me to relocate to another residence during the 51 COVID-19 pandemic. 52 5. Other circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic have negative- 53 ly affected my ability to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or 54 have significantly reduced my household income or significantly 55 increased my expenses.A. 7175--A 8 1 6. One or more of my tenants has defaulted on a significant amount of 2 their rent payments since March 1, 2020. 3 To the extent that I have lost household income or had increased 4 expenses, any public assistance, including unemployment insurance, 5 pandemic unemployment assistance, disability insurance, or paid family 6 leave, that I have received since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic 7 does not fully make up for my loss of household income or increased 8 expenses. 9 Signed: 10 Printed Name: 11 Date Signed: 12 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 13 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 14 you know is false." 15 § 12. Section 2 of subpart C of part B of chapter 381 of the laws of 16 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure 17 Prevention Act of 2020", is amended to read as follows: 18 § 2. This act take effect immediately and shall expire [May 1] August 19 31, 2021. 20 § 13. Section 2 of subpart D of part B of chapter 381 of the laws of 21 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure 22 Prevention Act of 2020", is amended to read as follows: 23 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire [May 1] 24 August 31, 2021. This act shall be deemed to have been in full force and 25 effect on and after March 7, 2020. 26 § 14. Subdivision 4 of section 1 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws 27 of 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Busi- 28 nesses Act of 2021", is amended to read as follows: 29 4. "Hardship declaration" means the following statement, or a substan- 30 tially equivalent statement in the language in which the commercial 31 lease or tenancy agreement was written or negotiated, in 14-point type, 32 published by the office of court administration, whether in physical or 33 electronic written form: 34 "NOTICE TO COMMERCIAL TENANT: If you have lost significant revenue or 35 had significantly increased necessary costs during the COVID-19 pandem- 36 ic, and you sign and deliver this hardship declaration form to your 37 landlord, you cannot be evicted until at least [May 1] August 31, 2021 38 for nonpayment of rent or for holding over after the expiration of your 39 lease. You may still be evicted for violating your lease by persistently 40 and unreasonably engaging in behavior that substantially infringes on 41 the use and enjoyment of other tenants or occupants or causes a substan- 42 tial safety hazard to others. 43 If your landlord has provided you with this form, your landlord must 44 also provide you with a mailing address and e-mail address to which you 45 can return this form. If your landlord has already started an eviction 46 proceeding against you, you can return this form to either your land- 47 lord, the court, or both at any time. You should keep a copy or picture 48 of the signed form for your records. You will still owe any unpaid rent 49 to your landlord. You should also keep careful track of what you have 50 paid and any amount you still owe. 51 COMMERCIAL TENANT'S DECLARATION OF HARDSHIP DURING THE 52 COVID-19 PANDEMIC 53 I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer 54 of (name of business), in which is a commercial tenant at (address ofA. 7175--A 9 1 commercial unit). My business is resident in New York state, independ- 2 ently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and employs fifty 3 or fewer persons. My business is experiencing financial hardship, and 4 is unable to pay the rent or other financial obligations under the lease 5 in full or obtain an alternative suitable commercial property because of 6 one or more of the following: 7 1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. 8 2. Significant increase in necessary expenses related to providing 9 personal protective equipment to employees or purchasing and installing 10 other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with- 11 in the business. 12 3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer- 13 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another 14 location during the COVID-19 pandemic. 15 To the extent the business has lost revenue or had increased expenses, 16 any public assistance the business has received since the start of the 17 COVID-19 pandemic does not fully make up for the business's loss of 18 revenue or increased expenses. 19 I understand that the business must comply with all other lawful terms 20 under its commercial tenancy, lease agreement or similar contract. I 21 further understand that lawful fees, penalties or interest for not 22 having paid rent in full or met other financial obligations as required 23 by the commercial tenancy, lease agreement or similar contract may still 24 be charged or collected and may result in a monetary judgment. I 25 further understand that the landlord may be able to seek eviction after 26 [May 1] August 31, 2021, and that the law may provide certain 27 protections at that time that are separate from those available through 28 this declaration. 29 Signed: 30 Printed name: 31 Date signed: 32 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 33 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 34 you know is false." 35 § 15. Section 2 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws of 2021 estab- 36 lishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 37 2021", is amended to read as follows: 38 § 2. No commercial tenant shall be removed from the possession prior 39 to [May 1] August 31, 2021, except by an eviction proceeding. 40 § 16. Section 5 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws of 2021 establish- 41 ing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021", 42 is amended to read as follows: 43 § 5. Prohibition on initiation of eviction proceeding. If there is no 44 pending eviction proceeding and a tenant provides a hardship declaration 45 to the landlord or an agent of the landlord, there shall be no initi- 46 ation of an eviction proceeding against the tenant until at least [May471] August 31, 2021, and in such event any specific time limit for the 48 commencement of an eviction proceeding shall be tolled until [May 1] 49 August 31, 2021. 50 § 17. Section 7 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws of 2021 establish- 51 ing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021", 52 is amended to read as follows:A. 7175--A 10 1 § 7. Pending proceedings. In any eviction proceeding in which an 2 eviction warrant or judgment of possession or ejectment has not been 3 issued, including eviction proceedings filed on or before March 7, 2020, 4 if the tenant provides a hardship declaration to the petitioner or 5 plaintiff, the court, or an agent of the petitioner or plaintiff or the 6 court, the eviction proceeding shall be stayed until at least [May 1] 7 August 31, 2021. If such hardship declaration is provided to the peti- 8 tioner or plaintiff or agent, such petitioner or plaintiff or agent 9 shall promptly file it with the court, advising the court in writing the 10 index number of all relevant cases. 11 § 18. Paragraph (ii) of subdivision a of section 8 of part A of chap- 12 ter 73 of the laws of 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect 13 Our Small Businesses Act of 2021", is amended to read as follows: 14 (ii) In any eviction proceeding, if the tenant provides a hardship 15 declaration to the petitioner or plaintiff, the court, or an agent of 16 the petitioner or plaintiff or the court, prior to the execution of the 17 warrant or judgment, the execution shall be stayed until at least [May181] August 31, 2021. If such hardship declaration is provided to the 19 petitioner or plaintiff or agent of the petitioner or plaintiff, such 20 petitioner or plaintiff or agent shall promptly file it with the court, 21 advising the court in writing the index number of all relevant cases. 22 § 19. Subdivision 4 of section 9 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws 23 of 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Busi- 24 nesses Act of 2021", is amended to read as follows: 25 4. If the petitioner or plaintiff fails to establish that the tenant 26 persistently and unreasonably engaged in such behavior and the tenant 27 provides or has provided a hardship declaration to the petitioner, 28 petitioner's or plaintiff's agent or the court, the court shall stay or 29 continue to stay any further proceedings until at least [May 1] August 30 31, 2021. 31 § 20. Section 13 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws of 2021 estab- 32 lishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 33 2021", is amended to read as follows: 34 § 13. This act shall take effect immediately and sections one, two, 35 three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and twelve of this act 36 shall expire [May 1] August 31, 2021. 37 § 21. Section 2 of subpart A of part B of chapter 73 of the laws of 38 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses 39 Act of 2021", is amended to read as follows: 40 § 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this act, "Hardship Declaration" 41 means the following statement in 14-point type, published by the office 42 of court administration, whether in physical or electronic written form: 43 "NOTICE TO COMMERCIAL MORTGAGOR: If you have lost significant revenue 44 or had significantly increased necessary costs during the COVID-19 45 pandemic, and you sign and deliver this hardship declaration form to 46 your mortgage lender or other foreclosing party, you cannot be fore- 47 closed on until at least [May 1] August 31, 2021. 48 If your mortgage lender or other foreclosing party provided you with 49 this form, the mortgage lender or other foreclosing party must also 50 provide you with a mailing address and e-mail address to which you can 51 return this form. If you are already in foreclosure proceedings, you may 52 return this form to the court. You should keep a copy or picture of the 53 signed form for your records. You will still owe any unpaid mortgage 54 payments and lawful fees to your lender. You should also keep careful 55 track of what you have paid and any amount you still owe. 56 COMMERCIAL MORTGAGOR'S DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIPA. 7175--A 11 1 I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer 2 of (name of the business), which is the mortgagor of the property at 3 (address of commercial unit). My business owns, whether directly or 4 indirectly, ten or fewer commercial units. My business is resident in 5 New York State, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its 6 field, and employs fifty or fewer persons. My business is experiencing 7 financial hardship and is unable to pay the mortgage in full because of 8 one or more of the following: 9 1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. 10 2. Significant increase in necessary expenses related to providing 11 personal protective equipment to employees or purchasing and installing 12 other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with- 13 in the business. 14 3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer- 15 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another 16 property during the COVID-19 pandemic. 17 4. One or more of the business's tenants has defaulted on a signif- 18 icant amount of their rent payments since March 1, 2020. 19 To the extent that the business has lost revenue or had increased 20 expenses, any public assistance the business has received since the 21 start of the COVID-19 pandemic does not fully make up for the business's 22 loss of revenue or increased expenses. 23 I understand that the business must comply with all other lawful terms 24 under my commercial mortgage agreement. I further understand that lawful 25 fees, penalties or interest for not having paid the mortgage in full as 26 required by the commercial mortgage agreement may still be charged or 27 collected and may result in a monetary judgment. I also understand that 28 the mortgage lender or other foreclosing party may pursue a foreclosure 29 action against the business on or after [May 1] August 31, 2021, if I do 30 not fully repay any missed or partial payments and lawful fees. 31 Signed: 32 Printed Name: 33 Date Signed: 34 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 35 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 36 you know is false." 37 § 22. Section 5 of subpart A of part B of chapter 73 of the laws of 38 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses 39 Act of 2021", is amended to read as follows: 40 § 5. If a mortgagor provides a hardship declaration to the foreclosing 41 party or an agent of the foreclosing party, there shall be no initiation 42 of an action to foreclose a mortgage against the mortgagor until at 43 least [May 1] August 31, 2021, and in such event any specific time limit 44 for the commencement of an action to foreclose a mortgage shall be 45 tolled until [May 1] August 31, 2021. 46 § 23. Sections 7 and 8 of subpart A of part B of chapter 73 of the 47 laws of 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small 48 Businesses Act of 2021", are amended to read as follows: 49 § 7. In any action to foreclose a mortgage in which a judgment of sale 50 has not been issued, including actions filed on or before March 7, 2020, 51 if the mortgagor provides a hardship declaration to the foreclosing 52 party, the court, or an agent of the foreclosing party or the court, the 53 proceeding shall be stayed until at least [May 1] August 31, 2021. If 54 such hardship declaration is provided to the foreclosing party or agent 55 of the foreclosing party, such foreclosing party or agent shall promptlyA. 7175--A 12 1 file it with the court, advising the court in writing the index number 2 of all relevant cases. 3 § 8. In any action to foreclose a mortgage in which a judgment of sale 4 has been issued prior to the effective date of this act but has not yet 5 been executed as of the effective date of this act, including actions 6 filed on or before March 7, 2020, the court shall stay the execution of 7 the judgment at least until the court has held a status conference with 8 the parties. In any action to foreclose a mortgage, if the mortgagor 9 provides a hardship declaration to the foreclosing party, the court, or 10 an agent of the foreclosing party or the court, prior to the execution 11 of the judgment, the execution shall be stayed until at least [May 1] 12 August 31, 2021. If such hardship declaration is provided to the fore- 13 closing party or agent of the foreclosing party, such foreclosing party 14 or agent shall promptly file it with the court, advising the court in 15 writing the index number of all relevant cases. 16 § 24. Section 12 of subpart A of part B of chapter 73 of the laws of 17 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses 18 Act of 2021", is amended to read as follows: 19 § 12. This act shall take effect immediately and sections one, two, 20 three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and eleven of this act shall 21 expire [May 1] August 31, 2021. 22 § 25. Subdivision 3 of section 2 of subpart B of part B of chapter 23 73 of the laws of 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our 24 Small Businesses Act of 2021", is amended to read as follows: 25 3. "Hardship Declaration" means the following statement in 14-point 26 type, whether in physical or electronic written form: 27 "COMMERCIAL OWNER DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP 28 I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer 29 of (name of the business), which is the owner of the commercial property 30 at (address). My business owns, whether directly or indirectly, ten or 31 fewer commercial units. My business is resident in New York State, 32 independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and employs 33 fifty or fewer persons. My business is experiencing financial hardship, 34 and is unable to pay its full tax bill because of one or more of the 35 following: 36 1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. 37 2. Significant increase in necessary expenses related to providing 38 personal protective equipment to employees or purchasing and installing 39 other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with- 40 in the business. 41 3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer- 42 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another 43 property during the COVID-19 pandemic. 44 4. One or more of the business's tenants has defaulted on a signif- 45 icant amount of their rent payments since March 1, 2020. 46 To the extent that the business has lost revenue or had increased 47 expenses, any public assistance that the business has received since the 48 start of the COVID-19 pandemic does not fully make up for the loss of 49 revenue or increased expenses. 50 I understand that lawful fees, penalties or interest for not having 51 paid the business's taxes in full may still be charged or collected and 52 may result in a foreclosure action against the business on or after [May531] August 31, 2021, if the business does not fully repay any missed or 54 partial payments and fees. 55 Signed: 56 Printed Name:A. 7175--A 13 1 Date Signed: 2 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 3 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 4 you know is false." 5 § 26. Subdivision 3 of section 3 of subpart B of part B of chapter 6 73 of the laws of 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our 7 Small Businesses Act of 2021", is amended to read as follows: 8 3. The submission of such a declaration, unless withdrawn by the 9 owner, shall act as a temporary stay applicable to all entities and 10 persons of all such tax lien sales and tax foreclosure actions and 11 proceedings against such owner for such property that have been 12 commenced or could have been commenced before [May 1] August 31, 2021. 13 § 27. Section 4 of subpart B of part B of chapter 73 of the laws of 14 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses 15 Act of 2021", is amended to read as follows: 16 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and sections one and two 17 and subdivisions one, two, three, four and five of section three shall 18 expire [May 1] August 31, 2021. 19 § 28. Subdivision 2 of section 1 of subpart C of part B of chapter 73 20 of the laws of 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our 21 Small Businesses Act of 2021", is amended to read as follows: 22 2. Hardship declaration. For purposes of this act, "hardship declara- 23 tion" shall mean the following statement in 14-point type, whether in 24 physical or electronic written form, and the department of financial 25 services shall publish a copy of the hardship declaration on its 26 website: 27 "NOTICE TO COMMERCIAL OWNER/MORTGAGOR: If you have lost significant 28 revenue or had significantly increased necessary costs due to the 29 COVID-19 pandemic, and you sign and deliver this hardship declaration 30 form to your lending institution, you cannot be discriminated against in 31 the determination of whether credit should be extended or reported nega- 32 tively to a credit reporting agency until at least [May 1] August 31, 33 2021. 34 If a lending institution provided you with this form, the lending 35 institution must also provide you with a mailing address and e-mail 36 address to which you can return this form. You should keep a copy or 37 picture of the signed form for your records. 38 COMMERCIAL OWNER/MORTGAGOR DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP 39 I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer 40 of (name of the business), which is the OWNER/MORTGAGOR of the property 41 at (address of commercial unit). My business owns, whether directly or 42 indirectly, ten or fewer commercial units. My business is resident in 43 New York State, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its 44 field, and employs fifty or fewer persons. My business is experiencing 45 financial hardship, and is unable to pay the mortgage in full because of 46 one or more of the following: 47 1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. 48 2. Significant increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to 49 providing personal protective equipment to employees or purchasing and 50 installing other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of 51 COVID-19 within the business. 52 3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer- 53 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another 54 commercial property during the COVID-19 pandemic. 55 4. One or more of my tenants has defaulted on a significant amount of 56 their rent payments since March 1, 2020.A. 7175--A 14 1 To the extent that the business has lost revenue or had increased 2 expenses, any public assistance that the business has received since the 3 start of the COVID-19 pandemic does not fully make up for the loss of 4 revenue or increased expenses. 5 Signed: 6 Printed Name: 7 Date Signed: 8 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 9 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 10 you know is false." 11 § 29. Section 2 of subpart C of part B of chapter 73 of the laws of 12 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses 13 Act of 2021", is amended to read as follows: 14 § 2. This act take effect immediately and shall expire [May 1] August 15 31, 2021. 16 § 30. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to 17 have been in full force and effect on May 1, 2021; provided, however, 18 that the amendments to parts A and B of chapter 381 of the laws of 2020 19 made by this act shall not affect the expiration of such parts and shall 20 be repealed therewith; and provided further, that the amendments to 21 parts A and B of chapter 73 of the laws of 2021 made by this act shall 22 not affect the expiration of such parts and shall be deemed to expire 23 therewith.