Bill Text: NY S06726 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Amends the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020" to expire on June 30, 2021.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-01-05 - REFERRED TO HOUSING, CONSTRUCTION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT [S06726 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S06726-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 6726 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE May 13, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sen. MARTUCCI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development 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 the effectiveness of such chapter 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", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 4 2021, is amended to read as follows: 5 4. "Hardship declaration" means the following statement, or a substan- 6 tially equivalent statement in the tenant's primary language, in 7 14-point type, published by the office of court administration, whether 8 in physical or electronic written form: 9 "NOTICE TO TENANT: If you have lost income or had increased costs 10 during the COVID-19 pandemic, or moving would pose a significant health 11 risk for you or a member of your household due to an increased risk for 12 severe illness or death from COVID-19 due to an underlying medical 13 condition, and you sign and deliver this hardship declaration form to 14 your landlord, you cannot be evicted until at least [August 31] June 30, 15 2021 for nonpayment of rent or for holding over after the expiration of 16 your lease. You may still be evicted for violating your lease by persis- 17 tently and unreasonably engaging in behavior that substantially 18 infringes on the use and enjoyment of other tenants or occupants or 19 causes a substantial safety hazard to others. 20 If your landlord has provided you with this form, your landlord must 21 also provide you with a mailing address and e-mail address to which you 22 can return this form. If your landlord has already started an eviction 23 proceeding against you, you can return this form to either your land- EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD11331-02-1S. 6726 2 1 lord, the court, or both at any time. You should keep a copy or picture 2 of the signed form for your records. You will still owe any unpaid rent 3 to your landlord. You should also keep careful track of what you have 4 paid and any amount you still owe. 5 For more information about legal resources that may be available to 6 you, go to www.nycourts.gov/evictions/nyc/ or call 718-557-1379 if you 7 live in New York City or go to www.nycourts.gov/evictions/outside-nyc/ 8 or call a local bar association or legal services provider if you live 9 outside of New York City. Rent relief may be available to you, and you 10 should contact your local housing assistance office. 11 TENANT'S DECLARATION OF HARDSHIP DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC 12 I am a tenant, lawful occupant, or other person responsible for paying 13 rent, use and occupancy, or any other financial obligation under a lease 14 or tenancy agreement at (address of dwelling unit). 15 YOU MUST INDICATE BELOW YOUR QUALIFICATION FOR EVICTION PROTECTION BY 16 SELECTING OPTION "A" OR "B", OR BOTH. 17 A. ( ) I am experiencing financial hardship, and I am unable to pay my 18 rent or other financial obligations under the lease in full or obtain 19 alternative suitable permanent housing because of one or more of the 20 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 To the extent that I have lost household income or had increased 38 expenses, any public assistance, including unemployment insurance, 39 pandemic unemployment assistance, disability insurance, or paid family 40 leave, that I have received since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic 41 does not fully make up for my loss of household income or increased 42 expenses. 43 B. ( ) Vacating the premises and moving into new permanent housing would 44 pose a significant health risk because I or one or more members of my 45 household have an increased risk for severe illness or death from 46 COVID-19 due to being over the age of sixty-five, having a disability or 47 having an underlying medical condition, which may include but is not 48 limited to being immunocompromised. 49 I understand that I must comply with all other lawful terms under my 50 tenancy, lease agreement or similar contract. I further understand that 51 lawful fees, penalties or interest for not having paid rent in full orS. 6726 3 1 met other financial obligations as required by my tenancy, lease agree- 2 ment or similar contract may still be charged or collected and may 3 result in a monetary judgment against me. I further understand that my 4 landlord may be able to seek eviction after [August 31] June 30, 2021, 5 and that the law may provide certain protections at that time that are 6 separate from those available through this declaration. 7 Signed: 8 Printed name: 9 Date signed: 10 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 11 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 12 you know is false." 13 § 2. Sections 4, 6 and 7 of part A of chapter 381 of the laws of 2020 14 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention 15 Act of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, are amended 16 to read as follows: 17 § 4. Prohibition on initiation of eviction proceeding. If there is no 18 pending eviction proceeding and a tenant provides a hardship declaration 19 to the landlord or an agent of the landlord, there shall be no initi- 20 ation of an eviction proceeding against the tenant until at least 21 [August 31] June 30, 2021, and in such event any specific time limit for 22 the commencement of an eviction proceeding shall be tolled until [August2331] June 30, 2021. 24 § 6. Pending proceedings. In any eviction proceeding in which an 25 eviction warrant has not been issued, including eviction proceedings 26 filed on or before March 7, 2020, if the tenant provides a hardship 27 declaration to the petitioner, the court, or an agent of the petitioner 28 or the court, the eviction proceeding shall be stayed until at least 29 [August 31] June 30, 2021. If such hardship declaration is provided to 30 the petitioner or agent, such petitioner or agent shall promptly file it 31 with the court, advising the court in writing the index number of all 32 relevant cases. 33 § 7. Default judgments. No court shall issue a judgment in any 34 proceeding authorizing a warrant of eviction against a respondent who 35 has defaulted, or authorize the enforcement of an eviction pursuant to a 36 default judgment, prior to [August 31] June 30, 2021, without first 37 holding a hearing after the effective date of this act upon motion of 38 the petitioner. The petitioner or an agent of the petitioner shall file 39 an affidavit attesting that the petitioner or the petitioner's agent has 40 served notice of the date, time, and place of such hearing on the 41 respondent, including a copy of such notice. If a default judgment has 42 been awarded prior to the effective date of this act, the default judg- 43 ment shall be removed and the matter restored to the court calendar upon 44 the respondent's written or oral request to the court either before or 45 during such hearing and an order to show cause to vacate the default 46 judgment shall not be required. 47 § 3. Subdivision a of section 8 of part A of chapter 381 of the laws 48 of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure 49 Prevention Act of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, 50 is amended to read as follows: 51 a. (i) In any eviction proceeding in which an eviction warrant has 52 been issued prior to the effective date of this act, but has not yet 53 been executed as of the effective date of this act, including eviction 54 proceedings filed on or before March 7, 2020, the court shall stay theS. 6726 4 1 execution of the warrant at least until the court has held a status 2 conference with the parties. (ii) In any eviction proceeding, if the 3 tenant provides a hardship declaration to the petitioner, the court, or 4 an agent of the petitioner or the court, prior to the execution of the 5 warrant, the execution shall be stayed until at least [August 31] June 6 30, 2021. If such hardship declaration is provided to the petitioner or 7 agent of the petitioner, such petitioner or agent shall promptly file it 8 with the court, advising the court in writing the index number of all 9 relevant cases. 10 § 4. Subdivision 4 of section 9 of part A of chapter 381 of the laws 11 of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure 12 Prevention Act of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, 13 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 [August 31] June 30, 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", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, is amended to 22 read as follows: 23 § 13. This act shall take effect immediately and sections one, two, 24 three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and twelve of this act 25 shall expire [August 31] June 30, 2021. 26 § 6. This act shall take effect immediately; provided that the amend- 27 ments to chapter 381 of the laws of 2020 made by this act shall be 28 subject to the expiration and repeal of such provisions and shall expire 29 and be deemed repealed therewith.
