Bill Text: NY S07315 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
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 October 31, 2021.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 4-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-03-11 - RECOMMIT, ENACTING CLAUSE STRICKEN [S07315 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-S07315-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7315 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN SENATE August 6, 2021 ___________ Introduced by Sen. BIAGGI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Rules AN ACT to amend the COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020, in relation to extending the effectiveness thereof; and to amend the COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Busi- nesses 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", 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] October 31, 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. LBD11990-03-1S. 7315 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 you10should contact your local housing assistance office] Financial assist- 11 ance may be available to you, even if you have not qualified for assist- 12 ance in the past, under the COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance 13 Program. You should contact your local housing assistance office or 14 visit https://otda.ny.gov on the internet for information on how to 15 apply. 16 TENANT'S DECLARATION OF HARDSHIP DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC 17 I am a tenant, lawful occupant, or other person responsible for paying 18 rent, use and occupancy, or any other financial obligation under a lease 19 or tenancy agreement at (address of dwelling unit). 20 YOU MUST INDICATE BELOW YOUR QUALIFICATION FOR EVICTION PROTECTION BY 21 SELECTING OPTION "A" OR "B", OR BOTH. 22 A. ( ) I am experiencing financial hardship, and I am unable to pay my 23 rent or other financial obligations under the lease in full or obtain 24 alternative suitable permanent housing because of one or more of the 25 following: 26 1. Significant loss of household income during the COVID-19 pandemic. 27 2. Increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to performing 28 essential work or related to health impacts during the COVID-19 pandem- 29 ic. 30 3. Childcare responsibilities or responsibilities to care for an 31 elderly, disabled, or sick family member during the COVID-19 pandemic 32 have negatively affected my ability or the ability of someone in my 33 household to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or increased my 34 necessary out-of-pocket expenses. 35 4. Moving expenses and difficulty I have securing alternative housing 36 make it a hardship for me to relocate to another residence during the 37 COVID-19 pandemic. 38 5. Other circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic have negative- 39 ly affected my ability to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or 40 have significantly reduced my household income or significantly 41 increased my expenses. 42 To the extent that I have lost household income or had increased 43 expenses, any public assistance, including unemployment insurance, 44 pandemic unemployment assistance, disability insurance, [or] paid family 45 leave, or rental assistance through emergency rental assistance 46 programs, that I have received since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic 47 does not fully make up for my loss of household income or increased 48 expenses. 49 B. ( ) Vacating the premises and moving into new permanent housing would 50 pose a significant health risk because I or one or more members of my 51 household have an increased risk for severe illness or death from 52 COVID-19 due to being over the age of sixty-five, having a disability orS. 7315 3 1 having an underlying medical condition, which may include but is not 2 limited to being immunocompromised. 3 I understand that I must comply with all other lawful terms under my 4 tenancy, lease agreement or similar contract. I further understand that 5 lawful fees, penalties or interest for not having paid rent in full or 6 met other financial obligations as required by my tenancy, lease agree- 7 ment or similar contract may still be charged or collected and may 8 result in a monetary judgment against me. I further understand that my 9 landlord may be able to seek eviction after [August] October 31, 2021, 10 and that the law may provide certain protections at that time that are 11 separate from those available through this declaration. 12 Signed: 13 Printed name: 14 Date signed: 15 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 16 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 17 you know is false." 18 § 2. Sections 4, 6 and 7 of part A of chapter 381 of the laws of 2020 19 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention 20 Act of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, are amended 21 to read as follows: 22 § 4. Prohibition on initiation of eviction proceeding. If there is no 23 pending eviction proceeding and a tenant provides a hardship declaration 24 to the landlord or an agent of the landlord, there shall be no initi- 25 ation of an eviction proceeding against the tenant until at least 26 [August] October 31, 2021, and in such event any specific time limit for 27 the commencement of an eviction proceeding shall be tolled until 28 [August] October 31, 2021. 29 § 6. Pending proceedings. In any eviction proceeding in which an 30 eviction warrant has not been issued, including eviction proceedings 31 filed on or before March 7, 2020, if the tenant provides a hardship 32 declaration to the petitioner, the court, or an agent of the petitioner 33 or the court, the eviction proceeding shall be stayed until at least 34 [August] October 31, 2021. If such hardship declaration is provided to 35 the petitioner or agent, such petitioner or agent shall promptly file it 36 with the court, advising the court in writing the index number of all 37 relevant cases. 38 § 7. Default judgments. No court shall issue a judgment in any 39 proceeding authorizing a warrant of eviction against a respondent who 40 has defaulted, or authorize the enforcement of an eviction pursuant to a 41 default judgment, prior to [August] October 31, 2021, without first 42 holding a hearing after the effective date of this act upon motion of 43 the petitioner. The petitioner or an agent of the petitioner shall file 44 an affidavit attesting that the petitioner or the petitioner's agent has 45 served notice of the date, time, and place of such hearing on the 46 respondent, including a copy of such notice. If a default judgment has 47 been awarded prior to the effective date of this act, the default judg- 48 ment shall be removed and the matter restored to the court calendar upon 49 the respondent's written or oral request to the court either before or 50 during such hearing and an order to show cause to vacate the default 51 judgment shall not be required. 52 § 3. Subdivision a of section 8 of part A of chapter 381 of the laws 53 of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and ForeclosureS. 7315 4 1 Prevention Act of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, 2 is amended to read as follows: 3 a. (i) In any eviction proceeding in which an eviction warrant has 4 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 eviction 6 proceedings filed on or before March 7, 2020, the court shall stay the 7 execution of the warrant at least until the court has held a status 8 conference with the parties. (ii) In any eviction proceeding, if the 9 tenant provides a hardship declaration to the petitioner, the court, or 10 an agent of the petitioner or the court, prior to the execution of the 11 warrant, the execution shall be stayed until at least [August] October 12 31, 2021. If such hardship declaration is provided to the petitioner or 13 agent of the petitioner, such petitioner or agent shall promptly file it 14 with the court, advising the court in writing the index number of all 15 relevant cases. 16 § 4. Subdivision 4 of section 9 of part A of chapter 381 of the laws 17 of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure 18 Prevention Act of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, 19 is amended to read as follows: 20 4. If the petitioner fails to establish that the tenant persistently 21 and unreasonably engaged in such behavior and the tenant provides or has 22 provided a hardship declaration to the petitioner, petitioner's agent or 23 the court, the court shall stay or continue to stay any further 24 proceedings until at least [August] October 31, 2021. 25 § 5. Section 13 of part A of chapter 381 of the laws of 2020 estab- 26 lishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act 27 of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, is amended to 28 read as follows: 29 § 13. This act shall take effect immediately and sections one, two, 30 three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and twelve of this act 31 shall expire [August] October 31, 2021. 32 § 6. Section 2 of subpart A of part B of chapter 381 of the laws of 33 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure 34 Prevention Act of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, 35 is amended to read as follows: 36 § 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this act, "Hardship Declaration" 37 means the following statement, or a substantially equivalent statement 38 in the mortagor's primary language, in 14-point type, published by the 39 office of court administration, whether in physical or electronic writ- 40 ten form: 41 "NOTICE TO MORTGAGOR: If you have lost income or had increased costs 42 during the COVID-19 pandemic, and you sign and deliver this hardship 43 declaration form to your mortgage lender or other foreclosing party, you 44 cannot be foreclosed on until at least [August] October 31, 2021. 45 If your mortgage lender or other foreclosing party provided you with 46 this form, the mortgage lender or other foreclosing party must also 47 provide you with a mailing address and e-mail address to which you can 48 return this form. If you are already in foreclosure proceedings, you may 49 return this form to the court. You should keep a copy or picture of the 50 signed form for your records. You will still owe any unpaid mortgage 51 payments and lawful fees to your lender. You should also keep careful 52 track of what you have paid and any amount you still owe. 53 MORTGAGOR'S DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP 54 I am the mortgagor of the property at (address of dwelling unit). 55 Including my primary residence, I own, whether directly or indirectly, 56 ten or fewer residential dwelling units. I am experiencing financialS. 7315 5 1 hardship, and I am unable to pay my mortgage in full because of one or 2 more of the following: 3 1. Significant loss of household income during the COVID-19 pandemic. 4 2. Increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to performing 5 essential work or related to health impacts during the COVID-19 pandem- 6 ic. 7 3. Childcare responsibilities or responsibilities to care for an 8 elderly, disabled, or sick family member during the COVID-19 pandemic 9 have negatively affected my ability or the ability of someone in my 10 household to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or increased my 11 necessary out-of-pocket expenses. 12 4. Moving expenses and difficulty I have securing alternative housing 13 make it a hardship for me to relocate to another residence during the 14 COVID-19 pandemic. 15 5. Other circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic have negative- 16 ly affected my ability to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or 17 have significantly reduced my household income or significantly 18 increased my expenses. 19 6. One or more of my tenants has defaulted on a significant amount of 20 their rent payments since March 1, 2020. 21 To the extent I have lost household income or had increased expenses, 22 any public assistance, including unemployment insurance, pandemic unem- 23 ployment assistance, disability insurance, [or] paid family leave, or 24 rental assistance received on behalf of tentants through emergency 25 rental assistance programs, that I have received since the start of the 26 COVID-19 pandemic does not fully make up for my loss of household income 27 or increased expenses. 28 I understand that I must comply with all other lawful terms under my 29 mortgage agreement. I further understand that lawful fees, penalties or 30 interest for not having paid my mortgage in full as required by my mort- 31 gage agreement may still be charged or collected and may result in a 32 monetary judgment against me. I also understand that my mortgage lender 33 or other foreclosing party may pursue a foreclosure action against me on 34 or after [August] October 31, 2021, if I do not fully repay any missed 35 or partial payments and lawful fees. 36 Signed: 37 Printed Name: 38 Date Signed: 39 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 40 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 41 you know is false." 42 § 7. Sections 5, 7, 8 and 12 of subpart A of part B of chapter 381 of 43 the laws of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Fore- 44 closure Prevention Act of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws 45 of 2021, are amended to read as follows: 46 § 5. If a mortgagor provides a hardship declaration to the foreclosing 47 party or an agent of the foreclosing party, there shall be no initiation 48 of an action to foreclose a mortgage against the mortgagor until at 49 least [August] October 31, 2021, and in such event any specific time 50 limit for the commencement of an action to foreclose a mortgage shall be 51 tolled until [August] October 31, 2021. 52 § 7. In any action to foreclose a mortgage in which a judgment of sale 53 has not been issued, including actions filed on or before March 7, 2020, 54 if the mortgagor provides a hardship declaration to the foreclosing 55 party, the court, or an agent of the foreclosing party or the court, the 56 proceeding shall be stayed until at least [August] October 31, 2021. IfS. 7315 6 1 such hardship declaration is provided to the foreclosing party or agent 2 of the foreclosing party, such foreclosing party or agent shall promptly 3 file it with the court, advising the court in writing the index number 4 of all relevant cases. 5 § 8. In any action to foreclose a mortgage in which a judgment of sale 6 has been issued prior to the effective date of this act but has not yet 7 been executed as of the effective date of this act, including actions 8 filed on or before March 7, 2020, the court shall stay the execution of 9 the judgment at least until the court has held a status conference with 10 the parties. In any action to foreclose a mortgage, if the mortgagor 11 provides a hardship declaration to the foreclosing party, the court, or 12 an agent of the foreclosing party or the court, prior to the execution 13 of the judgment, the execution shall be stayed until at least [August] 14 October 31, 2021. If such hardship declaration is provided to the fore- 15 closing party or agent of the foreclosing party, such foreclosing party 16 or agent shall promptly file it with the court, advising the court in 17 writing the index number of all relevant cases. 18 § 12. This act shall take effect immediately and sections one, two, 19 three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and eleven of this act shall 20 expire [August] October 31, 2021. 21 § 8. Subdivision 3 of section 2 of subpart B of part B of chapter 381 22 of the laws of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and 23 Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the 24 laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 25 3. "Hardship Declaration" means the following statement, or a substan- 26 tially equivalent statement in the owner's primary language, in 14-point 27 type, whether in physical or electronic written form: 28 "OWNER DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP 29 I am the owner of the property at (address). Including my primary 30 residence, I own, whether directly or indirectly, ten or fewer residen- 31 tial dwelling units. I am experiencing financial hardship, and I am 32 unable to pay my full tax bill because of one or more of the following: 33 1. Significant loss of household income during the COVID-19 pandemic. 34 2. Increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to performing 35 essential work or related to health impacts during the COVID-19 pandem- 36 ic. 37 3. Childcare responsibilities or responsibilities to care for an 38 elderly, disabled, or sick family member during the COVID-19 pandemic 39 have negatively affected my ability or the ability of someone in my 40 household to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or increased my 41 necessary out-of-pocket expenses. 42 4. Moving expenses and difficulty I have securing alternative housing 43 make it a hardship for me to relocate to another residence during the 44 COVID-19 pandemic. 45 5. Other circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic have negative- 46 ly affected my ability to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or 47 have significantly reduced my household income or significantly 48 increased my expenses. 49 6. One or more of my tenants has defaulted on a significant amount of 50 their rent payments since March 1, 2020. 51 To the extent that I have lost household income or had increased 52 expenses, any public assistance, including unemployment insurance, 53 pandemic unemployment assistance, disability insurance, [or] paid family 54 leave, or rental assistance received on behalf of tenants through emer- 55 gency rental assistance programs, that I have received since the startS. 7315 7 1 of the COVID-19 pandemic does not fully make up for my loss of household 2 income or increased expenses. 3 I understand that lawful fees, penalties or interest for not having 4 paid my taxes in full may still be charged or collected and may result 5 in a foreclosure action against me on or after [August] October 31, 6 2021, if I do not fully repay any missed or partial payments and fees. 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 § 9. Subdivision 3 of section 3 of subpart B of part B of chapter 381 14 of the laws of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and 15 Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the 16 laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 17 3. The submission of such a declaration, unless withdrawn by the 18 owner, shall act as a temporary stay applicable to all entities and 19 persons of all such tax lien sales and tax foreclosure actions and 20 proceedings against such owner for such property that have been 21 commenced or could have been commenced before [August] October 31, 2021. 22 § 10. Section 4 of subpart B of part B of chapter 381 of the laws of 23 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure 24 Prevention Act of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, 25 is amended to read as follows: 26 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and sections one and two 27 and subdivisions one, two, three, four and five of section three shall 28 expire [August] October 31, 2021. 29 § 11. Subdivision 2 of section 1 of subpart C of part B of chapter 381 30 of the laws of 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and 31 Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the 32 laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 33 2. Hardship declaration. For purposes of this act, "hardship declara- 34 tion" shall mean the following statement, or a substantially equivalent 35 statement in the owner or mortgagor's primary language, in 14-point 36 type, whether in physical or electronic written form, and the department 37 of financial services shall publish a copy of the hardship declaration 38 on its website: 39 "NOTICE TO OWNER/MORTGAGOR: If you have lost income or had increased 40 costs due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and you sign and deliver this hard- 41 ship declaration form to your lending institution, you cannot be 42 discriminated against in the determination of whether credit should be 43 extended or reported negatively to a credit reporting agency until at 44 least [August] October 31, 2021. 45 If a lending institution provided you with this form, the lending 46 institution must also provide you with a mailing address and e-mail 47 address to which you can return this form. You should keep a copy or 48 picture of the signed form for your records. 49 OWNER/MORTGAGOR DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP 50 I am the OWNER/MORTGAGOR of the property at (address of dwelling 51 unit). Including my primary residence, I own, whether directly or indi- 52 rectly, ten or fewer residential dwelling units. I am experiencing 53 financial hardship, and I am unable to pay my mortgage in full because 54 of one or more of the following: 55 1. Significant loss of household income during the COVID-19 pandemic.S. 7315 8 1 2. Increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to performing 2 essential work or related to health impacts during the COVID-19 pandem- 3 ic. 4 3. Childcare responsibilities or responsibilities to care for an 5 elderly, disabled, or sick family member during the COVID-19 pandemic 6 have negatively affected my ability or the ability of someone in my 7 household to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or increased my 8 necessary out-of-pocket expenses. 9 4. Moving expenses and difficulty I have securing alternative housing 10 make it a hardship for me to relocate to another residence during the 11 COVID-19 pandemic. 12 5. Other circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic have negative- 13 ly affected my ability to obtain meaningful employment or earn income or 14 have significantly reduced my household income or significantly 15 increased my expenses. 16 6. One or more of my tenants has defaulted on a significant amount of 17 their rent payments since March 1, 2020. 18 To the extent that I have lost household income or had increased 19 expenses, any public assistance, including unemployment insurance, 20 pandemic unemployment assistance, disability insurance, [or] paid family 21 leave, or rental assistance received on behalf of tenants through emer- 22 gency rental assistance programs, that I have received since the start 23 of the COVID-19 pandemic does not fully make up for my loss of household 24 income or increased expenses. 25 Signed: 26 Printed Name: 27 Date Signed: 28 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 29 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 30 you know is false." 31 § 12. Section 2 of subpart C of part B of chapter 381 of the laws of 32 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure 33 Prevention Act of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, 34 is amended to read as follows: 35 § 2. This act take effect immediately and shall expire [August] Octo- 36 ber 31, 2021. 37 § 13. Section 2 of subpart D of part B of chapter 381 of the laws of 38 2020 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure 39 Prevention Act of 2020", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, 40 is amended to read as follows: 41 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire [August] 42 October 31, 2021. This act shall be deemed to have been in full force 43 and effect on and after March 7, 2020. 44 § 14. Subdivision 4 of section 1 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws 45 of 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Busi- 46 nesses Act of 2021", as separately amended by chapters 104 and 154 of 47 the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 48 4. "Hardship declaration" means the following statement, or a substan- 49 tially equivalent statement in the language in which the commercial 50 lease or tenancy agreement was written or negotiated, in 14-point type, 51 published by the office of court administration, whether in physical or 52 electronic written form: 53 "NOTICE TO COMMERCIAL TENANT: If you have lost significant revenue or 54 had significantly increased necessary costs during the COVID-19 pandem- 55 ic, and you sign and deliver this hardship declaration form to your 56 landlord, you cannot be evicted until at least [August] October 31, 2021S. 7315 9 1 for nonpayment of rent or for holding over after the expiration of your 2 lease. You may still be evicted for violating your lease by persistently 3 and unreasonably engaging in behavior that substantially infringes on 4 the use and enjoyment of other tenants or occupants or causes a substan- 5 tial safety hazard to others. 6 If your landlord has provided you with this form, your landlord must 7 also provide you with a mailing address and e-mail address to which you 8 can return this form. If your landlord has already started an eviction 9 proceeding against you, you can return this form to either your land- 10 lord, the court, or both at any time. You should keep a copy or picture 11 of the signed form for your records. You will still owe any unpaid rent 12 to your landlord. To the extent you can pay less than the full rent, it 13 is recommended you do so and keep careful track of what you have paid 14 and any amount you still owe. 15 COMMERCIAL TENANT'S DECLARATION OF HARDSHIP DURING THE 16 COVID-19 PANDEMIC 17 I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer 18 of (name of business), in which is a commercial tenant at (address of 19 commercial unit). My business is resident in New York State, independ- 20 ently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and either employs 21 one hundred or fewer persons, or, the commercial business was closed to 22 in-person operations by executive order or department of health direc- 23 tive for two or more weeks between May 15, 2020 and May 1, 2021, and 24 employs five hundred or fewer persons. My business is experiencing 25 financial hardship, and is unable to pay the rent in full or other 26 financial obligations under the lease in full or obtain an alternative 27 suitable commercial property because of one or more of the following: 28 1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. 29 2. Significant increase in necessary expenses related to providing 30 personal protective equipment to employees or purchasing and installing 31 other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with- 32 in the business. 33 3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer- 34 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another 35 location during the COVID-19 pandemic. 36 To the extent the business has lost revenue or had increased expenses, 37 any public assistance the business has received since the start of the 38 COVID-19 pandemic must not fully make up for the business's loss of 39 revenue or increased expenses, and the business still meets the afore- 40 mentioned eligibility criteria to qualify for a financial hardship. 41 I understand that the business must comply with all other lawful terms 42 under its commercial tenancy, lease agreement or similar contract. I 43 further understand that lawful fees, penalties or interest for not 44 having paid rent in full or met other financial obligations as required 45 by the commercial tenancy, lease agreement or similar contract may still 46 be charged or collected and may result in a monetary judgment. I 47 further understand that the landlord may be able to seek eviction after 48 [August] October 31, 2021, and that the law may provide certain 49 protections at that time that are separate from those available through 50 this declaration. 51 Signed: 52 Printed name:S. 7315 10 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 § 15. Section 2 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws of 2021 estab- 6 lishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 7 2021", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read 8 as follows: 9 § 2. No commercial tenant shall be removed from the possession prior 10 to [August] October 31, 2021, except by an eviction proceeding. 11 § 16. Section 5 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws of 2021 establish- 12 ing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021", 13 as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as 14 follows: 15 § 5. Prohibition on initiation of eviction proceeding. If there is no 16 pending eviction proceeding and a tenant provides a hardship declaration 17 to the landlord or an agent of the landlord, there shall be no initi- 18 ation of an eviction proceeding against the tenant until at least 19 [August] October 31, 2021, and in such event any specific time limit for 20 the commencement of an eviction proceeding shall be tolled until 21 [August] October 31, 2021. 22 § 17. Section 7 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws of 2021 establish- 23 ing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021", 24 as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as 25 follows: 26 § 7. Pending proceedings. In any eviction proceeding in which an 27 eviction warrant or judgment of possession or ejectment has not been 28 issued, including eviction proceedings filed on or before March 7, 2020, 29 if the tenant provides a hardship declaration to the petitioner or 30 plaintiff, the court, or an agent of the petitioner or plaintiff or the 31 court, the eviction proceeding shall be stayed until at least [August] 32 October 31, 2021. If such hardship declaration is provided to the peti- 33 tioner or plaintiff or agent, such petitioner or plaintiff or agent 34 shall promptly file it with the court, advising the court in writing the 35 index number of all relevant cases. 36 § 18. Paragraph (ii) of subdivision a of section 8 of part A of chap- 37 ter 73 of the laws of 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect 38 Our Small Businesses Act of 2021", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws 39 of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 40 (ii) In any eviction proceeding, if the tenant provides a hardship 41 declaration to the petitioner or plaintiff, the court, or an agent of 42 the petitioner or plaintiff or the court, prior to the execution of the 43 warrant or judgment, the execution shall be stayed until at least 44 [August] October 31, 2021. If such hardship declaration is provided to 45 the petitioner or plaintiff or agent of the petitioner or plaintiff, 46 such petitioner or plaintiff or agent shall promptly file it with the 47 court, advising the court in writing the index number of all relevant 48 cases. 49 § 19. Subdivision 4 of section 9 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws 50 of 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Busi- 51 nesses Act of 2021", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, is 52 amended to read as follows: 53 4. If the petitioner or plaintiff fails to establish that the tenant 54 persistently and unreasonably engaged in such behavior and the tenant 55 provides or has provided a hardship declaration to the petitioner,S. 7315 11 1 petitioner's or plaintiff's agent or the court, the court shall stay or 2 continue to stay any further proceedings until at least [August] October 3 31, 2021. 4 § 20. Section 13 of part A of chapter 73 of the laws of 2021 estab- 5 lishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 6 2021", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read 7 as follows: 8 § 13. This act shall take effect immediately and sections one, two, 9 three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and twelve of this act 10 shall expire [August] October 31, 2021. 11 § 21. Section 2 of subpart A 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", as separately amended by chapters 104 and 154 of the laws 14 of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 15 § 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this act, "Hardship Declaration" 16 means the following statement in 14-point type, published by the office 17 of court administration, whether in physical or electronic written form: 18 "NOTICE TO COMMERCIAL MORTGAGOR: If you have lost significant revenue 19 or had significantly increased necessary costs during the COVID-19 20 pandemic, and you sign and deliver this hardship declaration form to 21 your mortgage lender or other foreclosing party, you cannot be fore- 22 closed on until at least [August] October 31, 2021. 23 If your mortgage lender or other foreclosing party provided you with 24 this form, the mortgage lender or other foreclosing party must also 25 provide you with a mailing address and e-mail address to which you can 26 return this form. If you are already in foreclosure proceedings, you may 27 return this form to the court. You should keep a copy or picture of the 28 signed form for your records. You will still owe any unpaid mortgage 29 payments and lawful fees to your lender. You should also keep careful 30 track of what you have paid and any amount you still owe. 31 COMMERCIAL MORTGAGOR'S DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP 32 I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer 33 of (name of the business), which is the mortgagor of the property at 34 (address of commercial unit). My business owns, whether directly or 35 indirectly, ten or fewer commercial units. My business is resident in 36 New York State, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its 37 field, and either employs one hundred or fewer persons, or, the commer- 38 cial business was closed to in-person operations by executive order or 39 department of health directive for two or more weeks between May 15, 40 2020, and May 1, 2021, and employs five hundred or fewer persons. My 41 business is experiencing financial hardship and is unable to pay the 42 mortgage in full because of one or more of the following: 43 1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. 44 2. Significant increase in necessary expenses related to providing 45 personal protective equipment to employees or purchasing and installing 46 other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with- 47 in the business. 48 3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer- 49 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another 50 property during the COVID-19 pandemic. 51 4. One or more of the business's tenants has defaulted on a signif- 52 icant amount of their rent payments since March 1, 2020. 53 To the extent that the business has lost revenue or had increased 54 expenses, any public assistance the business has received since the 55 start of the COVID-19 pandemic does not fully make up for the business's 56 loss of revenue or increased expenses.S. 7315 12 1 I understand that the business must comply with all other lawful terms 2 under my commercial mortgage agreement. I further understand that lawful 3 fees, penalties or interest for not having paid the mortgage in full as 4 required by the commercial mortgage agreement may still be charged or 5 collected and may result in a monetary judgment. I also understand that 6 the mortgage lender or other foreclosing party may pursue a foreclosure 7 action against the business on or after [August] October 31, 2021, if I 8 do not fully repay any missed or partial payments and lawful fees. 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 § 22. Section 5 of subpart A of part B of chapter 73 of the laws of 16 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses 17 Act of 2021", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, is amended 18 to read as follows: 19 § 5. If a mortgagor provides a hardship declaration to the foreclosing 20 party or an agent of the foreclosing party, there shall be no initiation 21 of an action to foreclose a mortgage against the mortgagor until at 22 least [August] October 31, 2021, and in such event any specific time 23 limit for the commencement of an action to foreclose a mortgage shall be 24 tolled until [August] October 31, 2021. 25 § 23. Sections 7 and 8 of subpart A of part B of chapter 73 of the 26 laws of 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small 27 Businesses Act of 2021", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, 28 are amended to read as follows: 29 § 7. In any action to foreclose a mortgage in which a judgment of sale 30 has not been issued, including actions filed on or before March 7, 2020, 31 if the mortgagor provides a hardship declaration to the foreclosing 32 party, the court, or an agent of the foreclosing party or the court, the 33 proceeding shall be stayed until at least [August] October 31, 2021. If 34 such hardship declaration is provided to the foreclosing party or agent 35 of the foreclosing party, such foreclosing party or agent shall promptly 36 file it with the court, advising the court in writing the index number 37 of all relevant cases. 38 § 8. In any action to foreclose a mortgage in which a judgment of sale 39 has been issued prior to the effective date of this act but has not yet 40 been executed as of the effective date of this act, including actions 41 filed on or before March 7, 2020, the court shall stay the execution of 42 the judgment at least until the court has held a status conference with 43 the parties. In any action to foreclose a mortgage, if the mortgagor 44 provides a hardship declaration to the foreclosing party, the court, or 45 an agent of the foreclosing party or the court, prior to the execution 46 of the judgment, the execution shall be stayed until at least [August] 47 October 31, 2021. If such hardship declaration is provided to the fore- 48 closing party or agent of the foreclosing party, such foreclosing party 49 or agent shall promptly file it with the court, advising the court in 50 writing the index number of all relevant cases. 51 § 24. Section 12 of subpart A of part B of chapter 73 of the laws of 52 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses 53 Act of 2021", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, is amended 54 to read as follows:S. 7315 13 1 § 12. This act shall take effect immediately and sections one, two, 2 three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and eleven of this act shall 3 expire [August] October 31, 2021. 4 § 25. Subdivision 3 of section 2 of subpart B of part B of chapter 5 73 of the laws of 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our 6 Small Businesses Act of 2021", as separately amended by chapters 104 and 7 154 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 8 3. "Hardship Declaration" means the following statement in 14-point 9 type, whether in physical or electronic written form: 10 "COMMERCIAL OWNER DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP 11 I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer 12 of (name of the business), which is the owner of the commercial property 13 at (address). My business owns, whether directly or indirectly, ten or 14 fewer commercial units. My business is resident in New York State, 15 independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and either 16 employs one hundred or fewer persons, or, the commercial business was 17 closed to in-person operations by executive order or department of 18 health directive for two or more weeks between May 15, 2020 and May 1, 19 2021, and employs five hundred or fewer persons. My business is experi- 20 encing financial hardship, and is unable to pay its full tax bill 21 because of one or more of the following: 22 1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. 23 2. Significant increase in necessary expenses related to providing 24 personal protective equipment to employees or purchasing and installing 25 other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with- 26 in the business. 27 3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer- 28 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another 29 property during the COVID-19 pandemic. 30 4. One or more of the business's tenants has defaulted on a signif- 31 icant amount of their rent payments since March 1, 2020. 32 To the extent that the business has lost revenue or had increased 33 expenses, any public assistance that the business has received since the 34 start of the COVID-19 pandemic must not fully make up for the loss of 35 revenue or increased expenses, and the business still meets the afore- 36 mentioned eligibility criteria to qualify for a financial hardship. 37 I understand that lawful fees, penalties or interest for not having 38 paid the business's taxes in full may still be charged or collected and 39 may result in a foreclosure action against the business on or after 40 [August] October 31, 2021, if the business does not fully repay any 41 missed or partial payments and fees. 42 Signed: 43 Printed Name: 44 Date Signed: 45 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law. 46 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this form that 47 you know is false." 48 § 26. Subdivision 3 of section 3 of subpart B of part B of chapter 49 73 of the laws of 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our 50 Small Businesses Act of 2021", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 51 2021, is amended to read as follows: 52 3. The submission of such a declaration, unless withdrawn by the 53 owner, shall act as a temporary stay applicable to all entities and 54 persons of all such tax lien sales and tax foreclosure actions and 55 proceedings against such owner for such property that have been 56 commenced or could have been commenced before [August] October 31, 2021.S. 7315 14 1 § 27. Section 4 of subpart B of part B of chapter 73 of the laws of 2 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses 3 Act of 2021", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, is amended 4 to read as follows: 5 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately and sections one and two 6 and subdivisions one, two, three, four and five of section three shall 7 expire [August] October 31, 2021. 8 § 28. Subdivision 2 of section 1 of subpart C of part B of chapter 73 9 of the laws of 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our 10 Small Businesses Act of 2021", as separately amended by chapters 104 and 11 154 of the laws of 2021, is amended to read as follows: 12 2. Hardship declaration. For purposes of this act, "hardship declara- 13 tion" shall mean the following statement in 14-point type, whether in 14 physical or electronic written form, and the department of financial 15 services shall publish a copy of the hardship declaration on its 16 website: 17 "NOTICE TO COMMERCIAL OWNER/MORTGAGOR: If you have lost significant 18 revenue or had significantly increased necessary costs due to the 19 COVID-19 pandemic, and you sign and deliver this hardship declaration 20 form to your lending institution, you cannot be discriminated against in 21 the determination of whether credit should be extended or reported nega- 22 tively to a credit reporting agency until at least [August] October 31, 23 2021. 24 If a lending institution provided you with this form, the lending 25 institution must also provide you with a mailing address and e-mail 26 address to which you can return this form. You should keep a copy or 27 picture of the signed form for your records. 28 COMMERCIAL OWNER/MORTGAGOR DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP 29 I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer 30 of (name of the business), which is the OWNER/MORTGAGOR of the property 31 at (address of commercial unit). My business owns, whether directly or 32 indirectly, ten or fewer commercial units. My business is resident in 33 New York State, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its 34 field, and either employs one hundred or fewer persons, or, the commer- 35 cial business was closed to in-person operations by executive order or 36 department of health directive for two or more weeks between May 15, 37 2020 and May 1, 2021, and employs five hundred or fewer persons. My 38 business is experiencing financial hardship, and is unable to pay the 39 mortgage in full because of one or more of the following: 40 1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. 41 2. Significant increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to 42 providing personal protective equipment to employees or purchasing and 43 installing other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of 44 COVID-19 within the business. 45 3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer- 46 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another 47 commercial property during the COVID-19 pandemic. 48 4. One or more of my tenants has defaulted on a significant amount of 49 their rent payments since March 1, 2020. 50 To the extent that the business has lost revenue or had increased 51 expenses, any public assistance that the business has received since the 52 start of the COVID-19 pandemic must not fully make up for the loss of 53 revenue or increased expenses, and the business still meets the afore- 54 mentioned eligibility criteria to qualify for a financial hardship. 55 Signed: 56 Printed Name:S. 7315 15 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 § 29. Section 2 of subpart C of part B of chapter 73 of the laws of 6 2021 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses 7 Act of 2021", as amended by chapter 104 of the laws of 2021, is amended 8 to read as follows: 9 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire [August] 10 October 31, 2021. 11 § 30. This act shall take effect immediately and shall be deemed to 12 have been in full force and effect on August 31, 2021; provided, howev- 13 er, that the amendments to parts A and B of chapter 381 of the laws of 14 2020 made by sections one, two, three, four, six, seven, eight, nine and 15 eleven of this act shall not affect the expiration of such parts and 16 shall be deemed repealed therewith; and provided further, that the 17 amendments to parts A and B of chapter 73 of the laws of 2021 made by 18 sections fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, 19 twenty-one, twenty-two, twenty-three, twenty-five and twenty-six of this 20 act shall not affect the expiration of such parts and shall be deemed to 21 expire therewith.
