Bill Text: NY A10444 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Provides that no personal liability provision of a commercial lease or other rental agreement involving real property and to which a business impacted by COVID-19 is a party as tenant may be enforced against an individual where the default or other event allowing for such enforcement occurs during the COVID-19 period.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-05-18 - referred to judiciary [A10444 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-A10444-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          10444

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                      May 18, 2020
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by COMMITTEE ON RULES -- (at request of M. of A. Epstein) --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary

        AN ACT to amend the general obligations law,  in  relation  to  personal
          liability provisions in commercial leases during the COVID-19 period

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The general obligations law is  amended  by  adding  a  new
     2  section 5-338 to read as follows:
     3    § 5-338. Personal liability provisions in commercial leases during the
     4  COVID-19  period.  1. Definitions. For the purposes of this section, the
     5  following terms have the following meanings:
     6    (a) "COVID-19" means the two thousand nineteen  novel  coronavirus  or
     7  2019-nCoV.
     8    (b) "COVID-19 period" means March seventh, two thousand twenty through
     9  the later of:
    10    (i)  the end of the first month that commences after the expiration of
    11  the moratorium on enforcement of evictions of residential and commercial
    12  tenants set forth in executive order number  202.8,  as  issued  by  the
    13  governor   on  March  twentieth,  two  thousand  twenty  and  thereafter
    14  extended;
    15    (ii) September thirtieth, two thousand twenty, inclusive.
    16    (c) "Impacted by COVID-19" means that:
    17    (i) the business was subject  to  seating,  occupancy  or  on-premises
    18  service  limitations pursuant to an executive order issued by the gover-
    19  nor during the COVID-19 period; or
    20    (ii) the revenues of the business during any three-month period within
    21  the COVID-19 period were less than fifty percent of its revenues for the
    22  same period in two thousand nineteen or less than fifty percent  of  its
    23  aggregate  revenues  for  the  months of December two thousand nineteen,
    24  January two thousand twenty and February two thousand twenty.
    25    (d) "Personal liability provision" means, with respect to a commercial
    26  lease or other rental agreement involving real property and to  which  a
    27  business is a party as tenant, a term that provides for an individual to
    28  become  wholly  or partially personally liable for an obligation of such

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD16322-02-0
        A. 10444                            2

     1  business arising under such lease or agreement upon the occurrence of  a
     2  default or other event.
     3    2.  No  personal  liability  provision  of a commercial lease or other
     4  rental agreement  involving  real  property  and  to  which  a  business
     5  impacted  by  COVID-19  is  a party as tenant may be enforced against an
     6  individual where the default or other event allowing for  such  enforce-
     7  ment occurs during the COVID-19 period.
     8    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.