Bill Text: NY S03294 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Prevents evictions during the COVID-19 covered period.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 17-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - REFERRED TO HOUSING, CONSTRUCTION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT [S03294 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-S03294-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 3294 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN SENATE January 30, 2023 ___________ Introduced by Sens. MYRIE, BAILEY, GIANARIS, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, JACKSON, KAVANAGH, KRUEGER, LIU, MAY, PARKER, RAMOS, RIVERA, SALAZAR, SANDERS, SEPULVEDA, SERRANO, STAVISKY -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development AN ACT preventing evictions during the COVID-19 covered period The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Emergency 2 Housing Stability and Displacement Prevention Act". 3 § 2. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds and declares 4 that the COVID-19 pandemic has been a public health and economic crisis 5 unparalleled by any in modern history. The State has lost over 30,000 of 6 its citizens and more than 380,000 have been confirmed infected, a 7 number which continues to escalate. A clear consensus of public health 8 experts predicts subsequent waves of increasing infections, which could 9 lead to graver consequences to public health and the economy than those 10 that have occurred thus far. The lack of a cure or effective vaccine 11 means there is no definitive endpoint to the harm from COVID-19 on the 12 State. The legislature further finds and declares that housing instabil- 13 ity and homelessness lead to worse health outcomes for individuals and 14 in doing so worsen public health. The legislature further finds and 15 declares that the COVID-19 pandemic and its resultant economic instabil- 16 ity and job losses has worsened an existing housing crisis state-wide 17 where millions of tenants were already rent-burdened, and millions of 18 homeowners were already struggling to remain current on their mortgages. 19 The existing housing crisis disproportionately impacts Black and Latinx 20 individuals and communities. The legislature further finds and declares 21 that the well-documented disproportionate impacts of both the COVID-19 22 pandemic and the housing crisis on communities of color are deeply 23 connected to and rooted in systemic racism. The legislature further EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00752-01-3S. 3294 2 1 finds and declares that the State is presently in a state of emergency 2 and extra ordinary measures have been implemented in all aspects of 3 society to protect public health and welfare. The legislature further 4 finds and declares that it is counterproductive to public health and 5 welfare to allow evictions and foreclosures until the COVID-19 pandemic 6 has passed and sufficient time has been provided for communities to 7 recover. Accordingly, the legislature must protect public health and 8 welfare and extend a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures until one 9 year after this crisis has concluded. 10 § 3. For the purposes of this act, the "COVID-19 covered period" shall 11 include March 7, 2020 through the end of the state of emergency in the 12 state of New York plus one full year. For the purposes of this act, the 13 "state of emergency" period includes, but is not limited to, any period 14 referenced in Executive Orders 202, 202.8, 202.28 and any other execu- 15 tive order that closed or otherwise restricted public or private busi- 16 nesses or places of public accommodation, or required postponement or 17 cancellation of all non-essential gatherings of individuals of any size 18 for any reason in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, within the state of 19 New York. For the purposes of this act, "lawful occupant" of a residen- 20 tial or commercial property shall mean any person or business for whom 21 eviction proceedings in a court of law would be legally required to 22 remove said occupant from the residential or commercial property, 23 including but not limited to, any person who occupied the residential 24 property for thirty consecutive days or longer. 25 § 4. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary: 26 1. No court shall authorize the execution or enforcement of a warrant 27 of eviction or order a monetary judgment for rent arrears against a 28 tenant or lawful occupant of a residential or commercial property during 29 the COVID-19 covered period. 30 2. No court shall accept for filing any papers commencing any action 31 or proceeding seeking a judgment of possession or a monetary judgment 32 against a tenant or lawful occupant of a residential property for rent 33 or use and occupancy during the COVID-19 covered period. 34 3. No court shall issue a warrant of eviction or judgment of 35 possession against a residential or commercial tenant or other lawful 36 occupant, or execute a judgment of foreclosure and sale of any owner-oc- 37 cupied or rented residential or commercial property, during the COVID-19 38 covered period. 39 § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.
