S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7127
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              April 23, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. BRONSON -- read once and referred to the Commit-
   tee on Judiciary
 
 AN ACT to amend a chapter of the laws of 2021 relating  to  establishing
   the  "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021", in
   relation to providing for certain commercial small  businesses  to  be
   eligible  for  relief  under the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small
   Businesses Act of 2021"
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1.  Section  3  of  a chapter of the laws of 2021 relating to
 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of
 2021", as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 471-A and A. 3207, is
 amended to read as follows:
   § 3. Legislative intent. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
 following:
   On March 7, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo proclaimed a state of emergen-
 cy in response to the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.  Measures
 necessary  to  contain  the  spread of COVID-19 have brought about wide-
 spread economic and societal disruption, placing the state of  New  York
 in unprecedented circumstances.
   COVID-19 presents a historic threat to small businesses AND COMMERCIAL
 PROPERTY  OWNERS.  Thousands of small businesses AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTY
 OWNERS are facing eviction  or  foreclosure  due  to  necessary  disease
 control  measures that closed or restricted businesses across the state.
 The pandemic has further interrupted court operations, the  availability
 of  counsel, the ability for parties to pay for counsel, and the ability
 to safely commute and enter a courtroom, settlement conference  and  the
 like.
   Ensuring  small  businesses AND COMMERCIAL PROPERTY OWNERS can survive
 in this unprecedented time is to the mutual benefit of all  New  Yorkers
 and will help the state address the pandemic, protect public health, and

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD07084-06-1

 A. 7127                             2
 
 set  the stage for recovery. It is, therefore, the intent of this legis-
 lation to avoid as many evictions and foreclosures of  small  businesses
 as  possible for businesses experiencing a financial hardship during the
 COVID-19 pandemic.
   As  such,  it  is  necessary  to  temporarily  allow  small businesses
 impacted by COVID-19 to remain in their place of business.   A  limited,
 temporary  stay  is  necessary  to protect the public health, safety and
 morals of the people the Legislature represents from the dangers of  the
 COVID-19 emergency pandemic.
   §  2. Section 1 of part A of a chapter of the laws of 2021 relating to
 establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of
 2021", as proposed in legislative bills numbers S. 471-A and A. 3207, is
 amended to read as follows:
   Section 1. Definitions. For the purposes of this act:    1.  "Eviction
 proceeding"  means  a  summary  proceeding to recover possession of real
 property  under  article  seven  of  the  real  property   actions   and
 proceedings  law  relating to a commercial unit or any other judicial or
 administrative proceeding to recover possession of real property  relat-
 ing to a commercial unit.
   2.  "Landlord" includes a landlord, owner of a commercial property and
 any other person with a  legal  right  to  pursue  eviction,  possessory
 action  or  a  money  judgment for rent, including arrears, owed or that
 becomes due during the COVID-19 covered period, as defined in section  1
 of chapter 127 of the laws of 2020.
   3.  "Tenant"  includes  a  commercial tenant that is a resident of the
 state, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its  field  and
 EITHER  employs [fifty] ONE HUNDRED or fewer persons, OR, THE COMMERCIAL
 TENANT'S BUSINESS WAS CLOSED TO IN-PERSON OPERATIONS BY EXECUTIVE  ORDER
 OR  DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH DIRECTIVE FOR TWO OR MORE WEEKS BETWEEN MAY 15,
 2020 AND MAY 1, 2021, AND EMPLOYS FIVE HUNDRED OR FEWER PERSONS.
   4. "Hardship declaration" means the following statement, or a substan-
 tially equivalent statement in the  language  in  which  the  commercial
 lease  or tenancy agreement was written or negotiated, in 14-point type,
 published by the office of court administration, whether in physical  or
 electronic written form:
   "NOTICE TO COMMERCIAL TENANT:  If you have lost significant revenue or
 had  significantly increased necessary costs during the COVID-19 pandem-
 ic, and you sign and deliver this  hardship  declaration  form  to  your
 landlord,  you  cannot be evicted until at least May 1, 2021 for nonpay-
 ment of rent or for holding over after the expiration of your lease. You
 may still be evicted for violating your lease by persistently and unrea-
 sonably engaging in behavior that substantially infringes on the use and
 enjoyment of other tenants or occupants or causes a  substantial  safety
 hazard to others.
   If  your  landlord has provided you with this form, your landlord must
 also provide you with a mailing address and e-mail address to which  you
 can  return  this form. If your landlord has already started an eviction
 proceeding against you, you can return this form to  either  your  land-
 lord,  the court, or both at any time. You should keep a copy or picture
 of the signed form for your records. You will still owe any unpaid  rent
 to  your landlord. [You should also] TO THE EXTENT YOU CAN PAY LESS THAN
 THE FULL RENT, IT IS RECOMMENDED YOU DO SO AND  keep  careful  track  of
 what you have paid and any amount you still owe.
 
          COMMERCIAL TENANT'S DECLARATION OF HARDSHIP DURING THE
                             COVID-19 PANDEMIC

 A. 7127                             3
 
 I  am  the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer
 of (name of business), in which is a commercial tenant  at  (address  of
 commercial  unit).  My business is resident in New York state, independ-
 ently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and EITHER  employs
 [fifty]  ONE  HUNDRED  or fewer persons, OR, THE COMMERCIAL BUSINESS WAS
 CLOSED TO IN-PERSON OPERATIONS  BY  EXECUTIVE  ORDER  OR  DEPARTMENT  OF
 HEALTH  DIRECTIVE  FOR TWO OR MORE WEEKS BETWEEN MAY 15, 2020 AND MAY 1,
 2021, AND EMPLOYS FIVE HUNDRED OR FEWER PERSONS.  My business is experi-
 encing financial hardship, and is unable to pay  the  rent  IN  FULL  or
 other  financial obligations under the lease in full or obtain an alter-
 native suitable commercial property  because  of  one  or  more  of  the
 following:
   1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
   2.  Significant  increase  in  necessary expenses related to providing
 personal protective equipment to employees or purchasing and  installing
 other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with-
 in the business.
   3.  Moving  expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer-
 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another
 location during the COVID-19 pandemic.
   To the extent the business has lost revenue or had increased expenses,
 any public assistance the business has received since the start  of  the
 COVID-19  pandemic [does] MUST not fully make up for the business's loss
 of revenue or increased expenses,  AND  THE  BUSINESS  STILL  MEETS  THE
 AFOREMENTIONED ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA TO QUALIFY FOR A FINANCIAL HARDSHIP.

 I  understand  that the business must comply with all other lawful terms
 under its commercial tenancy, lease agreement  or  similar  contract.  I
 further  understand  that  lawful  fees,  penalties  or interest for not
 having paid rent in full or met other financial obligations as  required
 by the commercial tenancy, lease agreement or similar contract may still
 be  charged  or  collected  and  may  result in a monetary judgment.   I
 further understand that the landlord may be able to seek eviction  after
 May  1,  2021,  and that the law may provide certain protections at that
 time that are separate from those available through this declaration.
 
 Signed:
 Printed name:
 Date signed:
 
 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty  of  law.
 That  means  it is against the law to make a statement on this form that
 you know is false."
   § 3. Sections 1 and 2 of subpart A of part B of a chapter of the  laws
 of  2021  relating  to  establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our
 Small Businesses Act of 2021", as proposed in legislative bills  numbers
 S.  471-A and A. 3207, are amended to read as follows:
   Section  1.  Application.  This  section  shall apply to any action to
 foreclose a mortgage relating to commercial real property, provided  the
 owner  or  mortgagor of such property owns ten or fewer commercial units
 whether directly or indirectly and is a business that is resident in New
 York State, independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field,
 and EITHER employs [fifty] ONE HUNDRED or fewer persons, OR, THE COMMER-
 CIAL TENANT'S BUSINESS WAS CLOSED TO IN-PERSON OPERATIONS  BY  EXECUTIVE
 ORDER  OR  DEPARTMENT  OF HEALTH DIRECTIVE FOR TWO OR MORE WEEKS BETWEEN
 MAY 15, 2020 AND MAY 1, 2021, AND EMPLOYS FIVE HUNDRED OR FEWER PERSONS.

 A. 7127                             4
 
 The ten or fewer commercial units may be in more than  one  property  or
 building as long as the total aggregate number of ten units are current-
 ly occupied by a tenant or are available for rent.
   Notwithstanding anything to the contrary, this act shall not apply to,
 and does not affect any mortgage loans made, insured, purchased or secu-
 ritized by a corporate governmental agency of the state constituted as a
 political  subdivision and public benefit corporation, or the rights and
 obligations of any lender, issuer, servicer or  trustee  of  such  obli-
 gations.
   § 2. Definitions. For the purposes of this act, "Hardship Declaration"
 means  the following statement in 14-point type, published by the office
 of court administration, whether in physical or electronic written form:
   "NOTICE TO COMMERCIAL MORTGAGOR: If you have lost significant  revenue
 or  had  significantly  increased  necessary  costs  during the COVID-19
 pandemic, and you sign and deliver this  hardship  declaration  form  to
 your  mortgage  lender  or  other foreclosing party, you cannot be fore-
 closed on until at least May 1, 2021.
   If your mortgage lender or other foreclosing party provided  you  with
 this  form,  the  mortgage  lender  or other foreclosing party must also
 provide you with a mailing address and e-mail address to which  you  can
 return this form. If you are already in foreclosure proceedings, you may
 return  this form to the court. You should keep a copy or picture of the
 signed form for your records. You will still  owe  any  unpaid  mortgage
 payments  and  lawful  fees to your lender. You should also keep careful
 track of what you have paid and any amount you still owe.
       COMMERCIAL MORTGAGOR'S DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP
   I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer
 of (name of the business), which is the mortgagor  of  the  property  at
 (address  of  commercial  unit).   My business owns, whether directly or
 indirectly, ten or fewer commercial units.  My business is  resident  in
 New  York  State,  independently owned and operated, not dominant in its
 field, and EITHER employs [fifty] ONE HUNDRED or fewer persons, OR,  THE
 COMMERCIAL  BUSINESS  WAS  CLOSED  TO  IN-PERSON OPERATIONS BY EXECUTIVE
 ORDER OR DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH DIRECTIVE FOR TWO OR  MORE  WEEKS  BETWEEN
 MAY  15,  2020,  AND  MAY  1,  2021,  AND  EMPLOYS FIVE HUNDRED OR FEWER
 PERSONS. My business is experiencing financial hardship and is unable to
 pay the mortgage in full because of one or more of the following:
   1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
   2. Significant increase in necessary  expenses  related  to  providing
 personal  protective equipment to employees or purchasing and installing
 other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with-
 in the business.
   3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an  alternative  commer-
 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another
 property during the COVID-19 pandemic.
   4.  One  or  more of the business's tenants has defaulted on a signif-
 icant amount of their rent payments since March 1, 2020.
   To the extent that the business has  lost  revenue  or  had  increased
 expenses,  any  public  assistance  the  business has received since the
 start of the COVID-19 pandemic does not fully make up for the business's
 loss of revenue or increased expenses.
   I understand that the business must comply with all other lawful terms
 under my commercial mortgage agreement. I further understand that lawful
 fees, penalties or interest for not having paid the mortgage in full  as
 required  by  the  commercial mortgage agreement may still be charged or
 collected and may result in a monetary judgment.  I also understand that

 A. 7127                             5

 the mortgage lender or other foreclosing party may pursue a  foreclosure
 action  against  the business on or after May 1, 2021, if I do not fully
 repay any missed or partial payments and lawful fees.
 Signed:
 Printed Name:
 Date Signed:
 NOTICE:  You  are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law.
 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this  form  that
 you know is false."
   §  4. Sections 1 and 2 of subpart B of part B of a chapter of the laws
 of 2021 relating to establishing the  "COVID-19  Emergency  Protect  Our
 Small  Businesses Act of 2021", as proposed in legislative bills numbers
 S.  471-A and A. 3207, are amended to read as follows:
   Section 1. Application. This act shall apply to any  action  to  fore-
 close on delinquent taxes or sell a tax lien relating to commercial real
 property,  provided  the owner or mortgagor of such property owns ten or
 fewer commercial units whether directly or indirectly and is a  business
 that  is  resident  in New York State, independently owned and operated,
 not dominant in its field, and EITHER employs  [fifty]  ONE  HUNDRED  or
 fewer persons, OR, THE COMMERCIAL BUSINESS WAS CLOSED TO IN-PERSON OPER-
 ATIONS  BY  EXECUTIVE ORDER OR DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH DIRECTIVE FOR TWO OR
 MORE WEEKS BETWEEN MAY 15, 2020  AND  MAY  1,  2021,  AND  EMPLOYS  FIVE
 HUNDRED  OR  FEWER  PERSONS. The ten or fewer commercial units may be in
 more than one property or building as long as the  units  are  currently
 occupied by a tenant or are available for rent.
   §  2.  Definitions.  For  purposes of this act: 1. "Tax lien" means an
 unpaid tax, special ad valorem levy, special assessment or other  charge
 imposed upon real property by or on behalf of a municipal corporation or
 special  district  or  other public or private entity which is an encum-
 brance on real property, whether or not evidenced by a  written  instru-
 ment.
   2.  "Tax  foreclosure  and tax lien sale" shall mean any such tax lien
 sale or tax foreclosure pursuant to article 11 of the real property  tax
 law,  or  any general, special or local law related to real property tax
 lien sales or real property tax foreclosures.
   3. "Hardship Declaration" means the following  statement  in  14-point
 type, whether in physical or electronic written form:
        "COMMERCIAL OWNER DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP
 I  am  the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer
 of (name of the business), which is the owner of the commercial property
 at (address).  My business owns, whether directly or indirectly, ten  or
 fewer  commercial  units.    My  business is resident in New York State,
 independently owned and operated, not dominant in its field, and  EITHER
 employs  [fifty]  ONE HUNDRED or fewer persons, OR, THE COMMERCIAL BUSI-
 NESS WAS CLOSED TO IN-PERSON OPERATIONS BY EXECUTIVE ORDER OR DEPARTMENT
 OF HEALTH DIRECTIVE FOR TWO OR MORE WEEKS BETWEEN MAY 15, 2020  AND  MAY
 1, 2021, AND EMPLOYS FIVE HUNDRED OR FEWER PERSONS. My business is expe-
 riencing  financial  hardship,  and  is  unable to pay its full tax bill
 because of one or more of the following:
   1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
   2. Significant increase in necessary  expenses  related  to  providing
 personal  protective equipment to employees or purchasing and installing
 other protective equipment to prevent the transmission of COVID-19 with-
 in the business.

 A. 7127                             6
 
   3. Moving expenses and difficulty in securing an  alternative  commer-
 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another
 property during the COVID-19 pandemic.
   4.  One  or  more of the business's tenants has defaulted on a signif-
 icant amount of their rent payments since March 1, 2020.
   To the extent that the business has  lost  revenue  or  had  increased
 expenses, any public assistance that the business has received since the
 start  of  the  COVID-19  pandemic [does] MUST not fully make up for the
 loss of revenue or increased expenses, AND THE BUSINESS STILL MEETS  THE
 AFOREMENTIONED ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA TO QUALIFY FOR A FINANCIAL HARDSHIP.
   I  understand  that  lawful fees, penalties or interest for not having
 paid the business's taxes in full may still be charged or collected  and
 may  result in a foreclosure action against the business on or after May
 1, 2021, if the business does not fully  repay  any  missed  or  partial
 payments and fees.
 Signed:
 Printed Name:
 Date Signed:
 NOTICE:  You  are signing and submitting this form under penalty of law.
 That means it is against the law to make a statement on this  form  that
 you know is false."
   § 5. Section 1 of subpart C of part B of a chapter of the laws of 2021
 relating to establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Busi-
 nesses  Act of 2021", as proposed in legislative bills numbers S.  471-A
 and A. 3207, is amended to read as follows:
   Section 1. Application. 1. This act shall apply to an owner of commer-
 cial real property, provided the owner or  mortgagor  of  such  property
 owns ten or fewer commercial units whether directly or indirectly and is
 a  business  that is resident in New York State, independently owned and
 operated, not dominant in its field,  and  EITHER  employs  [fifty]  ONE
 HUNDRED  or  fewer  persons,  OR,  THE COMMERCIAL BUSINESS WAS CLOSED TO
 IN-PERSON OPERATIONS BY EXECUTIVE ORDER OR DEPARTMENT OF  HEALTH  DIREC-
 TIVE  FOR  TWO  OR  MORE WEEKS BETWEEN MAY 15, 2020 AND MAY 1, 2021, AND
 EMPLOYS FIVE HUNDRED OR FEWER PERSONS. The ten or fewer commercial units
 may be in more than one property or building as long as the total aggre-
 gate number of ten units are currently  occupied  by  a  tenant  or  are
 available for rent.
   2.  Hardship declaration. For purposes of this act, "hardship declara-
 tion" shall mean the following statement in 14-point  type,  whether  in
 physical  or  electronic  written  form, and the department of financial
 services shall publish  a  copy  of  the  hardship  declaration  on  its
 website:
   "NOTICE  TO  COMMERCIAL  OWNER/MORTGAGOR: If you have lost significant
 revenue or had  significantly  increased  necessary  costs  due  to  the
 COVID-19  pandemic,  and  you sign and deliver this hardship declaration
 form to your lending institution, you cannot be discriminated against in
 the determination of whether credit should be extended or reported nega-
 tively to a credit reporting agency until at least May 1, 2021.
   If a lending institution provided you  with  this  form,  the  lending
 institution  must  also  provide  you  with a mailing address and e-mail
 address to which you can return this form. You should  keep  a  copy  or
 picture of the signed form for your records.
   COMMERCIAL OWNER/MORTGAGOR DECLARATION OF COVID-19-RELATED HARDSHIP
   I am the owner, chief executive officer, president, or similar officer
 of  (name of the business), which is the OWNER/MORTGAGOR of the property
 at (address of commercial unit).  My business owns, whether directly  or

 A. 7127                             7
 
 indirectly,  ten  or fewer commercial units.  My business is resident in
 New York State, independently owned and operated, not  dominant  in  its
 field,  and EITHER employs [fifty] ONE HUNDRED or fewer persons, OR, THE
 COMMERCIAL  BUSINESS  WAS  CLOSED  TO  IN-PERSON OPERATIONS BY EXECUTIVE
 ORDER OR DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH DIRECTIVE FOR TWO OR  MORE  WEEKS  BETWEEN
 MAY 15, 2020 AND MAY 1, 2021, AND EMPLOYS FIVE HUNDRED OR FEWER PERSONS.
 My business is experiencing financial hardship, and is unable to pay the
 mortgage in full because of one or more of the following:
   1. Significant loss of revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
   2. Significant increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to
 providing  personal  protective equipment to employees or purchasing and
 installing other protective equipment to  prevent  the  transmission  of
 COVID-19 within the business.
   3.  Moving  expenses and difficulty in securing an alternative commer-
 cial property make it a hardship for the business to relocate to another
 commercial property during the COVID-19 pandemic.
   4. One or more of my tenants has defaulted on a significant amount  of
 their rent payments since March 1, 2020.
   To  the  extent  that  the  business has lost revenue or had increased
 expenses, any public assistance that the business has received since the
 start of the COVID-19 pandemic [does] MUST not fully  make  up  for  the
 loss  of revenue or increased expenses, AND THE BUSINESS STILL MEETS THE
 AFOREMENTIONED ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA TO QUALIFY FOR A FINANCIAL HARDSHIP.
 Signed:
 Printed Name:
 Date Signed:
 NOTICE: You are signing and submitting this form under penalty  of  law.
 That  means  it is against the law to make a statement on this form that
 you know is false."
   3. Discrimination in credit decisions. Notwithstanding any law to  the
 contrary,  lending  institutions  shall not discriminate in the determi-
 nation of whether credit should be extended to any owner  of  commercial
 real  property as defined in subdivision one of this section because, as
 provided for in this act, such owner has been granted a stay of mortgage
 foreclosure proceedings, tax foreclosure  proceedings  or  of  tax  lien
 sales, or that an owner of commercial real property as defined in subdi-
 vision one of this section is currently in arrears and has filed a hard-
 ship declaration with such lender.
   4.  Prohibition  on negative credit reporting. Notwithstanding any law
 to the contrary, as provided for in this act, the granting of a stay  of
 mortgage  foreclosure  proceedings,  tax  foreclosure proceedings or tax
 lien sales, or that an owner of commercial real property as  defined  in
 subdivision  one of this section is currently in arrears and has filed a
 hardship declaration with their lender shall not be negatively  reported
 to any credit reporting agency.
   §  6.  This  act  shall  take  effect on the same date and in the same
 manner as a chapter of the laws of 2021, relating  to  establishing  the
 "COVID-19  Emergency  Protect  Our  Small  Businesses  Act  of 2021", as
 proposed in legislative bills  numbers  S.  471-A  and  A.  3207,  takes
 effect;  provided that the amendments to section 1 of part A, sections 1
 and 2 of subpart A of part B, sections 1 and 2 of subpart B of  part  B,
 and  section 1 of subpart C of part B of a  chapter of the laws of 2021,
 relating to establishing the "COVID-19 Emergency Protect    Our    Small
 Businesses  Act of  2021",  as proposed  in  legislative  bills  numbers
 S.    471-A   and A. 3207, made by sections two, three, four and five of

 A. 7127                             8
 
 this act, respectively, shall not affect the expiration of such sections
 and shall be deemed expired therewith.