The New York State Senate

 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8239
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              August 25, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A.  REYES,  RICHARDSON,  JOYNER, CARROLL, SIMON,
   BARRON, BARNWELL, DICKENS, L. ROSENTHAL, EPSTEIN,  GOTTFRIED,  DAVILA,
   PICHARDO, DE LA ROSA, DARLING, NIOU, KIM, PERRY, SEAWRIGHT, FERNANDEZ,
   BICHOTTE HERMELYN, GLICK, O'DONNELL, FRONTUS, CRUZ, TAYLOR, J. RIVERA,
   WALKER,  BRONSON,  COLTON, RAMOS, ANDERSON, BURGOS, MEEKS -- read once
   and referred to the Committee on Housing
 
 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:
 
   Section  1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Emergency
 Housing Stability and Displacement Prevention Act".
   § 2. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds  and  declares
 that  the COVID-19 pandemic has been a public health and economic crisis
 unparalleled by any in modern history. The State has lost over 30,000 of
 its citizens and more than  380,000  have  been  confirmed  infected,  a
 number  which continues to escalate.  A clear consensus of public health
 experts predicts subsequent waves of increasing infections, which  could
 lead  to graver consequences to public health and the economy than those
 that have occurred thus far. The lack of a  cure  or  effective  vaccine
 means  there  is no definitive endpoint to the harm from COVID-19 on the
 State. The legislature further finds and declares that housing instabil-
 ity and homelessness lead to worse health outcomes for  individuals  and
 in  doing  so  worsen  public  health. The legislature further finds and
 declares that the COVID-19 pandemic and its resultant economic instabil-
 ity and job losses has worsened an existing  housing  crisis  state-wide
 where  millions  of  tenants were already rent-burdened, and millions of
 homeowners were already struggling to remain current on their mortgages.
 The existing housing crisis disproportionately impacts Black and  Latinx
 individuals  and communities. The legislature further finds and declares
 that the well-documented disproportionate impacts of both  the  COVID-19
 pandemic  and  the  housing  crisis  on  communities of color are deeply
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD00152-01-1

 A. 8239                             2
 
 connected to and rooted in  systemic  racism.  The  legislature  further
 finds  and  declares that the State is presently in a state of emergency
 and extra ordinary measures have been  implemented  in  all  aspects  of
 society  to  protect  public health and welfare. The legislature further
 finds and declares that it is counterproductive  to  public  health  and
 welfare  to allow evictions and foreclosures until the COVID-19 pandemic
 has passed and sufficient time has  been  provided  for  communities  to
 recover.  Accordingly,  the  legislature  must protect public health and
 welfare and extend a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures until  one
 year after this crisis has concluded.
   § 3. For the purposes of this act, the "COVID-19 covered period" shall
 include  March  7, 2020 through the end of the state of emergency in the
 state of New York plus one full year.  For the purposes of this act, the
 "state of emergency" period includes, but is not limited to, any  period
 referenced  in  Executive Orders 202, 202.8, 202.28 and any other execu-
 tive order that closed or otherwise restricted public or  private  busi-
 nesses  or  places  of public accommodation, or required postponement or
 cancellation of all non-essential gatherings of individuals of any  size
 for any reason in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, within the state of
 New York.  For the purposes of this act, "lawful occupant" of a residen-
 tial  or  commercial property shall mean any person or business for whom
 eviction proceedings in a court of law  would  be  legally  required  to
 remove  said  occupant  from  the  residential  or  commercial property,
 including but not limited to, any person who  occupied  the  residential
 property for thirty consecutive days or longer.
   § 4. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary:
   1.  No court shall authorize the execution or enforcement of a warrant
 of eviction or order a monetary judgment  for  rent  arrears  against  a
 tenant or lawful occupant of a residential or commercial property during
 the COVID-19 covered period.
   2.  No  court shall accept for filing any papers commencing any action
 or proceeding seeking a judgment of possession or  a  monetary  judgment
 against  a  tenant or lawful occupant of a residential property for rent
 or use and occupancy during the COVID-19 covered period.
   3. No  court  shall  issue  a  warrant  of  eviction  or  judgment  of
 possession  against  a  residential or commercial tenant or other lawful
 occupant, or execute a judgment of foreclosure and sale of any owner-oc-
 cupied or rented residential or commercial property, during the COVID-19
 covered period.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.