S T A T E O F N E W Y O R K
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7531
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
I N A S S E M B L Y
April 1, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BICHOTTE HERMELYN, SEAWRIGHT, EPSTEIN, RIVERA --
read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the real property actions and proceedings law, in
relation to extending to commercial tenants the right to seek a stay
of the issuance of a warrant and a stay of any execution to collect
the costs of the proceeding in a proceeding to recover the possession
of premises in the city of New York
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. The section heading and subdivision 1 of section 753 of the
real property actions and proceedings law, as amended by section 21 of
part M of chapter 36 of the laws of 2019, are amended to read as
follows:
Stay in premises occupied for dwelling OR COMMERCIAL purposes. 1. In
a proceeding to recover the possession of premises occupied for dwelling
OR COMMERCIAL purposes, other than a room or rooms in [an] A hotel,
lodging house, or rooming house, the court, on application of the occu-
pant, may stay the issuance of a warrant and also stay any execution to
collect the costs of the proceeding for a period of not more than one
year, if it appears that the premises are used for dwelling OR COMMER-
CIAL purposes; that the application is made in good faith; that the
applicant cannot within the neighborhood secure suitable premises simi-
lar to those occupied by the applicant and that the applicant made due
and reasonable efforts to secure such other premises, or that by reason
of other facts it would occasion extreme hardship to the applicant or
the applicant's family if the stay were not granted. In determining
whether refusal to grant a stay would occasion extreme hardship, the
court shall consider serious ill health, significant exacerbation of an
ongoing condition, a child's enrollment in a local school, and any other
extenuating life circumstances affecting the ability of the applicant or
the applicant's family to relocate and maintain quality of life. The
EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11400-01-5
A. 7531 2
court shall consider any substantial hardship the stay may impose on the
landlord in determining whether to grant the stay or in setting the
length or other terms of the stay. In an application brought outside a
city of one million or more, the term "neighborhood" shall be construed
to mean (i) the same town, village or city where the applicant now
resides, or (ii) if the applicant has school aged children residing with
[him or her] THE APPLICANT, "neighborhood" shall mean the school
district where such children attend or are eligible to attend.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
have become a law.