Senate Bill S2592

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S2592

SPONSOR: ORTT
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the judiciary law, in relation to requiring the chief
administrator of the courts to submit a report on a plan to respond to
the end of the moratorium on evictions

 
PURPOSE:

Requires on or before July 15, 2021, a report with a plan for the state-
wide court system for reopening upon the expiration of the eviction
moratorium.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

This bill would require a report to be prepared by July 15, 2021,
detailing the court systems' plans for reopening housing courts upon the
expiration of the eviction moratorium. The report will include plans to
address court and calendar congestion which wilt be created because of
the ending of the eviction moratorium. This plan will consider alterna-
              

tive temporary space for court proceedings, assigning additional judges
or hearing officers, and coordinating with the New York State Office of
Temporary Disability Assistance to ensure tenants and landlords have
access to programs for which they are eligible.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

This bill seeks to ensure that the New York State Courts are prepared
for the number of cases they will be dealing with in housing courts when
the current eviction moratorium expires. There are reports that New York
City tenants owe more than $l billion in back rent due to the COVID19
pandemic. Across the State, that number for all renters will likely
exceed $3 billion.

On August 31, 2021, the current tenant and small business eviction mora-
toriums are set to expire. The Office of Court Administration needs to
have a plan in place to deal with the spike in housing cases which will
created by the lapse of the moratoriums. This bill requires the court
system to craft a plan which will help tenants and owners deal with
their cases in a fair, effective and timely manner. Only by ensuring
that the courts are ready, willing, and able, to deal with cases created
by the end of the moratoriums can we prevent housing cases from dragging
on for months resulting in more economic havoc for landlords and more
evictions for tenants.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

2023-2024: S.1269 Referred to Judiciary

2021-2022: S. 7123 Referred to Judiciary

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.