Prohibits reporting debt arrears of an individual which are due to a COVID-19 related hardship to a consumer reporting agency; provides for the removal of such information from an individual's file with such agency.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3808
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 8, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. TAYLOR -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Consumer Affairs and Protection
AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to prohibiting
certain debt arrears from being reported to consumer reporting agen-
cies
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section
2 399-zzzzzz to read as follows:
3 § 399-zzzzzz. Prohibition on reporting of certain debt arrears. 1. No
4 person, firm, partnership, association or corporation shall report debt
5 arrears of an individual which are due to a COVID-19 related hardship to
6 a consumer reporting agency as defined in section three hundred eighty-a
7 of this chapter.
8 2. Debt arrears reported in violation of the provisions of subdivision
9 one of this section shall be expunged from the file, as defined in
10 section three hundred eighty-a of this chapter, of any individual who
11 files a dispute regarding such debt arrears pursuant to section three
12 hundred eighty-f of this chapter.
13 3. As used in this section "COVID-19 related hardship" means:
14 (a) A significant loss of household income during the COVID-19 pandem-
15 ic.
16 (b) Increase in necessary out-of-pocket expenses related to performing
17 essential work or related to health impacts during the COVID-19 pandem-
18 ic.
19 (c) Childcare responsibilities or responsibilities to care for an
20 elderly, disabled, or sick family member during the COVID-19 pandemic
21 have negatively affected the ability of the individual or the ability of
22 someone in the household of such individual to obtain meaningful employ-
23 ment or earn income or increased such individual's necessary out-of-
24 pocket expenses.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07995-01-3
A. 3808 2
1 (d) Other circumstances related to the COVID-19 pandemic have nega-
2 tively affected the individual's ability to obtain meaningful employment
3 or earn income or have significantly reduced the individual's household
4 income or significantly increased such individual's expenses.
5 § 2. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
6 have become a law.
