Provides that no default in the payment of rent due or judgment of possession shall be entered against a tenant who is a small business between March seventh, two thousand twenty and a date six months after the expiration of the state disaster emergency, as such term is defined in section twenty of the executive law, declared pursuant to executive order two hundred two of two thousand twenty, as amended.
STATE OF NEW YORK
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8473
IN SENATE
June 3, 2020
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Introduced by Sen. HOYLMAN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction and
Community Development
AN ACT to amend the real property actions and proceedings law, in
relation to default of payment of rent
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 2 of section 711 of the real property actions
2 and proceedings law, as amended by section 12 of part M of chapter 36 of
3 the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
4 2. The tenant has defaulted in the payment of rent, pursuant to the
5 agreement under which the premises are held, and a written demand of the
6 rent has been made with at least fourteen days' notice requiring, in the
7 alternative, the payment of the rent, or the possession of the premises,
8 has been served upon him or her as prescribed in section seven hundred
9 thirty-five of this article. Any person succeeding to the landlord's
10 interest in the premises may proceed under this subdivision for rent due
11 his or her predecessor in interest if he or she has a right thereto.
12 Where a tenant dies during the term of the lease and rent due has not
13 been paid and the apartment is occupied by a person with a claim to
14 possession, a proceeding may be commenced naming the occupants of the
15 apartment seeking a possessory judgment only as against the estate.
16 Entry of such a judgment shall be without prejudice to the possessory
17 claims of the occupants, and any warrant issued shall not be effective
18 as against the occupants. This subdivision shall not apply where a
19 tenant that is a small business, as defined by section one hundred thir-
20 ty-one of the economic development law, has defaulted in the payment of
21 rent due between March seventh, two thousand twenty and a date six
22 months after the expiration of the state disaster emergency, as such
23 term is defined in section twenty of the executive law, declared pursu-
24 ant to executive order two hundred two of two thousand twenty, as
25 amended.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD16242-01-0
S. 8473 2
1 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 747 of the real property actions and
2 proceedings law, as added by chapter 312 of the laws of 1962, is amended
3 to read as follows:
4 2. The judgment shall not bar an action to recover the possession of
5 real property. The judgment shall not bar an action, proceeding or coun-
6 terclaim, commenced or interposed within sixty days of entry of the
7 judgment, for affirmative equitable relief which was not sought by coun-
8 terclaim in the proceeding because of the limited jurisdiction of the
9 court. No judgment for possession shall be entered from rent owed by a
10 tenant that is a small business, as defined by section one hundred thir-
11 ty-one of the economic development law, between March seventh, two thou-
12 sand twenty and a date six months after the expiration of the state
13 disaster emergency, as such term is defined in section twenty of the
14 executive law, declared pursuant to executive order two hundred two of
15 two thousand twenty, as amended.
16 § 3. The real property actions and proceedings law is amended by
17 adding a new section 712 to read as follows:
18 § 712. Grounds where landlord-tenant relationship exists; special
19 proceedings for rent due from small businesses during the COVID-19
20 pandemic. As used in this section, a "tenant" shall mean a tenant that
21 is a small business, as defined by section one hundred thirty-one of the
22 economic development law. No tenant shall be removed from possession in
23 a special proceeding maintained under this article upon the grounds of
24 this section. A special proceeding for a judgment of rent due may be
25 maintained where the tenant has defaulted in the payment of rent, pursu-
26 ant to the agreement under which the premises are held, where such rent
27 was due between March seventh, two thousand twenty and a date six months
28 after the expiration of the state disaster emergency, as that term is
29 defined in section twenty of the executive law, declared pursuant to
30 executive order two hundred two of two thousand twenty, as amended, and
31 a written demand of the rent has been made with at least fourteen days'
32 notice requiring the payment of the rent, served upon the tenant as
33 prescribed in section seven hundred thirty-five of this article. Any
34 person succeeding to the landlord's interest in the premises may proceed
35 under this section for rent due his or her predecessor in interest for
36 the time period specified above if he or she has a right thereto.
37 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
