NY State Senate Bill 2021-S1585

Senate Bill S1585

2021-2022 Legislative Session

Ceases the taking and restitution of property and the execution of money judgments by a sheriff due to the impacts of COVID-19

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Judiciary Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 05, 2022	referred to judiciary
Jan 13, 2021	referred to judiciary

2021-S1585 (ACTIVE) - Details

Current Committee:: Senate Judiciary
Law Section:: Executive
Versions Introduced in 2019-2020 Legislative Session:: S8455

2021-S1585 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Provides that no sheriff shall take action with respect to the execution of a money judgment until the conclusion of the state disaster emergency declared pursuant to executive order 202, and then not for an additional six months for parties who suffered a substantial loss of income due to COVID-19.

2021-S1585 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S1585

SPONSOR: SANDERS
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act in relation to ceasing the execution of money judgments by a
sheriff due to the impacts of COVID-19

 
PURPOSE:

To protect people and businesses impacted by COVID-19 from debt
collection and eviction, during this crisis.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1, Subsection 1 establishes that no sheriff in New York State
shall act with respect to the execution of a money judgement prior to
September 30th, 2020, or the conclusion of Executive Order 2020 unless
ordered by the Governor or the-action is under the jurisdiction of the
Family Court.

Subsection 2 establishes that no sheriff in New York State shall act
with respect to the execution of a money judgement prior to April 1st,
2021, six months after the state of emergency order declared in Execu-
tive Order 202 is declared, unless the action has been ordered by the
Governor, the matter is under the jurisdiction of the Family Court, and
the party has not been able to prove that they were impacted by COVID19.

Subsection 3 states that parties need to have been impacted by COVID-19,
must have a substantial loss of income, spent two or more weeks on state
or federal unemployment assistance, or worked less than three days due
to the .following: the person had COVID-19 or symptoms and sought
medical attention, a household member was diagnosed with COVID-19, a
person in the household who was in their care was unable to attend
school due to a state of emergency, was unable to reach their job due to
the stay at home order, unable to reach the place of employment due to
the advice of a. medical professional to self-quarantine, became the
breadwinner due to the death of the head of household due to COVID-19,
and other reasons specified. Also, businesses are protected under this
order, if they were subject to limitations to the stay at home order,
saw a loss of business at the rate of '50 percent to the three-month
period of 2019) during the crisis).

Section 2 establishes the effective date.

 
AMENDED FROM THE PREVIOUS VERSION:

This bill does not contain a provision regarding the taking or execution
of restitution of property, and only speaks to debt collections.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

During COVID-19 outbreak, employees and small business-owners have been
left without pay, due to state and local restrictions on non-essential
businesses. Workers, their families, and the economy have lost critical
funding. As recently established federal programs have not offered
substantial relief from this crisis and have greatly impacted minority
communities, it is important for the State of New York to identify ways
that they can provide more support to these small business owners and
their employees, especially if that means protecting them from eviction
and debt collection.

This bill seeks to bar the execution of money judgments for the duration
of the crisis and for the post-crisis recovery. This bill will ensure
that New Yorkers and the small businesses that.are struggling from this
crisis are net exposed to debt collection, which can leave them without
funds to survive for the duration of this crisis.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately

2021-S1585 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   1585
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 13, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen. SANDERS -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Judiciary
 
 AN ACT in relation to ceasing the execution  of  money  judgments  by  a
   sheriff due to the impacts of COVID-19
 
   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. 1. Notwithstanding any provision of law  to  the  contrary,
 prior  to the later of September 30, 2020 or the conclusion of the state
 disaster emergency declared pursuant to executive order 202, no  sheriff
 shall  take  action  with  respect  to the execution of a money judgment
 unless:
   (a) such action or type of action has been  ordered  by  the  governor
 pursuant to article 2-B of the executive law or is necessary in order to
 carry out an order issued by the governor pursuant to such article; or
   (b) such action or type of action is in connection with a matter under
 the jurisdiction of the family court.
   2.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, prior to the
 later of April 1, 2021 or six months following  the  conclusion  of  the
 state  disaster  emergency  declared pursuant to executive order 202, no
 sheriff shall take action with respect to the execution of a money judg-
 ment unless:
   (a) such action or type of action has been  ordered  by  the  governor
 pursuant to article 2-B of the executive law or is necessary in order to
 carry out an order issued by the governor pursuant to such article;
   (b) such action or type of action is in connection with a matter under
 the jurisdiction of the family court; or
   (c)  the  party  against  whom  such  taking  and  restitution or such
 execution is sought has been provided a reasonable opportunity  to  show
 the court having jurisdiction over the matter that such party suffered a
 substantial  loss  of income because of novel coronavirus, COVID-19, and
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00144-02-1

 S. 1585                             2
 
 such court has found that such party has not suffered such a loss or has
 effectively waived such opportunity.
   3.  For  the  purposes  of  subdivision 2 of this section, a party has
 suffered a substantial loss of income because of COVID-19 in the follow-
 ing instances:
   (a) The party is a natural person and between March 7,  2020  and  the
 conclusion  of  the state disaster emergency declared pursuant to execu-
 tive order 202, inclusive, experienced two or more weeks  in  which  (i)
 the  person  claimed federal or state unemployment insurance benefits in
 connection with a claim that was filed on or after March 7, 2020 or (ii)
 the person worked fewer than  three  days  and  earned  less  than  $504
 because of one or more of the following situations:
   (1)  the  person was diagnosed with COVID-19 or was experiencing symp-
 toms of COVID-19 and seeking a medical diagnosis;
   (2) a member of the person's household was diagnosed with COVID-19;
   (3) the person was providing care for a family member or a  member  of
 the person's household who was diagnosed with COVID-19;
   (4) a member of the person's household for whom the person had primary
 caregiving responsibility was unable to attend school or another facili-
 ty  that  was  closed as a direct result of the state disaster emergency
 declared pursuant to executive order 202 and  such  school  or  facility
 care was required for the person to work;
   (5)  the  person  was unable to reach the person's place of employment
 because of a quarantine imposed as a direct result of the state disaster
 emergency declared pursuant to executive order 202;
   (6) the person was unable to reach the person's  place  of  employment
 because  the  person had been advised by a health care provider to self-
 quarantine due to concerns related to COVID-19;
   (7) the person was scheduled to commence employment and did not have a
 job or was unable to reach the job as  a  direct  result  of  the  state
 disaster emergency declared pursuant to executive order 202;
   (8)  the person became the breadwinner or major supporter for a house-
 hold because the head of the  household  died  as  a  direct  result  of
 COVID-19;
   (9) the person quit a job as a direct result of COVID-19; or
   (10)  the person's place of employment is closed as a direct result of
 the state disaster emergency declared pursuant to executive order 202;
   (b) The party is a business and (i) it was subject to  seating,  occu-
 pancy  or on-premises service limitations pursuant to an executive order
 issued by the governor during  the  state  disaster  emergency  declared
 pursuant to executive order 202 or (ii) its revenues for any three-month
 period  between  March  7, 2020 and the conclusion of the state disaster
 emergency declared pursuant to executive order 202, inclusive, were less
 than 50% of its revenues for the same period in 2019 or less than 50% of
 its aggregate revenues for the months of December  2019,  January  2020,
 and February 2020; or
   (c)  The party is a natural person who is being held liable for a debt
 or other obligation of a business that  satisfies  the  requirements  of
 paragraph (b) of this subdivision.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.