S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   3294
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 30, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sens.  MYRIE,  BAILEY, GIANARIS, HOYLMAN-SIGAL, JACKSON,
   KAVANAGH, KRUEGER, LIU, MAY, PARKER, RAMOS, RIVERA, SALAZAR,  SANDERS,
   SEPULVEDA,  SERRANO,  STAVISKY  -- read twice and ordered printed, and
   when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction
   and Community Development

 AN ACT preventing evictions during the COVID-19 covered period
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. This act shall be known and may be cited as the "Emergency
 Housing Stability and Displacement Prevention Act".
   § 2. Legislative findings. The legislature hereby finds  and  declares
 that  the COVID-19 pandemic has been a public health and economic crisis
 unparalleled by any in modern history. The State has lost over 30,000 of
 its citizens and more than  380,000  have  been  confirmed  infected,  a
 number  which continues to escalate.  A clear consensus of public health
 experts predicts subsequent waves of increasing infections, which  could
 lead  to graver consequences to public health and the economy than those
 that have occurred thus far. The lack of a  cure  or  effective  vaccine
 means  there  is no definitive endpoint to the harm from COVID-19 on the
 State. The legislature further finds and declares that housing instabil-
 ity and homelessness lead to worse health outcomes for  individuals  and
 in  doing  so  worsen  public  health. The legislature further finds and
 declares that the COVID-19 pandemic and its resultant economic instabil-
 ity and job losses has worsened an existing  housing  crisis  state-wide
 where  millions  of  tenants were already rent-burdened, and millions of
 homeowners were already struggling to remain current on their mortgages.
 The existing housing crisis disproportionately impacts Black and  Latinx
 individuals  and communities. The legislature further finds and declares
 that the well-documented disproportionate impacts of both  the  COVID-19
 pandemic  and  the  housing  crisis  on  communities of color are deeply
 connected to and rooted in  systemic  racism.  The  legislature  further
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD00752-01-3
              

 S. 3294                             2
 
 finds  and  declares that the State is presently in a state of emergency
 and extra ordinary measures have been  implemented  in  all  aspects  of
 society  to  protect  public health and welfare. The legislature further
 finds  and  declares  that  it is counterproductive to public health and
 welfare to allow evictions and foreclosures until the COVID-19  pandemic
 has  passed  and  sufficient  time  has been provided for communities to
 recover. Accordingly, the legislature must  protect  public  health  and
 welfare  and extend a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures until one
 year after this crisis has concluded.
   § 3. For the purposes of this act, the "COVID-19 covered period" shall
 include March 7, 2020 through the end of the state of emergency  in  the
 state of New York plus one full year.  For the purposes of this act, the
 "state  of emergency" period includes, but is not limited to, any period
 referenced in Executive Orders 202, 202.8, 202.28 and any  other  execu-
 tive  order  that closed or otherwise restricted public or private busi-
 nesses or places of public accommodation, or  required  postponement  or
 cancellation  of all non-essential gatherings of individuals of any size
 for any reason in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, within the state of
 New York.  For the purposes of this act, "lawful occupant" of a residen-
 tial or commercial property shall mean any person or business  for  whom
 eviction  proceedings  in  a  court  of law would be legally required to
 remove said  occupant  from  the  residential  or  commercial  property,
 including  but  not  limited to, any person who occupied the residential
 property for thirty consecutive days or longer.
   § 4. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary:
   1. No court shall authorize the execution or enforcement of a  warrant
 of  eviction  or  order  a  monetary judgment for rent arrears against a
 tenant or lawful occupant of a residential or commercial property during
 the COVID-19 covered period.
   2. No court shall accept for filing any papers commencing  any  action
 or  proceeding  seeking  a judgment of possession or a monetary judgment
 against a tenant or lawful occupant of a residential property  for  rent
 or use and occupancy during the COVID-19 covered period.
   3.  No  court  shall  issue  a  warrant  of  eviction  or  judgment of
 possession against a residential or commercial tenant  or  other  lawful
 occupant, or execute a judgment of foreclosure and sale of any owner-oc-
 cupied or rented residential or commercial property, during the COVID-19
 covered period.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.