New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has approved a bill that will further extend protections against property tax lien sales, foreclosures, and evictions.
S. 50001, signed September 2, extends the state's moratorium on evictions and prevents local governments from engaging in property tax lien sales and tax foreclosures until January 15, 2022.
The protections were enacted under the state's COVID-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2020 and the COVID-19 Emergency Protect Our Small Businesses Act of 2021. They were extended to August 31 under legislation signed by then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo in May.
S. 50001 was introduced September 1 by Sen. Brian Kavanagh (D) at the request of the governor, and was approved that day 38 to 19 by the Senate and 81 to 60 by the House.
Tenants, mortgagors, and property owners will need to submit documentation to explain the cause of their hardships to prevent eviction proceedings from occurring.
The bill will also protect property owners who have been given stays of mortgage foreclosure, tax foreclosure, or tax lien sale and have filed documentation of their hardships with their lenders from being “discriminated against in the determination of whether credit should be extended or reported negatively to a credit reporting agency.”
“Recently the Supreme Court rendered a heartless decision that blocked the Biden administration's eviction plan. Under my watch, here in the State of New York we are not going to exacerbate what is already a crisis,” Hochul said August 31, announcing an extraordinary legislative session to address the state’s rent and eviction crisis.
The governor's office did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
S. 50001 will also allocate $250 million to establish a supplemental emergency rental assistance program to provide relief to more households and landlords, and create a $25 million fund to supply legal services to tenants who are encountering eviction proceedings, according to a September 2 release.
A similar bill (S. 7315) introduced August 6 by Sen. Alessandra Biaggi (D) would have extended the protections against property tax lien sales, foreclosures, and evictions until October 31.