NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8482
SPONSOR: Otis TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the real property law, in relation to
requiring landlords to mitigate damages when commercial tenants vacate
premises in violation of the terms of the lease
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Amends the real property law to include commercial landlords in the
section of the real property law requiring that landlords mitigate
damages when tenants vacate premises before the expiration date of a
lease.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends section 227-e of the real property law, as added by
section 4 of part M of chapter 36 of the laws of 2019 to include commer-
cial leases in the law.
Section 2 provides that this act shall take effect immediately.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ORIGINAL AND AMENDED VERSION (IF APPLICABLE):
n/a
JUSTIFICATION:
New York State has restored the duty of landlords to mitigate damages
when a tenant vacates before the end of a lease term for residential
units. This public policy decision is based on the long-standing princi-
ple of the duty of a plaintiff to minimize damages. This sound princi-
ple, now applied to residential units, is also good public policy to
protect commercial tenants from property owners who make no effort to
re-rent a vacant property or minimize damages. Currently, it is common
for commercial leases to include such a provision. This legislation
would extend the state policy to commercial landlords and tenants on a
uniform basis.
This legislation is especially important given the Covid-19 crisis and
related closure of businesses due to the pandemic. The duty for commer-
cial landlords to minimize damages will benefit small businesses strug-
gling to survive the crisis.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
This is a new bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:,
n/a
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
