Requires the inclusion of suicide prevention resources to be provided with a warrant of eviction, including the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the applicable Suicide Crisis telephone number as provided by the Office of Mental Health.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A2483
SPONSOR: Dinowitz TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the real property actions and proceedings law, in
relation to requiring the inclusion of suicide prevention resources to
be provided with a warrant of eviction
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would amend the Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law to
require warrants of eviction to include suicide prevention information
so those being evicted or dispossessed will be able to take steps to
address the impact of eviction on their mental health. The intent of
this bill is to make individuals who have recently gone through the
hardship of being evicted aware of mental health services regarding
suicide.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section one of the bill amends subdivision 1 of § 749 of the real prop-
erty actions and proceedings law to require that the National Suicide
Prevention Lifeline as well as the applicable New York State Office of
Mental Health Suicide Crisis telephone number be included in any
warrants for eviction or dispossession pursuant to this section.
Section two of the bill provides effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
In 2016 there were twice as many suicides as there were homicides in the
United States. At nearly 45,000 suicides that year, 62.3% of violent
deaths were by suicides. According to a 2019 analysis of Center for
Disease Control data, suicides were most often preceded by a mental
health issue, intimate partner conflict, or impending crisis (including
job and home loss) during the previous or upcoming 2 weeks. Suicide is
the leading cause of violent death in New York State as well. According
to the New York State Sheriff's Association, 73% of the 1,379 violent
deaths that occurred outside of New York City in 2015 were suicides. The
NYC Department of Health reported a similarly alarming figure: over 50%
of 2015's violent incidents in the City were suicides. Action needs to
be taken to address the National and Local suicide crisis we are facing.
An August 14, 2019 report to the Federal Communications Commissions
prepared by the Wireline Competition Bureau and the Office of Economics
and Analytics provided a meta-analysis of the efficacy of suicide crisis
hotlines. The report showed that helplines yield a significant reduction
in callers' self-reported crisis and suicide states from the beginning
to the end of the calls. A cited evaluation of 550 callers from 6
different help centers reported that helpline call directly stopped
79.6% of callers from killing themselves. Suicide prevention hotlines
are a key resource for individuals experiencing crises.
To address this crisis at the local level, a team of epidemiologists in
Washington County, Oregon spent 6 years working to create more complete
data regarding the impact of each possible issue on suicide rate. They
found that eviction was the most common crisis experienced by those who
committed suicide. As a result, law enforcement intervened by including
crisis help line information along with eviction notices. The positive
outcomes resulting from access to this form of support during a crisis
have decades of documented evidence.
Raising awareness to individuals considering suicide during the time of
crisis (such as an eviction) can normalize their feelings by validating
that their circumstance is serious and that they should seek assistance.
Local helplines are included as well pursuant to this legislation
because their regional knowledge and training may make them better
resources in callers' pursuit of new housing.
This legislation would connect the dots for many people between the
housing crisis" and its impact on mental health. Local helpline workers
are trained to provide support and could offer more country-specific
resources available to those potentially experiencing housing loss. For
this reason, both county and national helplines are required to be
included in warrants of eviction, as well as any addition resources
sheriff's departments wish to include.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2023-24: A.1806 - Third Reading Calendar / S.1971 - Housing,
Construction and Community Development
2021-22: A.2205 - Third Reading Calendar / S.2230 - Housing,
Construction and Community Development
2020: A.10127 - Rules / S.9093 - Rules
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect 180 days after becoming law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2483
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 17, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. DINOWITZ, TAPIA, SIMON, RAGA -- read once and
referred to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the real property actions and proceedings law, in
relation to requiring the inclusion of suicide prevention resources to
be provided with a warrant of eviction
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 749 of the real property actions
2 and proceedings law, as amended by section 19 of part M of chapter 36 of
3 the laws of 2019, is amended to read as follows:
4 1. (a) Upon rendering a final judgment for petitioner, the court shall
5 issue a warrant directed to the sheriff of the county or to any consta-
6 ble or marshal of the city in which the property, or a portion thereof,
7 is situated, or, if it is not situated in a city, to any constable of
8 any town in the county, describing the property, stating the earliest
9 date upon which execution may occur pursuant to the order of the court,
10 and commanding the officer to remove all persons named in the proceed-
11 ing, provided upon a showing of good cause, the court may issue a stay
12 of re-letting or renovation of the premises for a reasonable period of
13 time.
14 (b) A warrant issued under this article shall include information
15 regarding suicide prevention resources in clear, bold face type of no
16 less than fourteen-point in size. Such information shall include, but
17 not be limited to, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline and the
18 applicable Suicide Crisis telephone number as provided by the New York
19 State Office of Mental Health. Such information shall be provided to the
20 person or persons to be evicted or dispossessed at the time notice is
21 served as provided in subdivision two of this section.
22 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
23 it shall have become a law.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD04446-01-5
