Extends to commercial tenants the right to seek a stay of the issuance of a warrant and a stay of any execution to collect the costs of the proceeding in a proceeding to recover the possession of premises in the city of New York.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7531
SPONSOR: Bichotte Hermelyn TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the real property actions and proceedings law, in
relation to extending to commercial tenants the right to seek a stay of
the issuance of a warrant and a stay of any execution to collect the
costs of the proceeding in a proceeding to recover the possession of
premises in the city of New York
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to extend the right to seek a delay of the
issuance of a warrant to commercial tenants in a proceeding to recover
the possession of premises in New York City.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1 amends the section heading subdivision 1 of section 753 of the
real property actions and proceedings law, the section heading as
amended by chapter 870 of the laws of 1982 and subdivision 1 as amended
by chapter 305 of the laws of 1963
Section 2 is the effective date
JUSTIFICATION:
Both commercial and residential leases often, if not always, contain
provisions permitting the landlord to terminate the lease and institute
a proceeding in Landlord-Tenant Court to evict the tenant, in the event
the tenant breaches a substantial obligation under the lease. In the
residential context, Real Property Actions and Proceedings Law § 753 (4)
permits the Court, after determining that the tenant in fact breached
the lease, to afford the tenant a post-judgment opportunity to cure.the
default, and remain in the premises.
RPAPL § 753 does not apply to premises occupied for commercial purposes.
When a commercial tenant is served with a notice to cure, threatening to
terminate the lease if alleged defaults are not cured within a certain
time, the tenant can either risk the danger of losing its lease if the
Court ultimately rules against the tenant, or seek a Yellowstone injunc-
tion, so named after the seminal case of First National Stores v.
Yellowstone Shopping Center (1968). A Yellowstone injunction tolls the
expiration of the cure period in the notice to cure, and prevents the
landlord from terminating the lease, to permit the tenant to litigate
the merits of the alleged defaults. Yellowstone injunction is.an expen-
sive remedy, but it is critical and valuable.
Recently, the Appellate Division, Second Department in 159 MP Corp v.
Redbridge Bedford, held that a commercial tenant can and did waive its
right to see a Yellowstone injection. Commercial landlords now can
demand and have demanded that such Yellowstone waivers be included in
leases. Commercial tenants, especially small businesses, often negotiate
their leases without the benefit of legal counsel, and do not likely
understand or appreciate the serious consequences which may result by
agreeing to waiver the right to seek injunction relief. New York City
commercial tenants should reserve the right to seek a stay or delay of
the issuance of a warrant. If the stay is granted, this would allow
commercial tenants the time necessary to collect their possessions and
vacate the property as ordered.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
01/03/24 referred to judiciary
01/13/23 referred to judiciary
201-22: A07494; referred to judiciary
2019-20: A7508; referred to judiciary
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7531
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 1, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. BICHOTTE HERMELYN, SEAWRIGHT, EPSTEIN, RIVERA --
read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
AN ACT to amend the real property actions and proceedings law, in
relation to extending to commercial tenants the right to seek a stay
of the issuance of a warrant and a stay of any execution to collect
the costs of the proceeding in a proceeding to recover the possession
of premises in the city of New York
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The section heading and subdivision 1 of section 753 of the
2 real property actions and proceedings law, as amended by section 21 of
3 part M of chapter 36 of the laws of 2019, are amended to read as
4 follows:
5 Stay in premises occupied for dwelling or commercial purposes. 1. In
6 a proceeding to recover the possession of premises occupied for dwelling
7 or commercial purposes, other than a room or rooms in [an] a hotel,
8 lodging house, or rooming house, the court, on application of the occu-
9 pant, may stay the issuance of a warrant and also stay any execution to
10 collect the costs of the proceeding for a period of not more than one
11 year, if it appears that the premises are used for dwelling or commer-
12 cial purposes; that the application is made in good faith; that the
13 applicant cannot within the neighborhood secure suitable premises simi-
14 lar to those occupied by the applicant and that the applicant made due
15 and reasonable efforts to secure such other premises, or that by reason
16 of other facts it would occasion extreme hardship to the applicant or
17 the applicant's family if the stay were not granted. In determining
18 whether refusal to grant a stay would occasion extreme hardship, the
19 court shall consider serious ill health, significant exacerbation of an
20 ongoing condition, a child's enrollment in a local school, and any other
21 extenuating life circumstances affecting the ability of the applicant or
22 the applicant's family to relocate and maintain quality of life. The
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11400-01-5
A. 7531 2
1 court shall consider any substantial hardship the stay may impose on the
2 landlord in determining whether to grant the stay or in setting the
3 length or other terms of the stay. In an application brought outside a
4 city of one million or more, the term "neighborhood" shall be construed
5 to mean (i) the same town, village or city where the applicant now
6 resides, or (ii) if the applicant has school aged children residing with
7 [him or her] the applicant, "neighborhood" shall mean the school
8 district where such children attend or are eligible to attend.
9 § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
10 have become a law.
