A 7531: 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.

  
  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.