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On June 3, 2020, the Appellate Division, Second Department in the case of Trust v. Barua, 2020 N.Y. Slip Op. 03095, reversed a decision by the lower court and held that the discontinuance of a prior foreclosure action did not, standing alone, de-accelerate the mortgage debt. Therefore, a subsequently filed foreclosure action was time-barred.

On May 26, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed into law Section 22-1005 of the NYC Administrative Code, which prohibits the enforcement of personal guaranties of New York City commercial leases involving COVID-19 impacted tenants. Significantly, the new law offers no relief to individual proprietors who execute commercial leases in their own names.

On Friday, May 22nd, Judge Anthony Cannataro, the Administrative Judge of the NYC Civil Court, issued 3 new Directives relating to Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 202.28 which limits the commencement of summary nonpayment proceedings and the enforcement of eviction orders until August 20, 2020.

On May 7, 2020, in an effort to help those impacted by COVID-19 address their rent obligations, Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 202.28, which modified the security deposit law. Relief is available from the date of the Order but significantly only through June 6, 2020.

In December 2019, Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed new Fair Housing rules which were adopted this month and go into effect June 20, 2020.  Under the newly adopted state rule, real estate agents and brokers must notify prospective buyers, sellers, renters and landlords about anti-discrimination laws and prominently display the fair-housing disclosure form in their offices which provides information about how customers can file complaints with the New York State Division of Human Rights. The rules also require groups that provide state-mandated fair-housing training to make audio and video recordings of their classes. The state can impose fines or suspend or revoke licenses of agents or brokers who violate the regulation.

The Housing Stability Tenant Protection Act of 2019 (“HSTPA”) eviscerates many Owner’s rights that have been in effect since the Omnibus Housing Act of 1983 (the “OHA”) became effective on April 1, 1984.  With regard to the issue of preferential rents, the HSTPA provides that if the tenant is being charged and is paying a rent lower (preferential) than the legal regulated rent, the rent to be charged on a renewal until there is a vacancy is the lower preferential rent plus any guidelines increase.