NEW YORK STATE EVICTION UPDATE No less than two days after the eviction moratorium had expired, the governor of New York signed into law Chapter 417 of the Laws of 2021 (the “Act”), an amended version of the moratorium, protecting tenants from eviction at least until January 15, 2021. The Act was publicized as “new…




HOW THE RECENT SUPREME COURT RULING AFFECTS NEW YORK’S EVICTION MORATORIUM On August 12, 2021 the United States Supreme Court issued a decision in the case of Pantelis Chrysafis, et al. v. Lawrence K. Marks which stopped the enforcement of a portion of New York’s Covid-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Procedure Act (the “Act”). The…




UNDERSTANDING FORECLOSURE PROCEEDINGS AND HARDSHIP DECLARATIONS DURING COVID-19 New York State recently adopted the Covid-19 Emergency Eviction and Foreclosure Procedure Act of 2020, which, along with a number of other protections for residential property owners relating to eviction proceedings, clarified the status of both tax and residential mortgage foreclosure proceedings during the current pandemic and…




VIRTUALLY REOPENING THE CIVIL COURTHOUSE If you must bring a lawsuit against a person, a business, or for some other legal relief, you need to go to court. The New York State legal system never completely closed although, from mid-March to mid-May, it did pause almost all activity. That has now changed. It is now…




CHANGES TO THE BANKRUPTCY CODE PROVIDES TIMELY RELIEF TO SMALL BUSINESSES Small businesses are the driver behind the Hudson Valley economy, but many are struggling to survive during the current Covid-19 pandemic. A recent US Chamber of Commerce poll showed that half of small businesses only have enough cash on hand to survive for one…




THE STATE OF FORECLOSURES DURING COVID-19 The stage of foreclosures during COVID-19. In a recent Executive Order, Governor Cuomo addressed the need to provide financial relief to the citizens of New York. The directive set forth the following: Forbearance with respect to mortgage payments for 90 days from the due date for any person or…




PRO’S AND CON’S OF BANKRUPTCY CHAPTER 7 DURING COVID-19 With many families already struggling to pay their bills, the Coronavirus pandemic is likely to result in a record high number of bankruptcy filings[1]. Even with direct payments from the federal government, a lot of people will be forced to borrow heavily from credit cards to…




Is Political Corruption Even Illegal Anymore? Recent overturned convictions of Dean Skelos and Sheldon Silver leave many New Yorkers frustrated and wondering if its public servants will ever be held accountable for using their offices for personal gain. Dean Skelos, former New York State Senate Majority Leader, was convicted in 2015 on Federal corruption charges…



