On May 7, 2020, Governor Cuomo signed Executive Order 202.28, which provides, among other things, that an eviction or foreclosure proceeding may not be initiated or enforced against a commercial tenant or a commercial mortgagor for nonpayment of rent or of its loan, as applicable, resulting from COVID-19-related financial hardship.
Due to the continued negative economic impacts of COVID-19, on October 20, 2020, Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 202.70, extending the moratorium on eviction and foreclosure actions from being initiated and enforced by commercial landlords and lenders through January 1, 2021.
It is worth noting that, although the order grants commercial tenants, such as retailers and restaurants, additional time to catch-up on past due rent obligations or otherwise come to an agreement with their landlords to abate or defer rent payments rendered unsustainable by COVID-19 shutdowns, those obligations remain intact. Therefore, commercial tenants should reach out to their landlords to come to an agreement regarding payment of past due rent before the moratorium on evictions expires, as such rent may be payable at some point in the future. Similarly, Executive Order 202.70 does not waive past-due installments of loan payments and therefore, commercial mortgagors should negotiate with their lenders to resolve outstanding loan payments before the moratorium on foreclosure expires.
