A member of the New York Assembly has come out and said he has introduced a bill that would ban collection agencies from contacting individuals for 90 days.
Assemblymember Felix Ortiz, a Democrat and Assistant Speaker of the New York State Assembly, posted on his Facebook page on Thursday, linking to a published report about the proposed legislation. But as of early Monday morning, no such bill had been published on the New York Assembly’s website.
Assemblymember Ortiz has also introduced a bill that would freeze student loan, mortgage, auto loan, credit card, and utility payments in New York State for 90 days.
About his bill that would prohibit debt collection in New York, Ortiz said that New Yorkers have too many other things to worry about right now.
“I have introduced legislation that will stop the stressful and often harassing telephone calls from creditors and collection agencies to New York State consumers for a period of 90 days,” Ortiz said, according to the published report. “Since the start of the dangerous and deadly COVID-19 pandemic, 10 million Americans have lost their jobs and filed for Unemployment Insurance benefits.
“At the same time consumers are staying home to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus. The last thing people should have to deal with are incessant telephone calls from creditors or credit collection agencies while they are doing what we are asking of them to be safe and keep others safe.”
The debate over how to address debt collection during the coronavirus pandemic has been raging across the country, in state legislatures and in Congress. Bills in Ohio and South Carolina have been introduced to prohibit debt collection activities, and the state of Massachusetts has enacted emergency regulations
