Posted March 27, 2020

Small businesses are being affected heavily by the COVID-19 pandemic, but there are many steps that can be taken and resources that can be utilized to minimize the economic impacts.

Small Business Steps and Precautions During COVID-19:

1. Contact your insurance agent to review your coverage under your business interruption policy
2. Apply for SBA Disaster Loan
3. Contact existing lenders used by your business to see if they have any special offers
4. Be aware of health care plan requirements for coverage of employees in the event that employees’ hours are being cut or employees are being furloughed and notify the employees of any changes in benefits that could result due to a reduction in hours
5. Be aware of new federal and state laws (see links below) providing for paid sick leave, paid family leave and in the case of New York, disability benefits and job protection
6. Keep documentation of all atypical business expenses incurred in connection with COVID-19 (i.e., face masks, gloves, hand sanitizers etc.) for potential future FEMA relief

Federal Actions & Resources:

Families First Coronavirus Response Act– provides paid leave for employees absent from work for reasons related to COVID-19 https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/treasury-irs-and-labor-announce-plan-to-implement-coronavirus-related-paid-leave-for-workers-and-tax-credits-for-small-and-midsize-businesses-to-swiftly-recover-the-cost-of-providing-coronavirus

The act provides for tax credits and tax exemption for businesses as follows:

• Payroll tax credit for required paid sick leave
• Income tax sick leave credit for the self-employed
• Payroll tax credit for required paid family leave (Emergency Family and Medical Leave Expansion Act)- this leave is available when an employee must take off to care for their children under age 18 because of a COVID-19 emergency declared by a government authority that either closes a school or place of childcare or makes a childcare provider unavailable
• Income tax family leave credit for the self-employed

IRS Resources–  https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus  The IRS has extended the deadline to file and pay 2019 federal income taxes; returns or payments due by April 15, 2020 are now due by July 15, 2020 (no forms need to be filed to obtain the extension and no interest or penalties will accrue until July 16, 2020)  https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/tax-day-now-july-15-treasury-irs-extend-filing-deadline-and-federal-tax-payments-regardless-of-amount-owed

U.S. Small Business Administration  https://www.sba.gov/

Small business owners in all 50 states are eligible to apply for disaster loans due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19)https://www.sba.gov/disaster-assistance/coronavirus-covid-19

U.S. Chamber of Commerce https://www.uschamber.com/coronavirus

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/guidance-business-response.html

Pandemic Preparedness in the Workplace and the Americans with Disabilties Act  https://www.eeoc.gov/facts/pandemic_flu.html

New York State Actions & Resources:

New York State on PAUSE  https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/home

Essential Businesses https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-issues-guidance-essential-services-under-new-york-state-pause-executive-order

An act providing requirements for sick leave and the provision of certain employee benefits when such employee is subject to a mandatory or precautionary order of quarantine or isolation due to COVID-19

https://nyassembly.gov/leg/?default_fld=&leg_video=&bn=A10153&term=2019&Summary=Y&Memo=Y&Text=Y

https://paidfamilyleave.ny.gov/covid-19-paid-leave-guidance-employers

Abatement of penalties and interest for sales and use tax due to COVID-19 https://www.tax.ny.gov/pdf/notices/n20-1.pdf

New York State Economic Development Council http://www.nysedc.org/event/covid-19-updates-and-resources/

Empire State Development https://esd.ny.gov/esd-covid-19-related-resources

 Local Resources:

Long Island Association (LIA) http://www.longislandassociation.org/

Suffolk County Business Recovery Unit  https://suffolkcountyny.gov/Departments/Economic-Development-and-Planning/Business-Recovery-Unit

-Survey https://suffolkcountyny.force.com/public/request/DOLBUSIMP/details

Suffolk County Chambers of Commerce https://www.suffolkchambers.org/events/detail/covid-19-suffolk-county-disaster-relief-information-11079

• Estate planning and will executions will continue, with modifications to account for limits on in-person contacts.
• Real estate transactions are continuing, also with modifications as needed due to governmental office closings and limited in-person contacts.
• Litigation services are still available while the physical courthouses are closed, though there are limits for non-electronic filings and in-person applications for non-emergency situations.
• Business planning and advice continues to be available during this uncertain period.
• Land use planning and municipal work continues while the local governments work out the modified procedures for processing the applications.

The Supreme Court, Suffolk County (Hon. William G. Ford) has dismissed a “SLAPP” suit filed against parties who were challenging neighbors’ development applications in Reeve v. Andes, Suffolk Index No. 622900/2018.  The 14-page decision reviews the origins of the protections against SLAPP suits (a strategic litigation against public participation), including the need to protect First Amendment rights, and thoroughly discusses the anti-SLAPP statutes and case law that has developed over the past three decades to avoid intimidation of those who speak out at public meetings.   Turning to the particulars of the Reeve case, the court agreed with the defendants that they fell within the protection of the anti-SLAPP laws and that the plaintiffs failed to sustain their burden of proving that the SLAPP suit nonetheless had substantial merit to avoid dismissal.  The court also granted the defendants summary judgment as to the plaintiffs’ liability on the defendants’ counterclaims, and it directed the parties to proceed to an inquest to determine the amount of attorney’s fees, costs, disbursements and/or compensatory and punitive damages.  EHADP represented the defendants in the Reeve case, and a copy of the decision is available here.

EHADP Partner Christine Perrucci Smith participated as a panelist at a Press Sessions event hosted by The Press News Group at Rowdy Hall in East Hampton.  The panel discussed the impacts that the new N.Y. State landlord-tenant laws are having on the local rental market and also explored the pros and cons of online competitors, such as Airbnb.   Christine discussed the impact that the laws are having on landlords, including their willingness to engage in the rental market in light of the new regulations.  She also explained the new, rather strict statutory requirements governing tenant’s rights to inspections and the return of the security deposit.  The event was well attended by over 60 members of the community, including fellow attorneys, brokers, business owners, and landlords.  The audience was engaged and actively participated with the panelists in discussing these recent changes in the local rental market

The Supreme Court, Suffolk County has upheld a decision of the Zoning Board of Appeals for the Village of Westhampton Beach in Propper v. Zoning Board, Index No. 3055/2019.  The case involved a variance application made to the ZBA to allow a 10-foot relaxation of a 30-foot side yard setback requirement for a single-family home.   The driving force for the variance application was the existence of wetlands on the property — in order to maximize the setback from the wetlands to the south, the owner sought to reduce the setback from the lot line to the north.  The ZBA, after weighing the benefits and detriments of the proposal, granted the variance, citing, among other things, the environmental benefits that result from the increased wetland setback.  When the neighbor adjacent to the northerly lot line sued, the Honorable William B. Rebolini of the Supreme Court agreed that the ZBA’s decision rationally weighed the various factors before granting the variance.  In particular, Justice Rebolini, citing Wambold v.  Village of Southampton Zoning Board, 140 A.D.3d 891 (2016), agreed that the ZBA rationally concluded that “significant environmental benefits would inure to the Village as a whole by increasing the setback from the wetlands….”

EHADP partner Christine Perrucci Smith and counsel Lisa J. Ross gave a presentation to the East End community at the Southampton Business Alliance breakfast meeting on the recent statutory amendments to New York landlord-tenant laws. The presentation addressed how the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 is changing various aspects of the landlord-tenant relationship in New York, including such topics as collection of security deposits and advanced rent, new notices addressing late payments and non-renewal of a lease required of the landlord, and the additional delay which will likely be caused during eviction proceedings. The event was well-attended by over 70 members of the community, including real estate brokers, business owners, landlords, and members of the local press.  Thank you to partner Lisa D. Tymann for coordinating the event with the Southampton Business Alliance.

The firm congratulates Amanda Star Frazer, Christine Perrucci Smith and Lisa D. Tymann on becoming partners.  Amanda, Christine, and Lisa have worked with EHADP for several years, each bringing to the firm a variety of experiential knowledge from their prior practices, as well as growing and expanding their practices to better serve the community in the East End of Long Island.  Amanda’s practice as a litigation attorney includes handling a variety of commercial disputes; real estate, title and land use cases; and contested estate matters.  Christine’s practice focus is in the areas of real estate, corporate, and estate administration.  Lisa’s work in the firm’s transactional practice areas includes estate planning, trust and estate administration, real estate and corporate work.