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File #: Int 1795-2019    Version: Name: Expanding protections for victims of domestic violence to include economic abuse.
Type: Introduction Status: Committee
Committee: Committee on Civil and Human Rights
On agenda: 11/14/2019
Enactment date: Law number:
Title: A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to expanding protections for victims of domestic violence to include economic abuse
Sponsors: Justin L. Brannan, Farah N. Louis, Diana Ayala , Ben Kallos, Robert E. Cornegy, Jr., Laurie A. Cumbo, Keith Powers , Carlos Menchaca, Barry S. Grodenchik, Margaret S. Chin, Helen K. Rosenthal, Alicka Ampry-Samuel , Robert F. Holden, Brad S. Lander, Inez D. Barron
Council Member Sponsors: 15
Summary: This bill would amend the definition of the term “victim of domestic violence” under the New York City Human Rights Law (HRL) to recognize economic abuse as a form of domestic violence and would extend existing protections for domestic violence victims to those who have experienced economic abuse. Economic abuse would include behavior that is coercive, deceptive or unreasonably controls or restrains a person’s ability to acquire, use or maintain economic resources to which they are entitled.
Attachments: 1. Summary of Int. No. 1795-A, 2. Summary of Int. No. 1795, 3. Int. No. 1795, 4. November 14, 2019 - Stated Meeting Agenda with Links to Files, 5. Hearing Transcript - Stated Meeting 11-14-19, 6. Minutes of the Stated Meeting - November 14, 2019, 7. Proposed Int. No. 1795-A - 9/20/21

Proposed Int. No. 1795-A

 

By Council Members Brannan, Louis, Ayala, Kallos, Cornegy, Cumbo, Powers, Menchaca, Grodenchik, Chin, Rosenthal, Ampry-Samuel, Holden, Lander and Barron

 

A Local Law to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in relation to expanding protections for victims of domestic violence to include economic abuse

 

Be it enacted by the Council as follows:

 

Section 1. The definition of “victim of domestic violence” in section 8-102 of the administrative code of the city of New York, as added by local law 63 of 2018, is amended to read as follows:

Victim of domestic violence.  The term "victim of domestic violence" means:

[a] 1. A person who has been subjected to acts or threats of violence, not including acts of self-defense, committed by a current or former spouse of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabiting with or has cohabited with the victim, by a person who is or has been in a continuing social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim, or by a person who is or has continually or at regular intervals lived in the same household as the victim.

2. A person who has been subjected to acts or threats of economic abuse, committed by a current or former spouse of the victim, a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, a person who is cohabiting with or has cohabited with the victim, a person who is or has been in a continuing social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim, or a person who is or has continually or at regular intervals lived in the same household as the victim. As used in this definition the term “economic abuse” means behavior that is coercive, deceptive or unreasonably controls or restrains a person’s ability to acquire, use or maintain economic resources to which they are entitled, including coercion, fraud or manipulation to:

(a) Restrict a person’s access to money, assets, credit or financial information;

(b) Unfairly use a person’s personal economic resources, including money, assets and credit, for one’s own advantage; or

(c) Exert undue influence over a person’s financial and economic behavior or decisions, including forcing default on joint or other financial obligations, exploiting powers of attorney, guardianship or conservatorship, or failing or neglecting to act in the best interests of a person to whom one has a fiduciary duty.

§ 2. This local law takes effect immediately.

 

 

 

 

 

MJT/AW/BV

LS #9948

9/1/2021 at 2:00 PM