While the COVID-19 pandemic has led to the adoption of certain piecemeal consumer protection policies and/or guidances by individual states and the federal government, there have yet to be any sweeping changes to existing federal consumer debt collection laws or regulations in the wake of the pandemic. There has been a push, though, for the enactment of comprehensive consumer protection provisions ...
On April 17, a bill was introduced in the United States House of Representatives seeking to create the Rent and Mortgage Cancellation Act of 2020. The primary feature of the bill is it would suspend all rent and mortgage payments due during the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning on April 1, 2020 and ending 30 days after the termination of the pandemic by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The tenants and mortgagees would have no responsibility to ever make those payments ...
As part of a package of economic measures worth EUR 5.1 billion, the Serbian Government adopted a decree on 16 April 2020 establishing a guarantee scheme for loans to be provided by local banks to businesses to reduce the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic (the “COVID-19 Guarantee Scheme”) ...
The COVID-19 crisis has triggered an unprecedented response of federal and state relief programs to provide health care resources and economic relief. Once the country moves past the immediate crisis, the government will take a hard look at emergency payments. Along with $2 trillion in relief, the CARES Act established a new law enforcement authority within the Treasury Department: the Special Inspector General for Pandemic Recovery (the SIGPR) ...
On April 15, 2020, by means of Decree 559 of 2020, the President of the Republic ordered the creation of the Sub-account for emergency mitigation – Covid 19- within the National Fund for Disaster Risk Management. Its purpose will be to finance the provision of goods, services and works required to contain, mitigate and prevent the spread of the adverse effects derived from the COVID-19 pandemic in the Colombian population in condition of vulnerability ...
Recently, the National Government has extended the preemptive mandatory isolation measure through Decree 531 of 2020. This has led to a review of the measured that had already been taken in the transport and infrastructure sector through Decree 482 of 2020 ...
Covid-19 is a so-called droplet transmitted virus, which means that the virus is spread through droplets which are expelled when an infected person e.g. coughs, sneezes or speaks. In order to reduce the risk of infection, it is of great importance that healthcare personnel have access to protective equipment in the form of e.g. visors, face masks, gloves and overalls ...
Even against the backdrop of the current COVID-19 pandemic (“corona”), cities, municipalities, and municipal associations need to continue to be efficient and, above all, capable of making decisions. This article provides an overview of the problems they are facing and offers some possible solutions. Problem Numerous scheduled meetings have been canceled and remain suspended until further notice ...
In the sensational decision of 14 May 2019 (Case C-55/18), the ECJ ruled that the Member States must oblige employers to introduce an "objective, reliable and accessible system enabling the duration of time worked each day by each worker to be measured”. The decision was largely understood primarily as an appeal to the legislators of the Member States to implement the EU legal requirements ...
A new ordinance n°2020-427 of 15 April 2020 on various provisions regarding deadlines for dealing with the covid-19 epidemic (the “Deadlines Ordinance of 15 April 2020”), presented to the Council of Ministers on 15 April, was published in the Official Journal on 16 April 2020, as it was eagerly awaited by real estate and construction professionals, as well as by the renewable energy sector ...
What is it? The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a loan program geared toward small businesses dealing with the jarring disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). It is a part of the larger $2 trillion CARES Act and run through the Small Business Administration. It provides $350 billion in loans to help businesses keep their workforce employed during COVID-19 crisis. Who can apply? The PPP provides loans to business with fewer than 500 employees ...
The Supreme Court this past week denied certiorari in United States ex rel. Schneider v. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., an appeal from a D.C. Circuit case affirming the district court’s dismissal of a qui tam FCA action. See No. 19-678, 2020 U.S. LEXIS 2079 (Apr. 6, 2020). In so doing, the Court declined to address the emerging circuit split over the extent of the government’s dismissal power in qui tam cases ...
COVID-19 related Executive Orders from Governor Newsom and shelter-in-place orders from County Health Officers in the Bay Area have restricted construction activities during this healthcare emergency. These restrictions apply to private projects and public works construction projects, although public works projects have broader flexibility to proceed. This alert will summarize how public works projects in the Bay Area can continue under the current orders ...
On April 9, 2020, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued Q&As on COVID-19 issues. The EEOC has also updated its guidance during a pandemic for employers relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. The following are some highlights from these updates. Medical Inquiries and Exams In the updated guidance, the EEOC indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic meets the definition of a direct threat ...
The current health emergency has called for the introduction of derogating and temporary rules on public procurement, both in the field of awarding and executing public contracts, given the current difficulties of enterprises and other economic operators to carry out their services and contracts normally in a period of containment. In public procurement law, Ordinance No ...
On Wednesday 18 March 2020, the Swiss Government suspended all deadlines in debt collection proceedings until 4 April 2020. It is a first step under the state of emergency due to the corona crisis that was declared on Monday. Read the entire article below ...
For the enactment of Resolution 058, the CREG considered the norms provided by Article 3 of Legislative Decree 517 of 2020 and CREG Resolution 012 of 2020. The following is a brief description of these regulations’ content: (i) Article 3 of Legislative Decree 517 of 2020 provides for the possibility of CREG to adopt special temporary schemes to defer payment of invoices issued ...
As of the entry into force of Legislative Decree 581 of 2020 and until December 31, 2020, Findeter may grant direct loans to official, mixed and private domiciliary public utilities companies supervised by the Superintendence of Domiciliary Public Utilities, in order to provide them with liquidity or working capital ...
For the enactment of CREG Resolution 059, the CREG considered Article 3 of Legislative Decree 517 of 2020. Article 3 of Legislative Decree 517 of 2020 provides for the possibility of CREG to adopt special temporary schemes to defer the payment of invoices issued. In addition, it authorizes CREG to adopt all measures it deems necessary to mitigate the effects of the State of Economic, Social and Ecological Emergency on users and agents in the gas chain ...
The Ministry of Justice conferred judicial powers to the special public attorneys of family matters to carry on adoption procedures. The Ministry of Justice decided to confer judicial powers to the special public attorneys for family matters to carry on with the adoption procedures and guarantee the protection of children’s rights during the crisis generated by the COVID 19 ...
The National Government, considering the economic, social and environmental emergency caused by COVID-19, has issued Decree 574 of 2020, aiming to conjure the effects of the emergency over the mining sector and to adopt measures that seek to guarantee the continuity of the power energy and gas public service provision. The National Government has identified the need to temporarily relief and suspend the compliance of certain legal and contractual obligation of some mining titles ...
By means of Resolution 4985 of 2020 issued on April 13th, ANI updated the measures that had originally been taken through Resolution 471 of 2020 to face the health emergency declared by the National Government amid COVID-19 pandemic ...
Aid for self-employed persons and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) affected by anti-coronavirus measures pursuant to the Czech Government’s 'COVID GUARANTEE' programme was exhausted in one day. On Monday, March 30, 2020, the terms and conditions of the follow-up COVID II program will be published, in which CZK 5 billion should be available. The rush of applications is expected, so action needs to be taken quickly and not delayed ...
