A 5415: Enacts the "home repair act" establishing a home repair program and home repair fund to assist in home repairs by homeowners and landlords to improve home conditions.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5415 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 13, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. TAPIA -- read once and referred to the Committee on Housing AN ACT to amend the public housing law and the state finance law, in relation to enacting the "home repair act" The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "home repair act". 3 § 2. The public housing law is amended by adding a new section 14-a to 4 read as follows: 5 § 14-a. Home repair program. 1. For the purposes of this section, the 6 following terms shall have the following meanings: 7 (a) "Affordable units" means units where rents are affordable to 8 tenants at or below sixty percent of area median income, adjusted for 9 household size, as defined annually by the division. 10 (b) "Division" means the division of housing and community renewal. 11 (c) "Program" means the program established pursuant to subdivision 12 two of this section. 13 (d) "Rural areas" means areas of the state defined as non-entitlement 14 areas by the United States department of housing and urban development. 15 (e) "Serious violation" means a violation of a state law, rule or 16 regulation that poses an imminent threat to the health and safety of a 17 dwelling occupant, occupants in surrounding structures or passersby. 18 (f) "Small landlord" means a person who is a landlord, who has an 19 ownership stake in no more than five properties and no more than fifteen 20 rental units and rents such properties or units for use as a primary 21 residence for a fee, regardless of the length or form of the lease. 22 2. The division shall establish and administer a home repair program 23 to provide funding for the following purposes: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08206-01-5 
 A. 5415 2 1 (a) to ensure owner-occupied and rental units are fit for human habi- 2 tation, free from defective conditions or health and safety hazards, 3 including asbestos, mold, pests, or lead; 4 (b) to improve energy or water efficiency and ensure owner-occupied 5 and rental units are free of conditions preventing the installation of 6 measures to improve energy or water efficiency and lower utility costs; 7 and 8 (c) to make units accessible for individuals with disabilities. 9 3. The program shall provide grants not to exceed fifty thousand 10 dollars per unit to homeowners whose household income does not exceed 11 eighty percent of the area median income. Homeowners in rural areas, 12 persons with disabilities, and families with children five years old and 13 younger, shall receive priority for such grants. 14 4. The program shall provide loans not to exceed fifty thousand 15 dollars per unit to small landlords renting affordable units that are 16 recorded against a residential property in a mortgage security. Land- 17 lords in rural areas shall receive priority for such loans. Loans made 18 under the program shall be repaid under terms to be determined by the 19 division, except that loans made to small landlords who have maintained 20 compliance with each of the following shall be forgiven: 21 (a) the small landlord offered to extend by three years the lease of 22 the tenant occupying the unit when the funds were accepted; 23 (b) annual increases in monthly rent have not exceeded three percent 24 of the base rent or the unit has been occupied by a tenant participating 25 in the federal housing choice voucher program for a period of no less 26 than fifteen years; 27 (c) in the prior fifteen years, the small landlord has not committed a 28 serious violation with regard to such small landlord's rental property 29 for which such small landlord has taken no substantial steps, as deter- 30 mined by the division, to correct such serious violation within six 31 months following notification of such serious violation and for which no 32 fines or other penalties or a judgment to abate or correct were imposed 33 by a magisterial district judge or municipal court, nor a judgment at 34 law or in equity was imposed by a court; and 35 (d) the small landlord has maintained ownership of the unit for a 36 period of no less than fifteen years. 37 5. The division is authorized to coordinate with other state and local 38 agencies and non-profit corporations to administer the program locally. 39 The division shall adopt by rule processes for such state and local 40 agencies and non-profit corporations to apply to receive grants to 41 administer the program. Such processes may include a request for 42 proposals. Such processes shall require applicants to demonstrate that 43 they: 44 (a) have the capacity to administer grant funds received under this 45 section; and 46 (b) are able to comply with the requirements of all state and federal 47 laws, rules and regulations. 48 6. The division shall adopt by rule or regulation, the following with 49 regard to the program: 50 (a) standards for repair and rehabilitation activities conducted by 51 low-income households; 52 (b) standards for repair and rehabilitation activities conducted by 53 landlords; 54 (c) additional requirements for landlords who receive program funds; 55 and 
 A. 5415 3 1 (d) provisions for the allocation of program funds including but not 2 limited to allocations for types of entities eligible to administer the 3 program locally under subdivision five of this section, types of recipi- 4 ents of grants under the program, types of housing applicable to the 5 program, and methods to evenly distribute program efforts across the 6 state. 7 7. The division may adopt by rule or regulation, standards for the 8 work performed using grants from the program to be performed by minori- 9 ty-owned business enterprises and woman-owned business enterprises, as 10 defined by section three hundred eleven of the executive law, or certi- 11 fied service-disabled veteran-owned business enterprises, as defined by 12 section forty of the veterans' services law. 13 8. Upon being awarded a grant or loan under this section, the recipi- 14 ent shall enter into an agreement with the division containing 15 provisions that: 16 (a) indicate the purposes for which the grant funds may be used; 17 (b) prohibit the grant program recipient from using more than fifteen 18 percent of the grant funds for administrative expenses and program 19 delivery costs; 20 (c) require the grant program recipient to provide reports as outlined 21 by the division; 22 (d) permit the division to conduct audits and investigations regarding 23 the purposes for which grant funds have been used; and 24 (e) require that the recipient shall repay, in whole or in part, grant 25 funds received under this section to the extent that: 26 (i) the recipient does not use the grant funds in accordance with the 27 provisions of the grant agreement executed under this section; or 28 (ii) the division determines that the grant program recipient shall 29 repay all or part of the grant funds on grounds of misappropriation, 30 fraud or similar reasons after an audit or investigation and conducting 31 a case hearing. 32 9. All grant and loan funds delivered under the program shall be paid 33 out of the home repair fund under section ninety-nine-ss of the state 34 finance law. 35 10. (a) No later than one year following the effective date of this 36 section, the division shall submit a report to the governor, the tempo- 37 rary president of the senate, and the speaker of the assembly containing 38 the following: 39 (i) the total number of units, and the average cost per unit, for 40 which homeowners addressed habitability concerns, installed energy effi- 41 ciency measures and made accessible for individuals with disabilities as 42 a result of program funds awarded under this section; 43 (ii) the total number of units, and the average cost per unit, for 44 which small landlords addressed habitability concerns, installed energy 45 efficiency measures and made accessible for individuals with disabili- 46 ties as a result of program funds awarded under this section; 47 (iii) the total amount of program funds invested in addressing habita- 48 bility concerns, installing energy efficiency measures and making units 49 accessible for individuals with disabilities; 50 (iv) the total number of grant and loan applications that were 51 received, approved, and denied; 52 (v) a summary of the most common reasons for denial of applications; 53 and 54 (vi) the income and demographic information for households assisted 55 under the program. 
 A. 5415 4 1 (b) The division may require any state or local agencies or non-profit 2 corporations authorized to administer the program locally under subdivi- 3 sion five of this section to submit reports to the division, in a form 4 and manner as prescribed by the division. 5 (c) The division shall make all reports submitted under paragraph (a) 6 of this subdivision publicly available on its website. 7 § 3. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-ss to 8 read as follows: 9 § 99-ss. Home repair fund. 1. There is hereby established in the joint 10 custody of the comptroller and the commissioner of taxation and finance 11 a fund to be known as the "home repair fund". 12 2. Such fund shall consist of revenues appropriated therefor by the 13 legislature, and all other moneys, appropriated, credited, or trans- 14 ferred thereto from any other fund or source pursuant to law. 15 3. All moneys of the home repair fund, following appropriation by the 16 legislature, shall be made available for the purposes of the home repair 17 program under section fourteen-a of the public housing law. 18 4. Moneys shall be payable from the fund on the audit and warrant of 19 the comptroller on vouchers approved and certified by the commissioner 20 of housing and community renewal. 21 § 4. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 22 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or 23 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of 24 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed 25 on or before such effective date.