A 8589: Increases the amount of funds that may be used per dwelling unit to modernize certain authorities used by the housing trust fund corporation.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 8589 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY May 21, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. HOOKS -- (at request of the New York State Homes and Community Renewal) -- read once and referred to the Committee on Housing AN ACT to amend the private housing finance law, in relation to the amount of funds that may be used per dwelling unit to modernize certain authorities used by the housing trust fund corporation The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 1 of section 1102 of the private housing 2 finance law, as amended by chapter 235 of the laws of 2021, is amended 3 to read as follows: 4 1. Within the limit of funds available in the housing trust fund 5 account, the corporation is hereby authorized to enter into contracts 6 with eligible applicants for the furnishing by such applicants of hous- 7 ing for persons of low income. Each such contract shall provide that 8 eligible applicants rehabilitate or construct one or more projects or 9 convert one or more nonresidential properties. Such contracts may 10 provide for payments, grants or loans by the corporation for the activ- 11 ities to be carried out by the eligible applicant under the contract. 12 Such contracts shall provide that a private developer make an equity 13 investment of the greater of (i) two and one-half percent of project 14 costs or (ii) five percent of project costs less grants which are to be 15 applied to such costs. The foregoing shall not preclude a private devel- 16 oper from making a greater equity investment. Any payments, grants or 17 loans made by the corporation outstanding at the time of resale shall be 18 subject to repayment in whole or in part upon resale after termination 19 of the regulatory period and as otherwise provided therein. Such repay- 20 ment provisions may survive the end of the regulatory period. Such 21 contracts may provide that eligible applicants shall either (a) perform 22 activities specified under the contract themselves or (b) act as admin- 23 istrators of a program under which projects are rehabilitated or EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD10170-01-5 
 A. 8589 2 1 constructed or nonresidential properties are converted by other eligible 2 applicants or (c) perform both such functions. In the case of a munici- 3 pality acting as an administrator, funds provided to such municipality 4 hereunder shall not be deemed to be municipal funds. The corporation 5 shall refer any request for payments, grants or loans from persons of 6 low income to eligible applicants in the area in which such persons 7 reside. Loans may be in the form of participation in loans including but 8 not limited to participation in loans originated or financed by lending 9 institutions as defined in section forty-two of this chapter, the state 10 of New York mortgage agency, the New York city housing development 11 corporation, the New York state housing finance agency or private or 12 public employee pension funds. Notwithstanding any other provision of 13 law, payments, grants and loans may be deposited by the corporation 14 directly with a lending institution at or before the time of initial 15 loan closing pursuant to an escrow agreement satisfactory to the corpo- 16 ration. Payments, grants and loans shall be on such terms and conditions 17 as the corporation, or the eligible applicant with the approval of the 18 corporation, as the case may be, shall determine. Payments, grants and 19 loans shall be used to pay for the actual and necessary cost of acquisi- 20 tion, construction, rehabilitation or conversion, provided that not more 21 than fifty percent of such payments, grants and loans received for the 22 rehabilitation, construction or conversion of a project may be used for 23 the cost of the project's acquisition and not more than ten percent of 24 such payments, grants and loans may be used for the rehabilitation, 25 construction or conversion of community service facilities and, provided 26 further, that payments, grants or loans shall not be used for (i) the 27 administrative costs of an eligible applicant except as otherwise 28 authorized by law, (ii) the cost of the acquisition, construction, 29 conversion or rehabilitation of residential units which, subsequent to 30 such acquisition, construction, conversion or rehabilitation, are to be 31 occupied by persons other than persons of low income, and (iii) the cost 32 of the acquisition, construction, conversion or rehabilitation of units 33 which, subsequent to such acquisition, construction, conversion or reha- 34 bilitation, are occupied or to be occupied for other than residential 35 purposes, except for community service facilities as described above. No 36 such payments, grants or loans shall exceed a total of [one hundred 37 twenty-five] two hundred fifty thousand dollars per dwelling unit, or 38 such amount of additional funds as the corporation may determine in 39 accordance with this subdivision. Among the criteria the corporation 40 shall consider in determining whether to provide additional funds are: 41 average cost of construction in the area, location of the project and 42 the impact of the additional funding on the affordability of the project 43 for the occupants of such project. The length of any loan provided under 44 this article shall not exceed forty years. No more than fifty percent of 45 the total amount originally appropriated pursuant to this article in any 46 fiscal year shall be allocated to projects located within any single 47 municipality. Of the amount originally appropriated to the corporation 48 in any fiscal year, no more than thirty-three and one-third percent 49 shall be allocated to private developers for projects within a city with 50 a population of one million or more. Of the amount originally appropri- 51 ated to the corporation in any fiscal year, no more than thirty-three 52 and one-third percent shall be allocated to private developers for 53 projects in the area outside cities with a population of one million or 54 more. 55 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.