S 9889: Establishes the vacant rental improvement program to provide grants of up to $75,000 per unit to owners of buildings with five or fewer units.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9889  IN SENATE April 13, 2026 ___________ Introduced by Sen. ZELLNER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development AN ACT to amend the private housing finance law and the state finance law, in relation to establishing the vacant rental improvement program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The private housing finance law is amended by adding a new 2 article 33 to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE XXXIII 4 VACANT RENTAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM 5 Section 1300. Statement of legislative findings and purpose. 6 1301. Vacant rental improvement program. 7 § 1300. Statement of legislative findings and purpose. It is hereby 8 declared and found that there exists across upstate New York a shortage 9 of safe and affordable rental units. It is further found that stable 10 housing is tied to positive employment, education, and health outcomes, 11 and that the state therefore has an interest in promoting safe and 12 affordable housing opportunities. In order, further, to promote such 13 opportunities, it is hereby declared that additional provisions should 14 be made to provide public monies for the purpose of grants to owners of 15 buildings with five or fewer units to make necessary improvements to 16 rental units on the condition that renovated units will be leased at a 17 reasonable rate for ten years. The necessity in the public interest for 18 the provisions of this article is hereby declared as a matter of legis- 19 lative determination. 20 § 1301. Vacant rental improvement program. 1. (a) The housing trust 21 fund corporation shall, subject to appropriation, make capital grants of 22 up to seventy-five thousand dollars per unit to owners of buildings with 23 five or fewer units for the purpose of making necessary improvements to 24 rental units located outside of a city with a population of one million 25 or more. The housing trust fund corporation, to the extent practicable, 26 shall prioritize funding for units that are currently vacant or have 27 outstanding code violations. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03464-05-6 
 S. 9889 2 1 (b) Receipt of such capital grants shall be conditioned upon a regula- 2 tory agreement by such owners to lease such renovated units at a rate 3 affordable to persons earning no more than eighty percent of area median 4 income, as calculated by the United States department of housing and 5 urban development, for the ten-year period commencing at the start of 6 the first lease agreement following a renovation or rehabilitation 7 completed pursuant to this article. Upon a finding by the housing trust 8 fund corporation that an owner who has received a grant to renovate a 9 rental unit pursuant to this section has violated the regulatory agree- 10 ment, any grants received by such owner shall be subject to recoupment 11 in full. Rental restrictions shall not expire if the unit is trans- 12 ferred or sold to a new owner. The housing trust fund corporation shall 13 promulgate rules and regulations to ensure compliance with this section. 14 2. The chief executive officer of the housing trust fund corporation 15 shall promulgate rules and regulations deemed necessary and appropriate 16 to establish and administer the vacant rental improvement program pursu- 17 ant to this article, including but not limited to the application proc- 18 ess, eligibility requirements, disbursement of grants, determination of 19 a reasonable lease rate, and any other rules, regulations, or defi- 20 nitions necessary to carry out the provisions of this article. 21 § 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-uu to 22 read as follows: 23 § 99-uu. Rental improvement fund. 1. There is hereby established in 24 the joint custody of the state comptroller and the commissioner of hous- 25 ing and community renewal a fund to be known as the "rental improvement 26 fund". 27 2. Such fund shall consist of all moneys collected therefor, or moneys 28 credited, appropriated or transferred thereto from any other fund or 29 source pursuant to law, or any other moneys made available for the 30 purposes of the fund. 31 3. Moneys of the fund, following appropriation by the legislature and 32 allocation by the director of the budget, shall be available only for 33 purposes of the vacant rental improvement program, as set forth in arti- 34 cle thirty-three of the private housing finance law. 35 § 3. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall 36 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or 37 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of 38 this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed 39 on or before such effective date.