N.Y. Private Housing Finance Law § 1282: Housing our neighbors with dignity program

§ 1282. Housing our neighbors with dignity program. 1. Establishment.

Subject to amounts available by appropriation therefor, the corporation

shall develop a housing our neighbors with dignity program (hereinafter

referred to as "the program"), which shall provide a mechanism for the

state to finance the acquisition and/or conversion of distressed hotels

and commercial office properties by appropriate nonprofit organizations

for the purpose of maintaining or increasing affordable housing. All

affordable housing properties produced through this program shall remain

permanently affordable, and all converted properties in a city with a

population of one million or more, with the exception of small converted

properties and exempt supportive housing, shall be required to pay

building service employees the applicable prevailing wage pursuant to

subdivision one-a of this section. Permanent affordability restrictions

shall require a regulatory agreement with the corporation or local

housing agency or other affordability restrictions in recorded documents

not specifically listed in this subdivision, provided the corporation or

local housing agency determines that such restrictions are enforceable

and likely to be enforced. Such enforcement measures shall include but

not be limited to the ability to cancel or transfer the regulatory

agreement or property to another entity for violating the terms of such

regulatory agreement, such as failure to meet the minimum obligations

set forth in this article when such failure is not cured.

1-a. In a city with a population of one million or more, all building

service employees employed by an appropriate nonprofit organization at a

converted property or otherwise employed at a converted property that is

not a small converted property or exempt supportive housing shall

receive at least the applicable prevailing wage in such city for craft,

trade, or occupation of such building service employee. The fiscal

officer shall have the power to enforce such provisions in the same

manner as provided under subparagraph (iii) of paragraph (g) of

subdivision seventeen of section four hundred twenty-one-a of the real

property tax law. In addition, the fiscal officer shall have the power

to conduct an investigation and hearing and file a determination as to

the payment of wages owed by a lessee, owner, successor, or any employer

of building service employees, as provided under subdivisions one, four,

five, six, eight and nine of section two hundred thirty-five of the

labor law.

2. Purpose. The program shall seek to:

(a) Finance the acquisition of distressed hotels and commercial office

properties by appropriate nonprofit organizations for the purpose of

stabilizing communities and the housing market;

(b) Finance the conversion and rehabilitation of the physical

condition of acquired property by appropriate nonprofit organizations in

order to improve the condition of such property for future occupants,

such as habitability and environmental sustainability; and

(c) Provide an appropriate, expedient and efficient manner for owners

of such distressed properties to transfer ownership to an appropriate

nonprofit organization so as to promote the state's interest in the

conversion of such properties to new supportive and affordable permanent

housing units.

3. Powers. The state may finance the purchase, acquisition, conversion

and/or holding by appropriate nonprofit organizations of distressed

hotel or commercial office properties in any part of the state for the

purpose of maintaining or increasing the stock of affordable, stable,

quality housing; provided that in the case of a property at which any

hotel workers are represented by a collective bargaining representative,

prior to the proposed acquisition, the collective bargaining

representative shall be notified in writing of the proposed acquisition,

and the property owner shall certify prior to the state initiating such

acquisition through financing that the collective bargaining

representative has mutually agreed in a separate writing with the

property owner to take the specific acquisition described in the written

notice.

4. Converted properties. All properties converted to affordable

housing pursuant to this section shall meet the minimum standards of

habitability, safety and quality of life for all established housing.

Additional operating expenses shall be met through any combination of

subsidies, vouchers, commercial rents, or other sources of income

available to the housing provider under the model the non-profit chooses

to pursue. All units shall be rent stabilized as defined in this article

in localities that have adopted or opted in to the rent stabilization

law. At least fifty percent of all converted units shall be set aside

for individuals and families who were experiencing homelessness

immediately prior to entering such converted affordable housing. Each

unit must contain, at a minimum, a living/sleeping space, private

bathroom with bath or shower, and either a full kitchen or a kitchenette

with at least a 7-cubic feet capacity refrigerator, sink, cooktop,

microwave oven and outlets for countertop appliances.

5. Restrictions. The state shall not, in any case, facilitate the sale

or transfer of property unless the state has entered into an agreement

with the appropriate nonprofit organization to ensure that any actions

necessary to bring the property into compliance with applicable

building, safety, health and habitability codes and requirements will be

taken before such property is occupied.

6. Tenant protections. Tenants residing in properties converted to

affordable housing pursuant to this section shall have full tenancy

rights, including all the tenant protections pursuant to rent

stabilization as defined in this article in localities that have adopted

or opted in to the rent stabilization laws. Tenancy in such affordable

housing shall not be restricted on the basis of sexual identity or

orientation, gender identity or expression, conviction or arrest record,

credit history, credit score, or immigration status.