N.Y. Private Housing Finance Law § 1290: New York housing for the future homeownership program

§ 1290. New York housing for the future homeownership program. 1.

Program establishment. Within amounts appropriated or otherwise

available therefor, the division of housing and community renewal, the

housing trust fund corporation, or the housing finance agency shall

develop and administer a program which shall provide assistance in the

form of payments, grants and loans for the formation of limited equity

cooperative housing utilizing funding appropriated for such a purpose as

well as any other funding source or sources which the commissioner may

determine is suitable to support such a program. Such program may

utilize any appropriate site, including, but not limited to, state owned

sites, municipally owned sites, or sites owned by a not-for-profit

corporation or community land trust for the purpose of providing housing

pursuant to this section. Real property may be acquired by a

municipality for the purpose of such program as authorized pursuant to

section five hundred seventy-six-a of this chapter, provided, however,

that any acquisitions or transfers undertaken to further the goals of

this article pursuant to such section shall not be required to be

transferred to a housing development fund company incorporated and

organized pursuant to section five hundred seventy-three of this

chapter. Such program shall provide (a) housing for households with an

income up to one hundred and thirty percent of area median income at the

time of purchase, provided further that households that are initially

eligible for the program at the time of purchase but realize income

gains subsequent to purchase may be required to pay a surcharge as

determined by the division of housing and community renewal or other

supervising agency, as the case may be, (b) a process in which

households shall have the ability to accrue equity over time, and (c)

that housing units created pursuant to this section remain affordable in

perpetuity. The commissioner may also assist prospective homebuyers to

identify funding sources that provide low interest loans to prospective

homebuyers.

2. Additional responsibilities. The division of housing and community

renewal, the housing trust fund corporation, or the housing finance

agency shall have the power to issue regulations, plans, guidance

documents, or set terms in regulatory agreements to implement such

program and the process for:

(a) homebuyers obtaining a new unit which shall include both

confirming income qualifications as well as a restriction on the maximum

amount of assets any qualified homebuyer may have;

(b) selling shares in the cooperative in such a way as the

affordability of the cooperative is maintained while allowing households

to gain equity over time;

(c) prohibiting the use of a fixed percentage appreciation cap for the

purposes of determining an allowable sales price for shares in the

cooperative;

(d) selecting new households eligible to purchase housing which has

been vacated by a previous owner; and

(e) the creation of boards of directors for such limited profit

housing companies established by this chapter, provided however that

such boards shall have the powers and be subject to the limitations

contained in the not-for-profit corporation law in the same manner and

subject to the same exceptions as set forth in section thirteen-a of the

this chapter.

3. Management. All such housing projects shall be managed

independently of the residents of the project by a corporation or

not-for-profit corporation determined qualified by the division of

housing and community renewal or other supervising agency, as the case

may be, provided further that the board of the limited equity

cooperative housing corporation shall have oversight over such qualified

corporation or not-for-profit corporation in accordance with standards

or guidelines set by the division of housing and community renewal or

other supervising agency, as the case may be. Any regulatory agreement

that is executed for such program shall include a requirement that

resident maintenance fees increase by a minimum percentage annually to

ensure that such housing continues to be in good repair.

4. Tax exemptions. Housing for such program shall be eligible for tax

exemptions in the same manner as projects under article eleven of this

chapter.

5. Wage requirements. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to

the contrary, any project constructed pursuant to this section shall be

subject to prevailing wage requirements in accordance with sections two

hundred twenty and two hundred twenty-b of the labor law; provided,

however, such requirements shall not apply to construction work

performed under a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement between an

owner or developer and a bona fide building and construction trade labor

organization which has established itself and/or its affiliates as the

collective bargaining representative for all persons who will perform

work on such a project, and which provides that only contractors and

subcontractors who sign a pre-negotiated agreement with the labor

organization can perform work on such a project.