Bill Text: NY A02361 | 2021-2022 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Creates the incentivizing habitability opportunity program; provides that each local social services district shall provide an incentive to owners who enter into a residential lease or rental agreement with an eligible household for a qualified dwelling unit in order to address homelessness and ensure appropriate habitability standards.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 18-1)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-11-18 - enacting clause stricken [A02361 Detail]
Download: New_York-2021-A02361-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2361 2021-2022 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 19, 2021 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. HEVESI, LUPARDO, AUBRY, ENGLEBRIGHT, SAYEGH, REYES, J. RIVERA, D. ROSENTHAL, GOTTFRIED, EPSTEIN, COOK, SIMON, FAHY, BARRON, HUNTER, SEAWRIGHT, FRONTUS, MANKTELOW, L. ROSENTHAL -- read once and referred to the Committee on Social Services AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation to establishing the incentivizing habitability opportunity program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Article 2-A of the social services law is amended by adding 2 a new title 5 to read as follows: 3 TITLE 5 4 INCENTIVIZING HABITABILITY OPPORTUNITY PROGRAM 5 Section 53. Landlord incentive for homeless shelters. 6 § 53. Landlord incentive for homeless shelters. 1. Notwithstanding 7 any other provision of law to the contrary, each local social services 8 district shall provide an incentive to owners who enter into a residen- 9 tial lease or rental agreement with an eligible household for a quali- 10 fied dwelling unit in order to address homelessness and ensure appropri- 11 ate habitability standards in accordance with this section. 12 2. For the purposes of this section: (a) "homeless" shall mean the 13 lack of a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; exiting an 14 institution where they resided and will lack a regular fixed and 15 adequate nighttime residence upon release or discharge; having received 16 a court order resulting from an eviction action that notifies the indi- 17 vidual or family that they must leave their housing; facing loss of 18 housing due to hazardous conditions, including but not limited to asbes- 19 tos, lead exposure, mold, and radon; or, fleeing, or attempting to flee, 20 domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, human 21 trafficking or other dangerous or life-threatening conditions that 22 relate to violence against the individual or a family member, provided EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01503-01-1A. 2361 2 1 further that a written attestation from an individual or family member 2 alleging such abuse and loss of housing shall be sufficient to establish 3 eligibility. 4 (b) "eligible household" shall mean an individual or family eligible 5 for or receiving public assistance that is homeless as defined by this 6 section. A household's eligibility shall not be affected by an individ- 7 ual's sanction status. 8 (c) "habitability standard" shall mean the housing quality standards 9 for safe and habitable housing which are established by local housing 10 codes that meet or exceed housing quality standards, so long as such 11 standards do not severely restrict housing choice. 12 (d) "qualified dwelling unit" shall mean a unit that (i) meets the 13 necessary habitability standards as defined in this subdivision; and 14 (ii) the owner satisfies all the necessary requirements as required by 15 subdivision three of this section. 16 3. (a) Each local social services district shall provide an incentive 17 in accordance with subdivision four of this section, to eligible owners 18 that enter into a residential lease or rental agreement with an eligible 19 household for a qualified dwelling unit, as defined in subdivision one 20 of this section. For an owner to be eligible to receive an incentive for 21 a qualified dwelling unit, the owner of the dwelling unit shall: (i) 22 enter into a residential lease or rental agreement in accordance with 23 paragraph (b) of this subdivision with an eligible household for a peri- 24 od of not less than one year and (ii) ensure that upon inspection, as 25 required by paragraph (c) of this subdivision, the dwelling unit meets 26 and maintains the necessary habitability standards as defined in subdi- 27 vision one of this section throughout the period of the lease. 28 (b) (i) The residential lease or rental agreement entered into between 29 the eligible owner of the qualified dwelling unit and the eligible 30 household shall be consistent with all applicable state and local law 31 and contain all appropriate provisions applicable to tenants of a dwell- 32 ing unit which does not qualify for an incentive pursuant to this 33 section. 34 (ii) The owner shall not terminate such lease or rental agreement 35 except for good cause, such as serious or repeated violations of the 36 terms and conditions of the lease or rental agreement, or for violation 37 of applicable state, or local law. 38 (iii) Prior to terminating a residential lease or rental agreement 39 pursuant to this section, and in addition to any other notices required 40 by law, written notice shall be provided to the eligible household spec- 41 ifying the grounds for such termination, and any relief that may be 42 available which is consistent with applicable state and local law. 43 (iv) The lease or rental agreement shall be renewed unless (1) the 44 owner or a member of the owner's immediate family needs the apartment 45 for their personal use and primary residence, (2) the apartment is not 46 used as the tenant's primary residence, or (3) the owner wants to take 47 the apartment off the rental market, either to demolish the building for 48 reconstruction or use it for other purposes permitted by law. If the 49 owner is not renewing the lease for any of the above reasons, the owner 50 must notify the eligible household in writing at least ninety days prior 51 to the end of the existing lease. 52 (c) (i) Prior to providing the owner of an eligible dwelling unit with 53 an incentive as authorized by this section, the commissioner shall, 54 either directly or through a contract with a not-for-profit, inspect 55 each dwelling unit prior to the owner entering into a new residential 56 lease or rental agreement with an eligible household, anytime the eligi-A. 2361 3 1 ble household transfers to a new unit with the owner and annually there- 2 after in instances when the lease or rental agreement extends beyond a 3 year. Such dwelling unit shall be required to be inspected prior to 4 every new residential lease or rental agreement that is entered into 5 with an eligible household, for so long as the owner seeks to receive an 6 incentive pursuant to this section. Upon inspection, the local social 7 services district, shall ensure that the dwelling unit meets the habita- 8 bility standard, as defined in this section. 9 (ii) No such incentive shall be provided if the dwelling unit fails to 10 meet all the necessary requirements of the habitability standard. Such 11 prorate share of the incentive shall be withheld until the owner makes 12 all the necessary changes required to meet the habitability standard and 13 passes a follow up inspection. To the extent that the owner can show the 14 violations were caused by a member of the eligible household, the owner 15 may be provided an extension to fix the cited violations and be re-in- 16 spected in an appropriate period of time, as determined by the local 17 social services district. 18 (iii) Any time during the lease or rental agreement, a member of an 19 eligible household may request an additional inspection, citing an 20 owner's failure to maintain habitability standards, as required by this 21 section. 22 (iv) Each local social services district shall maintain a written 23 record detailing the inspections and re-inspections for each dwelling 24 unit for the period of the eligible household's tenancy and for three 25 years subsequent to the end of such tenancy and shall make the records 26 available upon request to the state comptroller. 27 4. (a) Each local social services district shall provide an incentive 28 to the owner of a qualifying dwelling unit, that meets all the necessary 29 requirements specified in subdivision three of this section, in an 30 amount equal to five hundred dollars for every eligible individual and 31 one thousand dollars for every eligible family. The incentive will be 32 paid to the owner on a monthly basis. The incentive shall be issued by 33 the local social services district directly to the owner of the quali- 34 fied dwelling unit. 35 (b) The incentive shall be provided to the owner of the qualified 36 dwelling unit (i) during the period of the eligible household's tenancy; 37 (ii) until the date the eligible household vacates the qualified dwell- 38 ing unit prior to the expiration date of the lease or rental agreement; 39 or (iii) until the effective date of the notice of eviction received by 40 the eligible household issued pursuant to a court proceeding. 41 (c) In the event that the owner of the eligible dwelling unit wrong- 42 fully and/or prematurely terminates the lease in violation of applicable 43 state or local law, the owner shall reimburse the local social services 44 district the amount of the incentive provided to date. 45 § 2. Section 153 of the social services law is amended by adding a new 46 subdivision 18 to read as follows: 47 18. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, one 48 hundred percent of costs for incentives required by section fifty-three 49 of this chapter shall be subject to reimbursement by the state, as 50 follows: 51 (a) by federal funds that can be properly applied to such expendi- 52 tures; and 53 (b) the remainder to be paid by state funds. 54 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 55 it shall have become a law.
