Bill Text: NY A09614 | 2023-2024 | 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: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-03-26 - referred to social services [A09614 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A09614-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 9614 IN ASSEMBLY March 26, 2024 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. DAVILA -- 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 23 further that a written attestation from an individual or family member 24 alleging such abuse and loss of housing shall be sufficient to establish 25 eligibility. 26 (b) "eligible household" shall mean an individual or family eligible 27 for or receiving public assistance that is homeless as defined by this EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD14706-01-4A. 9614 2 1 section. A household's eligibility shall not be affected by an individ- 2 ual's sanction status. 3 (c) "habitability standard" shall mean the housing quality standards 4 for safe and habitable housing which are established by local housing 5 codes that meet or exceed housing quality standards, so long as such 6 standards do not severely restrict housing choice. 7 (d) "qualified dwelling unit" shall mean a unit that (i) meets the 8 necessary habitability standards as defined in this subdivision; and 9 (ii) the owner satisfies all the necessary requirements as required by 10 subdivision three of this section. 11 3. (a) Each local social services district shall provide an incentive 12 in accordance with subdivision four of this section, to eligible owners 13 that enter into a residential lease or rental agreement with an eligible 14 household for a qualified dwelling unit, as defined in subdivision one 15 of this section. For an owner to be eligible to receive an incentive for 16 a qualified dwelling unit, the owner of the dwelling unit shall: (i) 17 enter into a residential lease or rental agreement in accordance with 18 paragraph (b) of this subdivision with an eligible household for a peri- 19 od of not less than one year and (ii) ensure that upon inspection, as 20 required by paragraph (c) of this subdivision, the dwelling unit meets 21 and maintains the necessary habitability standards as defined in subdi- 22 vision one of this section throughout the period of the lease. 23 (b) (i) The residential lease or rental agreement entered into between 24 the eligible owner of the qualified dwelling unit and the eligible 25 household shall be consistent with all applicable state and local law 26 and contain all appropriate provisions applicable to tenants of a dwell- 27 ing unit which does not qualify for an incentive pursuant to this 28 section. 29 (ii) The owner shall not terminate such lease or rental agreement 30 except for good cause, such as serious or repeated violations of the 31 terms and conditions of the lease or rental agreement, or for violation 32 of applicable state, or local law. 33 (iii) Prior to terminating a residential lease or rental agreement 34 pursuant to this section, and in addition to any other notices required 35 by law, written notice shall be provided to the eligible household spec- 36 ifying the grounds for such termination, and any relief that may be 37 available which is consistent with applicable state and local law. 38 (iv) The lease or rental agreement shall be renewed unless (1) the 39 owner or a member of the owner's immediate family needs the apartment 40 for their personal use and primary residence, (2) the apartment is not 41 used as the tenant's primary residence, or (3) the owner wants to take 42 the apartment off the rental market, either to demolish the building for 43 reconstruction or use it for other purposes permitted by law. If the 44 owner is not renewing the lease for any of the above reasons, the owner 45 must notify the eligible household in writing at least ninety days prior 46 to the end of the existing lease. 47 (c) (i) Prior to providing the owner of an eligible dwelling unit with 48 an incentive as authorized by this section, the commissioner shall, 49 either directly or through a contract with a not-for-profit, inspect 50 each dwelling unit prior to the owner entering into a new residential 51 lease or rental agreement with an eligible household, anytime the eligi- 52 ble household transfers to a new unit with the owner and annually there- 53 after in instances when the lease or rental agreement extends beyond a 54 year. Such dwelling unit shall be required to be inspected prior to 55 every new residential lease or rental agreement that is entered into 56 with an eligible household, for so long as the owner seeks to receive anA. 9614 3 1 incentive pursuant to this section. Upon inspection, the local social 2 services district, shall ensure that the dwelling unit meets the habita- 3 bility standard, as defined in this section. 4 (ii) No such incentive shall be provided if the dwelling unit fails to 5 meet all the necessary requirements of the habitability standard. Such 6 prorate share of the incentive shall be withheld until the owner makes 7 all the necessary changes required to meet the habitability standard and 8 passes a follow up inspection. To the extent that the owner can show the 9 violations were caused by a member of the eligible household, the owner 10 may be provided an extension to fix the cited violations and be re-in- 11 spected in an appropriate period of time, as determined by the local 12 social services district. 13 (iii) Any time during the lease or rental agreement, a member of an 14 eligible household may request an additional inspection, citing an 15 owner's failure to maintain habitability standards, as required by this 16 section. 17 (iv) Each local social services district shall maintain a written 18 record detailing the inspections and re-inspections for each dwelling 19 unit for the period of the eligible household's tenancy and for three 20 years subsequent to the end of such tenancy and shall make the records 21 available upon request to the state comptroller. 22 4. (a) Each local social services district shall provide an incentive 23 to the owner of a qualifying dwelling unit, that meets all the necessary 24 requirements specified in subdivision three of this section, in an 25 amount equal to five hundred dollars for every eligible individual and 26 one thousand dollars for every eligible family. The incentive will be 27 paid to the owner on a monthly basis. The incentive shall be issued by 28 the local social services district directly to the owner of the quali- 29 fied dwelling unit. 30 (b) The incentive shall be provided to the owner of the qualified 31 dwelling unit (i) during the period of the eligible household's tenancy; 32 (ii) until the date the eligible household vacates the qualified dwell- 33 ing unit prior to the expiration date of the lease or rental agreement; 34 or (iii) until the effective date of the notice of eviction received by 35 the eligible household issued pursuant to a court proceeding. 36 (c) In the event that the owner of the eligible dwelling unit wrong- 37 fully and/or prematurely terminates the lease in violation of applicable 38 state or local law, the owner shall reimburse the local social services 39 district the amount of the incentive provided to date. 40 § 2. Section 153 of the social services law is amended by adding a new 41 subdivision 18 to read as follows: 42 18. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, one 43 hundred percent of costs for incentives required by section fifty-three 44 of this chapter shall be subject to reimbursement by the state, as 45 follows: 46 (a) by federal funds that can be properly applied to such expendi- 47 tures; and 48 (b) the remainder to be paid by state funds. 49 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 50 it shall have become a law.
