Bill Text: NY S02253 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended


Bill Title: Relates to the residential emergency services to offer home repairs to the elderly program.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-03-19 - referred to housing [S02253 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-S02253-Amended.html


                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         2253--B
            Cal. No. 352
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                    January 12, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced by Sens. LITTLE, CARLUCCI, PHILLIPS, SERINO -- read twice and
          ordered  printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on
          Housing, Construction and Community Development -- recommitted to  the
          Committee  on  Housing,  Construction  and  Community  Development  in
          accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec. 8 --  committee  discharged,  bill
          amended,  ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said commit-
          tee -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered  to  first  and
          second report, ordered to a third reading, passed by Senate and deliv-
          ered  to  the Assembly, recalled, vote reconsidered, restored to third
          reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining  its  place  in  the
          order of third reading
        AN ACT to amend the private housing finance law, in relation to residen-
          tial emergency services to offer home repairs to the elderly 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 29 to read as follows:
     3                                ARTICLE XXIX
     4           RESIDENTIAL EMERGENCY SERVICES TO OFFER HOME REPAIRS TO
     5                             THE ELDERLY PROGRAM
     6  Section 1260. Statement of legislative findings.
     7          1261. Definitions.
     8          1262. Residential  emergency  services  to offer home repairs to
     9                  the elderly contracts.
    10    § 1260. Statement of  legislative  findings.  The  legislature  hereby
    11  finds and declares that there exists in New York state a need for finan-
    12  cial  resources  to  assist  senior  citizen homeowners with the cost of
    13  addressing emergencies and code violations that pose a threat  to  their
    14  health  and safety, or affecting the livability of their home. Providing
    15  assistance for the cost of making such critical repairs will enable many
    16  seniors to continue to live independently in their own homes.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD00764-05-8

        S. 2253--B                          2
     1    § 1261. Definitions. As used in this article:
     2    1.  "Corporation" shall mean the housing trust fund corporation estab-
     3  lished in section forty-five-a of this chapter.
     4    2. "Eligible applicant" shall mean a unit of local government or  not-
     5  for-profit  corporation  in  existence for a period of one or more years
     6  prior to application, which is, or will be at the time of award,  incor-
     7  porated  under  the  not-for-profit corporation law and has been engaged
     8  primarily in housing and community development activities.
     9    3. "Residential emergency services to offer home repairs to the elder-
    10  ly programs" shall mean a series of activities by an eligible  applicant
    11  to  administer  funds  to  provide  either loans or grants to homeowners
    12  sixty years of age or older, with a household income of  less  than  one
    13  hundred  percent of the area median income, to oversee the adaptation or
    14  retrofitting of eligible properties.
    15    4. "Eligible property" shall mean a housing unit that is  the  primary
    16  residence  of  a  person  that is sixty years of age or older and have a
    17  household income that does not exceed one hundred percent  of  the  area
    18  median income.
    19    § 1262. Residential  emergency  services  to offer home repairs to the
    20  elderly contracts. 1. Within the limit of funds available in  the  resi-
    21  dential emergency services to offer home repairs to the elderly program,
    22  the corporation is hereby authorized to enter into contracts with eligi-
    23  ble applicants to provide financial assistance for the actual costs of a
    24  residential  emergency  services  to  offer  home repairs to the elderly
    25  program. The financial assistance shall be either in the form of  grants
    26  or  loans,  as  the  corporation shall determine. Funds must be used for
    27  one- to four-unit dwellings that are  owned  and  occupied  by  eligible
    28  households,  and  work undertaken cannot exceed ten thousand dollars per
    29  building.  No more than fifty percent of the total amount awarded pursu-
    30  ant to this article in any fiscal year shall be allocated to  any  resi-
    31  dential  emergency services to offer home repairs to the elderly program
    32  located within any single municipality.
    33    2. From the date of the emergency referral, the eligible applicant has
    34  up to three business days to respond and inspect the eligible  property;
    35  from the date of the inspection and assessment of emergency repair need,
    36  the  eligible  applicant must start the repairs within fourteen business
    37  days; all repairs must be completed within sixty business  days  of  the
    38  start of the repairs.
    39    3.  The  total  payment  pursuant to any one contract shall not exceed
    40  five hundred  thousand  dollars  and  the  contract  shall  provide  for
    41  completion of the program within a reasonable period, as specified ther-
    42  ein,  which shall not in any event exceed three years from its commence-
    43  ment. Upon request, the corporation may extend the term of the  contract
    44  for  up  to  two additional one year periods for good cause shown by the
    45  eligible applicant.
    46    4. The corporation shall authorize the  eligible  applicant  to  spend
    47  seven  and one-half percent of the contract amount for approved planning
    48  and administrative costs associated with administering the program.
    49    § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
    50  it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediate-
    51  ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal  of  any  rule  or  regulation
    52  necessary  for  the implementation of this act on its effective date are
    53  authorized and directed to be made  and  completed  on  or  before  such
    54  effective date.
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