Bill Text: NY S07828 | 2015-2016 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to the residential emergency services to offer home repairs to the elderly program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2016-06-14 - referred to housing [S07828 Detail]
Download: New_York-2015-S07828-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 7828--A Cal. No. 1360 IN SENATE May 12, 2016 ___________ Introduced by Sen. LITTLE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development -- reported favorably from said committee, ordered to first and second report, ordered to a 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 28 to read as follows: 3 ARTICLE 28 4 RESIDENTIAL EMERGENCY SERVICES TO OFFER HOME REPAIRS TO 5 THE ELDERLY PROGRAM 6 Section 1233. Statement of legislative findings. 7 1234. Definitions. 8 1235. Residential emergency services to offer home repairs to 9 the elderly contracts. 10 § 1233. 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. 17 § 1234. Definitions. As used in this article: 18 1. "Corporation" shall mean the housing trust fund corporation estab- 19 lished in section forty-five-a of this chapter. 20 2. "Eligible applicant" shall mean a unit of local government or not- 21 for-profit corporation in existence for a period of one or more years 22 prior to application, which is, or will be at the time of award, incor- 23 porated under the not-for-profit corporation law and has been engaged 24 primarily in housing and community development activities. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD15469-02-6S. 7828--A 2 1 3. "Residential emergency services to offer home repairs to the elder- 2 ly programs" shall mean a series of activities by an eligible applicant 3 to administer funds to provide either loans or grants to homeowners 4 sixty years of age or older, with a household income of less than one 5 hundred percent of the area median income, to oversee the adaptation or 6 retrofitting of eligible properties. 7 4. "Eligible property" shall mean a housing unit that is the primary 8 residence of a person that is sixty years of age or older and have a 9 household income that does not exceed one hundred percent of the area 10 median income. 11 § 1235. Residential emergency services to offer home repairs to the 12 elderly contracts. 1. Within the limit of funds available in the resi- 13 dential emergency services to offer home repairs to the elderly program, 14 the corporation is hereby authorized to enter into contracts with eligi- 15 ble applicants to provide financial assistance for the actual costs of a 16 residential emergency services to offer home repairs to the elderly 17 program. The financial assistance shall be either in the form of grants 18 or loans, as the corporation shall determine. Funds must be used for 19 one- to four-unit dwellings that are owned and occupied by eligible 20 households, and work undertaken cannot exceed ten thousand dollars per 21 building. No more than fifty percent of the total amount awarded pursu- 22 ant to this article in any fiscal year shall be allocated to any resi- 23 dential emergency services to offer home repairs to the elderly program 24 located within any single municipality. 25 2. From the date of the emergency referral, the eligible applicant has 26 seventy-two hours to respond and inspect the eligible property; from the 27 date of the inspection and assessment of emergency repair need, the 28 eligible applicant must start the repairs within seven calendar days; 29 all repairs must be completed within thirty calendar days of the start 30 of the repairs; or as otherwise determined by the corporation. 31 3. The total payment pursuant to any one contract shall not exceed 32 five hundred thousand dollars and the contract shall provide for 33 completion of the program within a reasonable period, as specified ther- 34 ein, which shall not in any event exceed three years from its commence- 35 ment. Upon request, the corporation may extend the term of the contract 36 for up to two additional one year periods for good cause shown by the 37 eligible applicant. 38 4. The corporation shall authorize the eligible applicant to spend 39 seven and one-half percent of the contract amount for approved planning 40 and administrative costs associated with administering the program. 41 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 42 it shall have become a law; provided, however, that effective immediate- 43 ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation 44 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are 45 authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such 46 effective date.
