S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
________________________________________________________________________

                                  2140

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            February 11, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  KRUGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Housing, Construction  and
  Community Development

AN  ACT  to  amend  the  private housing finance law, in relation to the
  elimination of power to remove tenants who exceed maximum income limi-
  tations and repealing subdivision 5 of section 31 of such law relating
  thereto

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1. Subdivision 3 of section 31 of the private housing finance
law, as amended by chapter 778 of the laws of 1971, is amended  to  read
as follows:
  3.  [In  the  event that the income of a person or family in occupancy
should increase and exceed the maximum prescribed by law  for  admission
or  for  continued occupancy, based on the latest existing rent, by more
than twenty-five per centum, such person or family shall be  subject  to
removal from the dwelling, non-housekeeping, aged care accommodations or
non-housekeeping accommodations for handicapped persons provided, howev-
er,  that  such person or family may be permitted to remain in occupancy
until such income exceeds the maximum prescribed by  law  by  more  than
fifty  per centum, if the company, with the approval of the commissioner
or the supervising agency, shall  determine  that  removal  would  cause
hardship  to  such  person or family.] Any person or family in occupancy
whose income exceeds the maximum prescribed by law shall  pay  a  rental
surcharge  in accordance with a schedule of surcharges to be promulgated
by the company with the approval of the commissioner or the  supervising
agency,  as  the  case  may be, provided, however, such rental surcharge
shall in no event exceed fifty per centum of the existing rent.
  S 2. Subdivision 5 of section 31 of the private housing finance law is
REPEALED.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD08825-01-9

              

S. 2140                             2

  S 3. Paragraphs (a) and (a-1) of subdivision 1 of section 125  of  the
private  housing finance law, paragraph (a) as amended by chapter 566 of
the laws of 1993 and paragraph (a-1) as added by chapter 140 of the laws
of 1987, are amended to read as follows:
  (a)  The local legislative body of any municipality in which a project
of such company is or is to be located may by contract  agree  with  any
redevelopment  company  to  exempt from local and municipal taxes, other
than assessments for local improvements, all or part of the value of the
property included in such project which represents an increase over  the
assessed  valuation  of  the  real property, both land and improvements,
acquired for the project at the time of its acquisition by the  redevel-
opment company which originally undertook the project and for such defi-
nite period of years as such contract may provide, except that where the
real  property in a project was acquired for purposes of rehabilitation,
the local legislative body either may utilize the foregoing  formula  or
may  agree  to  exempt  from  such taxes all or part of the value of the
property included in such project on condition that the amount  of  such
taxes  to  be  paid  shall not be less than ten per centum of the annual
shelter rent or carrying charges of such rehabilitation project. The tax
exemption shall not operate for a period of more than twenty-five years,
commencing in each instance from the date on which the benefits of  such
exemption  first become available and effective; provided, however, that
with respect to a project either  acquired  by  a  mutual  redevelopment
company  pursuant  to  section one hundred twenty-six OF THIS ARTICLE or
owned and continuing to be owned by a mutual redevelopment company which
would require substantial increases in carrying charges after the period
of tax exemption is ended unless relief is provided, the local  legisla-
tive  body may contract with such mutual redevelopment company to extend
such tax exemption for not more than twenty-five additional years  at  a
rate  of  tax  exemption  not  to  exceed an average of fifty per centum
during such additional period, provided that the  tax  exemption  during
the first two years of such additional period shall continue at the rate
of  the  tax  exemption of such project immediately preceding the termi-
nation of the initial twenty-five year period and that the tax exemption
thereafter shall be decreased in equal biennial decrements, the first of
which shall occur  immediately  following  such  two  year  period,  and
provided  that such contract shall contain provisions as to income limi-
tations relating to admission and continued occupancy of the project and
provisions as to rental surcharges to the same effect as  are  contained
in  subdivisions two, three[,] AND four [and five] of section thirty-one
OF THIS CHAPTER, except that in the case of projects owned and  continu-
ing  to  be owned by mutual redevelopment companies, persons or families
whose probable aggregate annual income does not exceed the median income
for families of the same size in the same metropolitan area  shall  also
be  eligible  for admission to the project on the understanding that any
person or family becoming  eligible  by  reason  hereof  whose  probable
aggregate annual income at the time of admission or during the period of
occupancy exceeds, the greater of (i) the median income for such persons
or  families  for the metropolitan statistical area in which the project
is located, or if a project is located outside  a  metropolitan  statis-
tical area, the median income for such persons or families for the coun-
ty  in  which the project is located, as most recently determined by the
United States department of housing and urban development, in which case
any person or family becoming eligible for admission  pursuant  to  this
subparagraph  shall  pay, from the time of admission, a rental surcharge
as provided for in subdivision three of section thirty-one of this chap-

S. 2140                             3

ter, computed on the basis of the income limitations applicable to  such
persons  or  families  in  the absence of this subparagraph, or (ii) six
times the rental shall be liable for payment of rental surcharges  here-
under  computed  on  the basis of such ratio, except that in the case of
families with three or more dependents such ratio shall be seven to one;
and provided further that with respect to a project which is or is to be
permanently financed by a federally-aided mortgage,  the  tax  exemption
shall  operate  for  so  long as such mortgage is outstanding, but in no
event for a period of more than forty years, commencing in each instance
from the date on which the  benefits  of  such  exemption  first  become
available  and  effective;  and  provided further that with respect to a
project which is or is to be permanently financed by a loan from the New
York city housing development corporation, the tax exemption shall oper-
ate for so long as such loan is outstanding.
  (a-1) Where the redevelopment contract between a mutual  redevelopment
company  and  the  local  legislative  body  under which the initial tax
exemption was granted contains provisions different from those in subdi-
visions two, three[,] AND four [and five] of section thirty-one of  this
chapter,  then  a contract to extend the tax exemption for an additional
period under paragraph (a) of this subdivision may  provide  that  those
provisions  of  the redevelopment contract shall continue to apply (with
such modifications as the supervising agency of such  mutual  redevelop-
ment  company  shall  approve)  during  the additional period as if such
additional period were the initial period  of  tax  exemption  for  such
mutual  redevelopment  company,  notwithstanding the provisions of para-
graph (a) of this subdivision to the contrary.
  S 4. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
have become a law.