S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   6595
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                              March 19, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M. of A. SMULLEN, J. A. GIGLIO -- read once and referred
   to the Committee on Housing
 
 AN ACT to establish a rental assistance loan-to-grant program to  assist
   landlords  of  small rental properties who have lost rental income due
   to the inability of the landlords' tenants  to  pay  rent  during  the
   COVID-19  state  disaster  emergency;  and providing for the repeal of
   such provisions upon the expiration thereof
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. 1. (a) There shall be established in the New York Division
 of Housing and  Community  Renewal  a  rental  assistance  loan-to-grant
 program  ("the  program") to assist landlords of small rental properties
 who have lost rental income due  to  the  inability  of  the  landlord's
 tenants  to  pay  rent  during the period of the COVID-19 state disaster
 emergency declared pursuant to executive order 202 of 2020. The  program
 shall  be  administered  by the Commissioner of the New York Division of
 Housing and Community Renewal.
   (b) The program shall provide loans to landlords of residential  prop-
 erties  containing  up  to  six rental units for the purpose of covering
 rent arrearages owed by tenants of the building who were unable  to  pay
 rent during the COVID-19 state disaster emergency due to unemployment or
 medical  emergency  and  accrued  during  the  state  disaster emergency
 declared pursuant to executive order 202 of 2020.  If  a  tenant  subse-
 quently  pays  the landlord the arrearages in rent, in whole or in part,
 the landlord shall pay such funds to the  program  as  full  or  partial
 repayment of the loan. If a tenant does not pay the landlord the arrear-
 ages  in  rent,  that  portion  of  the  loan  from the program shall be
 converted by the Division of Housing and Community Renewal into a  grant
 to  the  landlord and the landlord shall be held harmless from any obli-
 gation to repay such portion of the loan, absent any fraud.
   2. The program shall be funded with monies from the following sources:
   (a) all funds received by the state of New York from the federal Emer-
 gency Rental Assistance program;
 
              

  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD10350-01-1

 A. 6595                             2
 
   (b) any funds remaining from monies allocated to the state of New York
 from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security  (CARES)
 Act  of  2020  (P.L. 116-136) for the Emergency Rent Relief Act of 2020,
 pursuant to chapter one hundred twenty-five of the laws of two  thousand
 twenty,  such  that  the sum of such funds actually expended pursuant to
 such chapter and that such funds reallocated and  expended  pursuant  to
 this article shall equal one hundred million dollars; and
   (c)  any  additional  funds allocated by the federal government to the
 state of New York for emergency rental or utility assistance related  to
 the COVID-19 pandemic.
   3.  The  Commissioner  of  the  New York State Division of Housing and
 Community Renewal will promulgate rules and regulations for  the  imple-
 mentation  and  administration of the program including, but not limited
 to:
   (i) standards of eligibility for the program;
   (ii) application procedures;
   (iii) a verification process for eligibility for the program;
   (iv) a process for distribution of program  funds  to  eligible  land-
 lords;
   (v)  a verification process for payment by a tenant of rent arrearages
 or of the tenant's failure to do so;
   (vi) time frames for the processing of applications and  the  distrib-
 ution of funds under the program;
   (vii)  procedures for and methods of repayment of loans in whole or in
 part by landlords; and
   (viii) procedures for the conversion of loans to grants, in  whole  or
 in part.
   4. Nothing in this act shall be construed to relieve any tenant of any
 obligation  to  pay rent to a landlord pursuant to a valid rental agree-
 ment or understanding.
   § 2. This act shall take effect immediately and shall  expire  on  the
 later  of  December 31, 2021 or the date on which none of the provisions
 that closed or otherwise restricted  public  or  private  businesses  or
 places of public accommodation, or required postponement or cancellation
 of  all  non-essential  gatherings  of  individuals  of any size for any
 reason in executive order numbers 202.3,  202.4,  202.5,  202.6,  202.7,
 202.8,  202.10,  202.11,  202.13  or  202.14  of two thousand twenty, as
 extended by executive order numbers 202.28 and 202.31  of  two  thousand
 twenty  and as further extended by any future executive order, issued in
 response to the COVID-19 pandemic continue  to  apply  anywhere  in  the
 state,  when  upon  such date the provisions of this act shall be deemed
 repealed; provided that the state commissioner of social services  shall
 notify  the  legislative bill drafting commission upon the date on which
 none of the provisions that closed or  otherwise  restricted  public  or
 private  businesses or places of public accommodation, or required post-
 ponement or cancellation of all non-essential gatherings of  individuals
 of  any  size  for  any  reason in executive order numbers 202.3, 202.4,
 202.5, 202.6, 202.7, 202.8, 202.10, 202.11,  202.13  or  202.14  of  two
 thousand  twenty,  as  extended  by  executive  order numbers 202.28 and
 202.31 of two thousand twenty and as  further  extended  by  any  future
 executive order, issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to
 apply  anywhere  in the state, in order that the commission may maintain
 an accurate and timely effective data base of the official text  of  the
 laws  of  the  state  of  New  York  in  furtherance of effectuating the
 provisions of section 44 of the legislative law and section 70-b of  the
 public officers law.