S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   4698
 
                        2023-2024 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                             February 22, 2023
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  M.  of  A. SMULLEN, J. A. GIGLIO, MANKTELOW, BRABENEC --
   Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. WALSH -- 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.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD08448-01-3
              

 A. 4698                             2
 
   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;
   (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 on the ninetieth day after it shall
 have become a law and shall expire and be  deemed  repealed  January  1,
 2025.