NY State Senate Bill 2023-S8591

Senate Bill S8591

2023-2024 Legislative Session

Establishes the rental improvement fund pilot program to provide capital grants to small landlords to renovate rental units in certain cities

download bill text pdf

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Housing, Construction And Community Development Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

Please enter your contact information

First Name

Last Name

Email Address

A valid email address is required.

Home address is used to determine the senate district in which you reside. Your support or opposition to this bill is then shared immediately with the senator who represents you.

Optional services from the NY State Senate:

Create an account. An account allows you to officially support or oppose key legislation, sign petitions with a single click, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Include a custom message for your Senator? (Optional)

Enter a message to your senator. Many New Yorkers use this to share the reasoning behind their support or opposition to the bill. Others might share a personal anecdote about how the bill would affect them or people they care about.

Actions

View Actions

	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Feb 20, 2024	referred to housing, construction and community development

co-Sponsors

2023-S8591 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A9325
Current Committee:: Senate Housing, Construction And Community Development
Law Section:: Private Housing Finance Law
Laws Affected:: Add Art 32 §§1290 & 1291, Priv Hous Fin L; add §99-rr, St Fin L

2023-S8591 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Establishes the rental improvement fund pilot program to provide capital grants to small landlords to renovate rental units in certain cities; creates the rental improvement fund.

2023-S8591 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S8591

SPONSOR: RYAN
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the private housing finance law and the state finance
law, in relation to establishing the rental improvement fund pilot
program

 
PURPOSE:

This bill would create a grant program run by the Division of Housing
and Community Renewal which would allow small landlords in Albany,
Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse to apply for up to $75,000 in grant
funding to perform housing repairs.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: amends the private housing finance law to add a new article
32.  Subsection 1290 of the new article outlines the necessity of imple-
menting a pilot program to provide funding to small landlords to make
improvements to their properties. This section also describes the neces-

sity that small landlords who receive funding must keep their rents at a
reasonable rate for at least ten years. Subsection 1291(1)(a) of the new
article specifies the amount of money that the Division of Housing and
Community Renewal (DHCR) will make available per unit, and how many
units will be eligible for the pilot. Each unit may receive up to
$75,000, and 4,000 units will be eligible to receive funding. Rental
units in Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse may be eligible to
receive the grants, and the allocation of the grants shall be propor-
tional based on population.  Subsection 1291(1)(b) of the new article
mandates that landlords receiving the grants must keep their rents at a
reasonable rate for a period of ten years and states that those who do
will be eligible for an additional $10,000 in maintenance funding. Those
who do not keep their rents at a reasonable rate will have to repay the
grants to DHCR.ò Subsection 1291(2) directs DHCR to promulgate rules and
regulations to administer the grant' program including describing the
application process and determination of "reasonable rate."

Section 2: amends the state finance law to add a new section 99-rr.
Subsection 99-rr(1) establishes a fund jointly administered by DHCR and
the Office of the State Comptroller known as the "rental improvement
fund."  Subsection 99-rr(2) outlines the sources of the money distrib-
uted to the fund.  Subsection 99-rr(3) describes limitations on uses of
the funds restricting them to use in the rental improvement fund pilot
program.

Section 3: effective date.

 
EXISTING LAW:

None

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York state is currently facing a housing affordability crisis and a
housing quality crisis. With the number of new units being built
throughout the state falling in tandem with the number of units getting
significant overhauls, finding affordable habitable housing in New York
is increasingly a challenge. A high percentage of the rental units in
upstate New York's largest cities sit vacant because they have fallen
into disrepair. Many small landlords do not have the funds to renovate
these units to bring them back up to code. This problem is particularly
acute upstate, where the housing stock is aging rapidly, and rising
costs have made it difficult for property owners to maintain or improve
their property.

The problem does not just affect vacant properties; many occupied units
are also in dire need of upgrades. Buffalo, for example, has a plethora
of homes with outstanding code violations and habitability issues.
Getting these units up to code is good for both tenants and landlords.
Tenants deserve to live in a habitable space and landlords want to avoid
the fines that come with failing to meet standards. In addition, when
landlords improve their units, their long-term value increases. Housing
quality remains a contentious issue in housing courts throughout the
state. Providing the funding for landlords to upgrade their housing
stock would serve to remove many cases from the housing court backlog.

Bringing up to 4,000 homes back up to code and on to the market would go
a long way towards addressing the housing crisis. In addition to improv-
ing property values for landlords and improving housing quality for
tenants, this would also be a long-term boon to municipalities in the
form of increased property taxes. Improving the quality of the housing
stock will make the region more desirable to live in.

Landlords that take the grant money would be required to agree to keep
their rents at an affordable rate. This is crucial to ensuring that
rents do not rise drastically in response to improved conditions. This
bill will both increase the quality of rental housing stock and address
affordability.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

$350 million over 5 years

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall have
become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of
this act on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
on or before such effective date.

2023-S8591 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   8591
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             February 20, 2024
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  RYAN  --  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 and the state finance
   law, in relation to establishing the  rental  improvement  fund  pilot
   program

   THE  PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The private housing finance law is amended by adding a  new
 article 32 to read as follows:
                                ARTICLE XXXII
                   RENTAL IMPROVEMENT FUND PILOT PROGRAM
 SECTION 1290. STATEMENT OF LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.
         1291. RENTAL IMPROVEMENT FUND PILOT PROGRAM.
   §  1290.  STATEMENT  OF LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. IT IS HEREBY
 DECLARED AND FOUND THAT THERE EXISTS ACROSS UPSTATE NEW YORK A  SHORTAGE
 OF  SAFE  AND  AFFORDABLE  RENTAL UNITS. IT IS FURTHER FOUND THAT STABLE
 HOUSING IS TIED TO POSITIVE EMPLOYMENT, EDUCATION, AND HEALTH  OUTCOMES,
 AND  THAT  THE  STATE  THEREFORE  HAS  AN INTEREST IN PROMOTING SAFE AND
 AFFORDABLE HOUSING OPPORTUNITIES. IN ORDER,  FURTHER,  TO  PROMOTE  SUCH
 OPPORTUNITIES,  IT  IS HEREBY DECLARED THAT ADDITIONAL PROVISIONS SHOULD
 BE MADE TO PROVIDE PUBLIC MONIES FOR THE  PURPOSE  OF  GRANTS  TO  SMALL
 LANDLORDS  TO  MAKE NECESSARY IMPROVEMENTS TO RENTAL UNITS ON THE CONDI-
 TION THAT RENOVATED UNITS WILL BE LEASED AT A REASONABLE  RATE  FOR  TEN
 YEARS.   THE NECESSITY IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST FOR THE PROVISIONS OF THIS
 ARTICLE IS HEREBY DECLARED AS A MATTER OF LEGISLATIVE DETERMINATION.
   § 1291. RENTAL IMPROVEMENT FUND PILOT PROGRAM. 1. (A) OVER A PERIOD OF
 FIVE YEARS BEGINNING ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS ARTICLE, THE DIVISION
 OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL SHALL, SUBJECT TO  APPROPRIATION,  MAKE
 CAPITAL GRANTS OF UP TO SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS PER UNIT AVAILABLE
 TO  SMALL  LANDLORDS FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAKING NECESSARY IMPROVEMENTS TO
 UP TO FOUR THOUSAND RENTAL UNITS LOCATED IN ALBANY, BUFFALO,  ROCHESTER,
 AND  SYRACUSE.  THE  ALLOCATION  OF  THE  FOUR  THOUSAND GRANTS SHALL BE
 PROPORTIONAL TO THE POPULATIONS OF EACH OF THE FOUR CITIES.
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.

                                                            LBD14513-03-4
 S. 8591                             2
 
   (B) RECEIPT OF SUCH CAPITAL GRANTS SHALL BE CONDITIONED UPON AN AGREE-
 MENT BY SUCH LANDLORDS TO LEASE SUCH RENOVATED  UNITS  AT  A  REASONABLE
 RATE  FOR  THE  TEN-YEAR  PERIOD  FOLLOWING  THE RECEIPT OF SUCH CAPITAL
 GRANTS. OVER SUCH TEN-YEAR PERIOD, EACH SUCH RENTAL UNIT SHALL BE ELIGI-
 BLE  TO  RECEIVE  AN  ADDITIONAL  TEN  THOUSAND  DOLLARS FOR MAINTENANCE
 PURPOSES.  UPON A FINDING BY THE COMMISSIONER OF HOUSING  AND  COMMUNITY
 RENEWAL  THAT  A  LANDLORD WHO HAS RECEIVED A GRANT TO RENOVATE A RENTAL
 UNIT PURSUANT TO THIS SECTION INCREASED THE RENT  AT  SUCH  UNIT  AT  AN
 UNREASONABLE RATE, ANY GRANTS RECEIVED BY SUCH LANDLORD SHALL BE SUBJECT
 TO RECOUPMENT IN FULL.
   2.  THE COMMISSIONER OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL SHALL PROMULGATE
 RULES AND REGULATIONS DEEMED NECESSARY AND APPROPRIATE TO ESTABLISH  AND
 ADMINISTER  THE  RENTAL  IMPROVEMENT FUND PILOT PROGRAM PURSUANT TO THIS
 ARTICLE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE APPLICATION PROCESS, ELIGIBIL-
 ITY REQUIREMENTS, DISBURSEMENT OF GRANTS, DETERMINATION OF A  REASONABLE
 LEASE  RATE,  AND ANY OTHER RULES, REGULATIONS, OR DEFINITIONS NECESSARY
 TO CARRY OUT THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE.
   § 2. The state finance law is amended by adding a new section 99-rr to
 read as follows:
   § 99-RR. RENTAL IMPROVEMENT FUND. 1. THERE IS  HEREBY  ESTABLISHED  IN
 THE JOINT CUSTODY OF THE STATE COMPTROLLER AND THE COMMISSIONER OF HOUS-
 ING  AND COMMUNITY RENEWAL A FUND TO BE KNOWN AS THE "RENTAL IMPROVEMENT
 FUND".
   2. SUCH FUND SHALL CONSIST OF ALL MONEYS COLLECTED THEREFOR, OR MONEYS
 CREDITED, APPROPRIATED OR TRANSFERRED THERETO FROM  ANY  OTHER  FUND  OR
 SOURCE  PURSUANT  TO  LAW,  OR  ANY  OTHER MONEYS MADE AVAILABLE FOR THE
 PURPOSES OF THE FUND.
   3. MONEYS OF THE FUND, FOLLOWING APPROPRIATION BY THE LEGISLATURE  AND
 ALLOCATION  BY  THE  DIRECTOR OF THE BUDGET, SHALL BE AVAILABLE ONLY FOR
 PURPOSES OF THE RENTAL IMPROVEMENT FUND PILOT PROGRAM, AS SET  FORTH  IN
 ARTICLE THIRTY-TWO OF THE PRIVATE HOUSING FINANCE LAW.
   §  3.  This  act  shall take effect on the sixtieth day after it shall
 have become a law. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or
 repeal of any rule or regulation necessary  for  the  implementation  of
 this  act  on its effective date are authorized to be made and completed
 on or before such effective date.

Comments

Open Legislation is a forum for New York State legislation. All comments are subject to review and community moderation is encouraged.

Comments deemed off-topic, commercial, campaign-related, self-promotional; or that contain profanity, hate or toxic speech; or that link to sites outside of the nysenate.gov domain are not permitted, and will not be published. Attempts to intimidate and silence contributors or deliberately deceive the public, including excessive or extraneous posting/posts, or coordinated activity, are prohibited and may result in the temporary or permanent banning of the user. Comment moderation is generally performed Monday through Friday. By contributing or voting you agree to the Terms of Participation and verify you are over 13.

Create an account. An account allows you to sign petitions with a single click, officially support or oppose key legislation, and follow issues, committees, and bills that matter to you. When you create an account, you agree to this platform's terms of participation.

Senate Bill S8591

Share this bill

Sponsored By

Sean M. Ryan