§ 1290. New York housing for the future homeownership program. 1.
Program establishment. Within amounts appropriated or otherwise
available therefor, the division of housing and community renewal, the
housing trust fund corporation, or the housing finance agency shall
develop and administer a program which shall provide assistance in the
form of payments, grants and loans for the formation of limited equity
cooperative housing utilizing funding appropriated for such a purpose as
well as any other funding source or sources which the commissioner may
determine is suitable to support such a program. Such program may
utilize any appropriate site, including, but not limited to, state owned
sites, municipally owned sites, or sites owned by a not-for-profit
corporation or community land trust for the purpose of providing housing
pursuant to this section. Real property may be acquired by a
municipality for the purpose of such program as authorized pursuant to
section five hundred seventy-six-a of this chapter, provided, however,
that any acquisitions or transfers undertaken to further the goals of
this article pursuant to such section shall not be required to be
transferred to a housing development fund company incorporated and
organized pursuant to section five hundred seventy-three of this
chapter. Such program shall provide (a) housing for households with an
income up to one hundred and thirty percent of area median income at the
time of purchase, provided further that households that are initially
eligible for the program at the time of purchase but realize income
gains subsequent to purchase may be required to pay a surcharge as
determined by the division of housing and community renewal or other
supervising agency, as the case may be, (b) a process in which
households shall have the ability to accrue equity over time, and (c)
that housing units created pursuant to this section remain affordable in
perpetuity. The commissioner may also assist prospective homebuyers to
identify funding sources that provide low interest loans to prospective
homebuyers.

2. Additional responsibilities. The division of housing and community
renewal, the housing trust fund corporation, or the housing finance
agency shall have the power to issue regulations, plans, guidance
documents, or set terms in regulatory agreements to implement such
program and the process for:

(a) homebuyers obtaining a new unit which shall include both
confirming income qualifications as well as a restriction on the maximum
amount of assets any qualified homebuyer may have;

(b) selling shares in the cooperative in such a way as the
affordability of the cooperative is maintained while allowing households
to gain equity over time;

(c) prohibiting the use of a fixed percentage appreciation cap for the
purposes of determining an allowable sales price for shares in the
cooperative;

(d) selecting new households eligible to purchase housing which has
been vacated by a previous owner; and

(e) the creation of boards of directors for such limited profit
housing companies established by this chapter, provided however that
such boards shall have the powers and be subject to the limitations
contained in the not-for-profit corporation law in the same manner and
subject to the same exceptions as set forth in section thirteen-a of the
this chapter.

3. Management. All such housing projects shall be managed
independently of the residents of the project by a corporation or
not-for-profit corporation determined qualified by the division of
housing and community renewal or other supervising agency, as the case
may be, provided further that the board of the limited equity
cooperative housing corporation shall have oversight over such qualified
corporation or not-for-profit corporation in accordance with standards
or guidelines set by the division of housing and community renewal or
other supervising agency, as the case may be. Any regulatory agreement
that is executed for such program shall include a requirement that
resident maintenance fees increase by a minimum percentage annually to
ensure that such housing continues to be in good repair.

4. Tax exemptions. Housing for such program shall be eligible for tax
exemptions in the same manner as projects under article eleven of this
chapter.

5. Wage requirements. Notwithstanding any law, rule, or regulation to
the contrary, any project constructed pursuant to this section shall be
subject to prevailing wage requirements in accordance with sections two
hundred twenty and two hundred twenty-b of the labor law; provided,
however, such requirements shall not apply to construction work
performed under a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement between an
owner or developer and a bona fide building and construction trade labor
organization which has established itself and/or its affiliates as the
collective bargaining representative for all persons who will perform
work on such a project, and which provides that only contractors and
subcontractors who sign a pre-negotiated agreement with the labor
organization can perform work on such a project.