2023 New York Laws › PVH - Private Housing Finance › Article 31 - Housing Our Neighbors With Dignity Program › 1282 - Housing Our Neighbors With Dignity Program.

§  1282. Housing our neighbors with dignity program. 1. Establishment.
Subject to amounts available by appropriation therefor, the  corporation
shall  develop a housing our neighbors with dignity program (hereinafter
referred to as "the program"), which shall provide a mechanism  for  the
state  to finance the acquisition and/or conversion of distressed hotels
and commercial office properties by appropriate nonprofit  organizations
for  the  purpose  of  maintaining or increasing affordable housing. All
affordable housing properties produced through this program shall remain
permanently affordable, and all converted properties in a  city  with  a
population of one million or more, with the exception of small converted
properties  and  exempt  supportive  housing,  shall  be required to pay
building service employees the applicable prevailing  wage  pursuant  to
subdivision  one-a of this section. Permanent affordability restrictions
shall require a regulatory  agreement  with  the  corporation  or  local
housing agency or other affordability restrictions in recorded documents
not specifically listed in this subdivision, provided the corporation or
local  housing  agency determines that such restrictions are enforceable
and likely to be enforced. Such enforcement measures shall  include  but
not  be  limited  to  the  ability  to cancel or transfer the regulatory
agreement or property to another entity for violating the terms of  such
regulatory  agreement,  such  as failure to meet the minimum obligations
set forth in this article when such failure is not cured.
1-a. In a city with a population of one million or more, all  building
service employees employed by an appropriate nonprofit organization at a
converted property or otherwise employed at a converted property that is
not  a  small  converted  property  or  exempt  supportive housing shall
receive at least the applicable prevailing wage in such city for  craft,
trade,  or  occupation  of  such  building  service employee. The fiscal
officer shall have the power to enforce  such  provisions  in  the  same
manner  as  provided  under  subparagraph  (iii)  of  paragraph  (g)  of
subdivision seventeen of section four hundred twenty-one-a of  the  real
property  tax  law. In addition, the fiscal officer shall have the power
to conduct an investigation and hearing and file a determination  as  to
the payment of wages owed by a lessee, owner, successor, or any employer
of building service employees, as provided under subdivisions one, four,
five,  six,  eight  and  nine  of section two hundred thirty-five of the
labor law.
2. Purpose. The program shall seek to:
(a) Finance the acquisition of distressed hotels and commercial office
properties by appropriate nonprofit organizations  for  the  purpose  of
stabilizing communities and the housing market;
(b)   Finance  the  conversion  and  rehabilitation  of  the  physical
condition of acquired property by appropriate nonprofit organizations in
order to improve the condition of such property  for  future  occupants,
such as habitability and environmental sustainability; and
(c)  Provide an appropriate, expedient and efficient manner for owners
of such distressed properties to transfer ownership  to  an  appropriate
nonprofit  organization  so  as  to  promote the state's interest in the
conversion of such properties to new supportive and affordable permanent
housing units.
3. Powers. The state may finance the purchase, acquisition, conversion
and/or holding by  appropriate  nonprofit  organizations  of  distressed
hotel  or  commercial office properties in any part of the state for the
purpose of maintaining or increasing the stock  of  affordable,  stable,
quality  housing;  provided  that in the case of a property at which any
hotel workers are represented by a collective bargaining representative,
prior  to  the   proposed   acquisition,   the   collective   bargaining
representative shall be notified in writing of the proposed acquisition,

and  the property owner shall certify prior to the state initiating such
acquisition   through   financing   that   the   collective   bargaining
representative  has  mutually  agreed  in  a  separate  writing with the
property owner to take the specific acquisition described in the written
notice.
4.  Converted  properties.  All  properties  converted  to  affordable
housing pursuant to this section shall meet  the  minimum  standards  of
habitability,  safety  and  quality of life for all established housing.
Additional operating expenses shall be met through  any  combination  of
subsidies,  vouchers,  commercial  rents,  or  other  sources  of income
available to the housing provider under the model the non-profit chooses
to pursue. All units shall be rent stabilized as defined in this article
in localities that have adopted or opted in to  the  rent  stabilization
law.  At  least  fifty percent of all converted units shall be set aside
for  individuals  and  families  who  were   experiencing   homelessness
immediately  prior  to  entering such converted affordable housing. Each
unit must contain,  at  a  minimum,  a  living/sleeping  space,  private
bathroom with bath or shower, and either a full kitchen or a kitchenette
with  at  least  a  7-cubic  feet  capacity refrigerator, sink, cooktop,
microwave oven and outlets for countertop appliances.
5. Restrictions. The state shall not, in any case, facilitate the sale
or transfer of property unless the state has entered into  an  agreement
with  the  appropriate nonprofit organization to ensure that any actions
necessary  to  bring  the  property  into  compliance  with   applicable
building, safety, health and habitability codes and requirements will be
taken before such property is occupied.
6.  Tenant  protections.  Tenants  residing in properties converted to
affordable housing pursuant to this  section  shall  have  full  tenancy
rights,   including   all   the  tenant  protections  pursuant  to  rent
stabilization as defined in this article in localities that have adopted
or opted in to the rent stabilization laws. Tenancy in  such  affordable
housing  shall  not  be  restricted  on  the basis of sexual identity or
orientation, gender identity or expression, conviction or arrest record,
credit history, credit score, or immigration status.