N.Y. Private Housing Finance Law § 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:
1. (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;
2. (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;
3. (c) prohibiting the use of a fixed percentage appreciation cap for the purposes of determining an allowable sales price for shares in the cooperative;
4. (d) selecting new households eligible to purchase housing which has been vacated by a previous owner; and
5. (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.