N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 9, § 1900.3 – Definitions.

(1) Capital improvement shall mean an improvement which is deemed depreciable under the Internal Revenue Code, other than for ordinary repair.
(2) Commissioner shall mean the Commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR).
(3) Construction shall mean the erection of any new structure.
(4) Conversion shall mean all work necessary to convert nonresidential property into residential property.
(5) Cooperative project or condominium project shall mean an eligible property which, subsequent to construction, conversion or rehabilitation hereunder, will be owned as an approved residential cooperative or condominium.
(6) Corporation shall mean the Housing Trust Fund Corporation established by the Private Housing Finance Law, section 45-a.
(7) Eligible applicant shall mean:
1. (i) a person of low income; provided, however, such person cannot be a direct recipient of any payment, grant or loan from the corporation;
2. (ii) a housing development fund company incorporated pursuant to article XI of the Private Housing Finance Law;
3. (iii) a not-for-profit corporation or charitable organization which has, as one of its primary purposes, the improvement or provision of housing for persons of low income (or a wholly owned subsidiary of such a corporation or organization);
4. (iv) a partnership at least 50 percent of the controlling interest of which is held by an eligible not-for-profit corporation or charitable organization or wholly owned subsidiary thereof and which has agreed to limit its profit or rate of return in accordance with a formula approved or established by the corporation;
5. (v) a private developer which has agreed to limit its profits or rate of return of investors in accordance with a formula approved or established by the corporation;
6. (vi) a municipality; or
7. (vii) a municipal housing authority, provided that:
  1. (a) the purchase of the eligible property shall not have been financed pursuant to provisions of the Public Housing Law; and
  2. (b) the eligible property was not owned by such authority prior to July 1, 1986.
(8) Eligible property shall mean any vacant residential or nonresidential property or any underoccupied residential property, or any portion of any of the above, or any site suitable for construction, which is located in an eligible area as defined in section 1901.4 of this Title.
(9) Eligible recipient shall mean a person or family of low income.
(10) Immediate family shall mean, with reference to an individual person, that person's parents, stepparents, spouse, brothers, stepbrothers, sisters, stepsisters, sons, stepsons, daughters and stepdaughters; and the spouses of each.
(11) Homesteading project shall mean an eligible property which, subsequent to construction, conversion or rehabilitation hereunder, will contain less than five residential units, have at least one owner-occupant and will not be owned as a cooperative or condominium.
(12) Income or annual income shall mean the adjusted gross income as reported in the Federal income tax return, or would be reported if such return were required, less such personal exemptions and deductions for medical expenses as are actually taken by the taxpayer.
(13) Income requirements of a project shall mean all income adequate to pay the actual operation and maintenance costs of the project including debt service, operating reserves and replacement reserves.
(14) Initial rent, for other than owner-occupied units, shall mean the first monthly occupancy charge, including utility charges, where applicable subsequent to the construction, rehabilitation or conversion of any residential accommodation assisted hereunder.
(15) Legal occupant shall mean a tenant in possession of a unit in accordance with local codes, laws or ordinances.
(16) Local program administrator shall mean an eligible applicant to whom the corporation makes payments, grants or loans from which the local program administrator shall construct, rehabilitate or convert its own projects or make payments, grants or loans to subrecipients for the construction, rehabilitation or conversion of a project.
(17) Municipality shall mean any village, town, city or county having a county department of assessment with the power to assess real property (except that where a city consists of more than one county, the term municipality shall refer to such city).
(18) Nonresidential property shall mean any property which is not residential property as defined herein and which is vacant.
(19) Owner shall mean an owner of a property in fee simple or the lessor of an eligible property with at least 20 years remaining on the lease term, subsequent to the completion of construction, rehabilitation or conversion.
(20) Owner-occupant shall mean a person or persons who owns a homesteading project and who occupies a unit therein as his or her principal place of residence.
(21) Persons of low income shall mean:
1. (i) for those cities with a population of one million or more persons, those persons or families whose household incomes do not exceed 80 percent of the median income for the metropolitan statistical area in which that project is located; provided, however, that in the case of an owner occupant of a homesteading project, persons of low income shall also mean those persons or families whose household incomes do not exceed 80 percent of the median income for the State of New York if this measurement is greater than the measurement previously stated;
2. (ii) for other portions of the State:
  1. (a) and within a metropolitan statistical area, those persons and families whose household incomes do not exceed 90 percent of the median income for the metropolitan statistical area in which that project is located or 90 percent of the median income for the State, whichever is greater; or
  2. (b) and without a metropolitan statistical area, those persons and families whose household incomes do not exceed 90 percent of the median income for the county in which a project is located or 90 percent of the median income for the State, whichever is greater.
(22) Persons of very low income shall mean those persons or families whose household incomes do not exceed 50 percent of the median income for the metropolitan statistical area in which the project is located, or if a project is located outside such an area, those persons or families whose household incomes do not exceed 50 percent for the county in which the project is located.
(23) Principal shall mean any individual who has a 10 percent interest or more in, or is an officer or director of, an eligible applicant.
(24) Private developer shall mean a person, firm, partnership (less than 50 percent of the controlling interest of which is held by a not-for-profit corporation or charitable organization or wholly owned subsidiary thereof) or corporation which is not otherwise defined as an eligible applicant in paragraph (7) of this subdivision, whose business activity includes residential construction or rehabilitation.
(25) Project shall mean the construction, rehabilitation or conversion of an eligible property or properties by an eligible applicant hereunder, into a homesteading, cooperative, condominium or rental project. In cases where the project consists of less than the entire property, the term project shall mean only that portion which is assisted hereunder.
(26) Project recipient shall mean an eligible applicant to whom the corporation makes a payment, grant or loan for the construction, rehabilitation or conversion of a project.
(27) Reconstruction shall mean the replacement of most of a project's major structural components such as floors, walls and ceilings.
(28) Rehabilitation shall mean all work necessary to bring a residential property into compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, including but not limited to the installation, replacement or repair of heating, plumbing, electrical and related systems, accessibility for the handicapped and the elimination of all hazardous violations in the structure. Rehabilitation may also include reconstruction or work to improve the habitability or prolong the useful life of a residential property.
(29) Rental project shall mean an eligible property which, subsequent to construction, conversion or rehabilitation hereunder, will be owned and operated as rental residential property.
(30) Residential property shall mean any real property in which all or part of the space is used for residential purposes prior and subsequent to construction, rehabilitation or conversion. Residential purposes shall be dwelling accommodations and such facilities as may be deemed by the corporation to be incidental and appurtenant thereto.
(31) Shared housing project shall mean a specific project, including lands, buildings and improvements acquired, constructed, renovated, upgraded, improved, modernized, rehabilitated, restored or converted to create shared living arrangements for two or more unrelated persons or households in an eligible area.
(32) Subrecipient shall mean an eligible applicant to whom a local program administrator makes a payment, grant or loan for a project.
(33) Underoccupied residential property shall mean:
1. (i) a residential property, the units of which are at the time of the application less than 60 percent occupied by legal occupants;
2. (ii) a portion of a residential property as described in subdivision (a) of this section, the residential units of which are in itself less than 60 percent occupied by legal occupants; or
3. (iii) a residential property consisting of one or two units prior to rehabilitation or conversion under the act, and will contain at least one additional unit after rehabilitation or conversion.

(a) Definitions.