N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 9 § 1902.1

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 36, September 4, 2024

Section 1902.1 - Rent and occupancy requirements

(a) Legal occupants of a project at the time of the award of a payment, grant or loan hereunder who remain in possession during construction, rehabilitation or conversion shall be entitled to continue in possession subsequent to construction, rehabilitation or conversion. Also, legal occupants at the time of the award of a payment, grant or loan hereunder who are temporarily relocated during construction, rehabilitation or conversion shall not be permanently displaced.

(b) All additional occupants subsequent to rehabilitation or conversion shall be persons of low income at the time they make application for the unit.

(c) Any person applying for a unit in a project subject to these regulations shall submit to the project owner, the owner's agent or the owner's assignee, a copy of the most recent New York State or Federal income tax return or an affidavit certifying the prior year's income, along with the application for a unit;

(d) In selecting among eligible applicants for occupancy of projects subject to these regulations, the owner shall give preference to:

(1) persons or families with the lowest incomes possible given the income requirements of the project; and

(2) persons or families whose current housing fails to meet basic standards of health and safety and who have little prospect of improving the condition of their housing except by residing in a project assisted pursuant to the act.

(e) Written leases are required for all tenants in a project assisted hereunder. Said lease must include a provision that those tenants 60 years of age or older or tenants subject to a disability as defined in New York State Executive Law, article 15, section 292, who have a lease for a rental unit in a project at the time the resale and occupancy restrictions end shall be permitted to renew their lease for the remainder of their occupancy at rents that will be affordable to them (total housing costs that are less than 30 percent of the income limits as defined in section 1900.3[a][20] and [21] of this Title), except that the tenant may be evicted for good cause in accordance with applicable laws and rules.

(f) Each unit assisted hereunder shall be the principal residence of its occupant.

(g) Relocation requirements are as follows:

(1) legal occupants of a project to be rehabilitated or constructed hereunder who are in possession on the date of award of the payment, grant or loan shall not be displaced as a result of such rehabilitation or construction, other than temporarily in order to allow for such rehabilitation or construction;

(2) where rehabilitation or construction is likely to create hazardous conditions for legal tenants, the project recipient or subrecipient must provide suitable arrangements approved by the corporation or the local program administrator, as the case may be, for temporary relocation of all legal occupants affected by the rehabilitation or construction work for as long as such conditions exist. However, as soon as the hazardous conditions cease to exist, the owner must offer to return the legal occupant to the building, and at that time relocation costs cease to be an eligible cost;

(3) at its option, the project recipient, local program administrator or subrecipient may undertake to provide suitable arrangements approved by the corporation or local program administrator, as the case may be, for such period of time as it approves, for temporary relocation of all legal occupants in the project affected by the rehabilitation or construction work;

(4) eligible costs of relocating tenants shall include payment of reasonable moving expenses to and from the unit, and upon relocation, payment of the difference, if any, between the monthly housing cost of the relocation residence and the monthly housing cost of the former unit, or the difference between 30 percent of the income of the relocated tenant and the monthly housing cost of the relocation residence, whichever difference results in a lower payment.

(h) The project recipient, local program administrator or subrecipient, subject to the approval of the corporation, shall establish a two tier system of rents. The first tier shall apply to persons of low income; the second shall apply to persons who do not qualify as persons of low income. Under the first tier, the rent (basic rent) shall not exceed 30 percent of the maximum income qualification for a person of low income in the eligible area. Under the second tier, the rent (market rent) shall not exceed the lesser of 30 percent of the tenant's income or the basic rent plus an amount, as determined by the corporation, which would be payable were all payments, grants and loans to the project treated as loans at the prevailing rate of interest at the time of construction, rehabilitation or conversion. The application of this subdivision does not in any way relieve the project recipient from its obligation to restrict new occupancy to persons of low income.

(i) Other than initial rents, all rent increases are subject to the Emergency Tenant Protection Act or Rent Stabilization Law in jurisdictions covered by these laws. Where these laws are not applicable, all rent increases shall be consistent with the applicant's approved plan for keeping rents affordable for persons of low income. The limits as stated in subdivision (h) of this section shall apply in all cases unless the corporation determines that a higher rent is required to preserve the feasibility of the project.

(j) All units in a rental project shall continue to be subject to the Emergency Tenant Protection Act or the Rent Stabilization Law as provided for in subdivision (i) of this section after the period of regulation; termination of the applicability of such laws to each unit shall occur upon the first vacancy of each said unit occuring after the expiration of the regulatory period.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 9 § 1902.1