Establishes a rental assistance loan-to-grant program to assist landlords of small rental properties who have lost rental income due to the inability of the landlords' tenants to pay rent during the COVID-19 state disaster emergency; provides for the repeal of such provisions upon the expiration thereof.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A4698
SPONSOR: Smullen (MS)
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to establish a rental assistance loan-to-grant program to assist
landlords of small rental properties who have lost rental income due to
the inability of the landlords' tenants to pay rent during the COVID-19
state disaster emergency; and providing for the repeal of such
provisions upon the expiration thereof
 
PURPOSE:
This legislation establishes a rental assistance loan-to-grant program
to assist landlords due to the COVED-19 pandemic
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1. 1. (a) States there shall be established in the New York
Division of Housing and Community Renewal a rental assistance loan-to-
grant program
(b) The program shall provide loans to landlords of residential proper-
ties containing up to six rental units for the purpose of covering rent
arrearages owed by tenants of the building who were unable to pay rent
during the COVID-19 state disaster emergency.due to unemployment or
medical emergency and accrued during the state disaster emergency
declared pursuant to executive order 202 of 2020. If a tenant subse-
quently pays the landlord the arrearages in rent, in whole or in part,
the landlord shall pay such funds to the program as full or partial
repayment of the loan. If a tenant does not pay the landlord the arrear
ages in rent, that portion of the loan from the program shall be
converted by the Division of Housing and Community Renewal into a grant
to the landlord and the landlord shall be held harmless from any obli-
gation to repay such portion of the loan, absent any fraud.
2. Illustrates allocated Federal monies, which will be utilized to fund
this program.
3. The Commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing and Commu-
nity Renewal will promulgate rules and regulations for the implementa-
tion and administration of the program.
4. Nothing in this act shall be construed to relieve any tenant of any
obligation to pay rent to a landlord pursuant to a valid rental agree-
ment or understanding.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
New York State has enacted an eviction ban for tenants living in the
state, giving residents fearful of losing their homes during the pandem-
ic some relief at least until May of 2021. As laudable as the aim may
be, landlords, particularly those who own commercial properties for
small business use, and those who rent six or less units continue to
operate with little-to-no assistance. This legislation offers a loanto-
grant program to those landlords renting six or less units. Under this
program, if tenants pay their back rent, the landlords will simply repay
the state. If the tenant never pays the rent, then the landlord would be
held harmless.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New Bill
A6595 of 2021-22: Referred to housing
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
To be determined
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately and shall expire on the later of
December 31, 2021 or the date on which none of the provisions that
closed or otherwise restricted public or private businesses or places of
public accommodation, or required postponement or cancellation of all
non-essential gatherings of individuals of any size for any reason in
executive order numbers 202.3, 202.4, 202.5, 202.6, 202.7, 202.8,
202.10, 202.11, 202.13 or 202.14 of two thousand twenty, as extended by
executive order numbers 202.28 and 202.31 of two thousand twenty and as
further extended by any future executive order, issued in response to
the COVID-19 pandemic continue to apply anywhere in the state, when upon
such date the provisions of this act shall be deemed repealed; provided
that the state commissioner of social services shall notify the legisla-
tive bill drafting commission upon the date on which none of the
provisions that closed or otherwise restricted public or private busi-
nesses or places of public accommodation, or required postponement
cancellation of all non-essential gatherings of individuals of any size
for any reason in executive order numbers 202.3, 202.4, 202.5, 202.6,
202.7, 202.8, 202.10, 202.11, 202.13 or 202.14 of two thous and twenty,
as extended by executive order numbers 202.28 and 202.31 of two thousand
twenty and as further extended by any future executive order, issued in
response to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to apply anywhere in the
state, in order that the commission may maintain an accurate and timely
effective data base of the official text of the laws of the state of New
York in furtherance of effectuating the provisions of section 44 of the
legislative law and section 70-b of the public officers law.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
4698
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 22, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SMULLEN, J. A. GIGLIO, MANKTELOW, BRABENEC --
Multi-Sponsored by -- M. of A. WALSH -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Housing
AN ACT to establish a rental assistance loan-to-grant program to assist
landlords of small rental properties who have lost rental income due
to the inability of the landlords' tenants to pay rent during the
COVID-19 state disaster emergency; and providing for the repeal of
such provisions upon the expiration thereof
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. 1. (a) There shall be established in the New York Division
2 of Housing and Community Renewal a rental assistance loan-to-grant
3 program ("the program") to assist landlords of small rental properties
4 who have lost rental income due to the inability of the landlord's
5 tenants to pay rent during the period of the COVID-19 state disaster
6 emergency declared pursuant to executive order 202 of 2020. The program
7 shall be administered by the Commissioner of the New York Division of
8 Housing and Community Renewal.
9 (b) The program shall provide loans to landlords of residential prop-
10 erties containing up to six rental units for the purpose of covering
11 rent arrearages owed by tenants of the building who were unable to pay
12 rent during the COVID-19 state disaster emergency due to unemployment or
13 medical emergency and accrued during the state disaster emergency
14 declared pursuant to executive order 202 of 2020. If a tenant subse-
15 quently pays the landlord the arrearages in rent, in whole or in part,
16 the landlord shall pay such funds to the program as full or partial
17 repayment of the loan. If a tenant does not pay the landlord the arrear-
18 ages in rent, that portion of the loan from the program shall be
19 converted by the Division of Housing and Community Renewal into a grant
20 to the landlord and the landlord shall be held harmless from any obli-
21 gation to repay such portion of the loan, absent any fraud.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08448-01-3
A. 4698 2
1 2. The program shall be funded with monies from the following sources:
2 (a) all funds received by the state of New York from the federal Emer-
3 gency Rental Assistance program;
4 (b) any funds remaining from monies allocated to the state of New York
5 from the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES)
6 Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-136) for the Emergency Rent Relief Act of 2020,
7 pursuant to chapter one hundred twenty-five of the laws of two thousand
8 twenty, such that the sum of such funds actually expended pursuant to
9 such chapter and that such funds reallocated and expended pursuant to
10 this article shall equal one hundred million dollars; and
11 (c) any additional funds allocated by the federal government to the
12 state of New York for emergency rental or utility assistance related to
13 the COVID-19 pandemic.
14 3. The Commissioner of the New York State Division of Housing and
15 Community Renewal will promulgate rules and regulations for the imple-
16 mentation and administration of the program including, but not limited
17 to:
18 (i) standards of eligibility for the program;
19 (ii) application procedures;
20 (iii) a verification process for eligibility for the program;
21 (iv) a process for distribution of program funds to eligible land-
22 lords;
23 (v) a verification process for payment by a tenant of rent arrearages
24 or of the tenant's failure to do so;
25 (vi) time frames for the processing of applications and the distrib-
26 ution of funds under the program;
27 (vii) procedures for and methods of repayment of loans in whole or in
28 part by landlords; and
29 (viii) procedures for the conversion of loans to grants, in whole or
30 in part.
31 4. Nothing in this act shall be construed to relieve any tenant of any
32 obligation to pay rent to a landlord pursuant to a valid rental agree-
33 ment or understanding.
34 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
35 have become a law and shall expire and be deemed repealed January 1,
36 2025.