1172. The New York state HOME program. 1. Agreements. (a) Within the limit of HOME program funds, the division is hereby authorized to take administrative actions necessary to comply with HUD requirements and consistent with the provisions of this article in order to enter into agreements with applicants to provide grants and loans which such applicants shall use to finance projects that qualify under HOME regulations as eligible activities.
(b) The division shall not enter into an agreement under this article except with an eligible applicant which has submitted an application pursuant to a notification of fund availability and a request for proposals issued by the division.
(c) The division and the applicant shall execute a grant or loan agreement which shall set forth the terms and conditions under which the grant or loan will be provided.
2. Notice of fund availability. The division shall issue its initial notice of fund availability and request for proposals within forty-five working days of the effective date of this article. No more than sixty percent of the HOME funds shall be available for reservation in such initial funding cycle. No later than sixteen months from the effective date of this article, the division shall issue a second request for proposals and make available those funds not committed during the initial request for proposals, including funds recaptured by or otherwise made available to the division by the federal government under the HOME program. Additional requests for proposals shall be issued at the discretion of the division but in any event no later than sixty days following the availability of additional federal funds.
3. Application procedures. (a) Documentation determining eligibility. The division shall provide each applicant with a list of documents that must be included in the application before the application can be entered into the competitive process for the awarding of grants and loans. The division shall also include with such list of documents a detailed description of the review and selection procedures criteria utilized by the division pursuant to paragraph (b) of this subdivision. Within ten working days after the last day for receipt of applications, the division shall notify applicants if and how the application is incomplete and provide ten working days to complete such application. Documentation requirements shall include but not necessarily be limited to: (1) a feasibility study and market analysis of the proposal; (2) a proposed project financing and leveraging plan; (3) a schedule, with specific dates, of the expected project commencement date, expected completion date, and if appropriate, the anticipated schedule for closing and occupancy of units; (4) a description of the applicant's qualifications and previous experience; (5) a statement by the applicant as to the status of all public approvals and clearances required to undertake the project; (6) a plan as to how applicants will ensure compliance with all federally mandated regulations throughout the regulatory term; (7) a statement describing the amount of and source of any matching contributions required for the proposed project and an opinion of counsel that funds proposed to be used as matching contributions are legally available to be used as proposed; and (8) a statement of need and how the project will further goals delineated within the state CHAS.
(b) The review and selection procedure. Within forty-five working days of the effective date of this article, the division shall develop, consistent with federal law and regulations, a review procedure and selection criteria for evaluating applications, which shall include design, underwriting, legal and program requirements. Such procedure and selection criteria shall be provided to applicants with the application. Such selection criteria shall include but not be limited to the following factors: (1) the extent to which the proposal will serve a demonstrated need; (2) the degree to which the proposal leverages private investment or other funding sources; (3) the likelihood of successful project completion, including consideration of the submitted market analysis, the prior experience of the applicant, and the viability of the submitted completion schedule; and (4) type of assistance requested.
4. Selection for award and notification requirements. The division shall base the awarding of grants and loans subject to the availability of funds upon the competitive review and selection procedure described in paragraph (b) of subdivision three of this section. Within eighty working days following the last day for receipt of applications in response to a request for proposals, the division shall notify all applicants of its funding decisions.
(a) The division will notify, in writing, all applicants who were not selected for funding of the reasons why the proposal was not funded, including the design, underwriting, legal or program deficiencies, deficiencies of any documents and/or the basis upon which the application was determined to be ineligible for funding. Until the issuance of a subsequent notice of fund availability, applicants not selected for funding due solely to the non-availability of federal funds under the notice of fund availability shall remain eligible for selection for funding under such notice of fund availability in the event that unused federal funds become available for reallocation.
(b) The division shall provide each applicant selected for funding with a list of conditions that must be met prior to entering into a contract pursuant to this article. Within fifteen working days of receipt by the division of all documents in satisfaction of the list, the division shall notify the applicant of the sufficiency or insufficiency of the documents. After satisfaction by the applicant of all conditions required by the division prior to entering into a contract, the division shall enter into the contract within forty-five working days of satisfaction of such conditions. Applications which are not selected for funding must be resubmitted by the applicant for consideration under subsequent notices of funding availability.
5. Distribution of funds. Eighty percent of the funds available hereunder after deducting the set asides mandated by NAHA for community housing development organizations, shall be reserved for projects located within non-participating jurisdictions, provided however, that such reservation may be less than eighty percent where, following a notice of funding availability and request for proposals, the division has made a written finding that (i) applications, except those not selected for funding pursuant to subdivision four of this section, for projects in non-participating jurisdictions will not totally utilize the remaining available reserved funds and (ii) such funds are subject to recapture by HUD pursuant to federal HOME regulations within one hundred eighty days.
6. Monitoring and review. The division shall provide for the review, at periodic intervals not less than annually, of the performance of applicants receiving grants or loans pursuant to this article. Such review shall, among other things, be for the purposes of ascertaining the conformity to agreement provisions, and adherence to federal HOME regulations. Agreements entered into pursuant to this article may be terminated and funds may be withheld or recaptured by the division upon a finding of substantial nonperformance or breach by such applicant under its agreement or for failure to adhere to federal NAHA requirements.
7. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, on and after June thirtieth, nineteen hundred ninety-five, the division shall not issue notices of fund availability, accept applications or enter into any new agreements pursuant to the provisions of this section.
Last modified: February 3, 2019