§ 605 — Definitions

* § 605. Definitions. For the purposes of this article, the following\nterms shall have the following meanings:\n 1. "Homeless" means lacking a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime\nresidence; having a primary nighttime residence that is a public or\nprivate place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping\naccommodation for human beings, including a car, park, abandoned\nbuilding, bus or train station, airport, campground, or other place not\nmeant for human habitation; living in a supervised publicly or privately\noperated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangements\n(including hotels and motels paid for by federal, state or local\ngovernment programs for low-income individuals or by charitable\norganizations, congregate shelters, or transitional housing); exiting an\ninstitution where an individual or family has resided and lacking a\nregular fixed and adequate nighttime residence upon release or\ndischarge; individuals released or scheduled to be released from\nincarceration and lacking a regular fixed and adequate nighttime\nresidence upon release or discharge; being a homeless family with\nchildren or unaccompanied youth defined as homeless under 42 U.S.C. §\n11302(a); having experienced a long-term period without living\nindependently in permanent housing or having experienced persistent\ninstability as measured by frequent moves and being reasonably expected\nto continue in such status for an extended period of time because of\nchronic disabilities, chronic physical health or mental health\nconditions, substance addiction, histories of domestic violence or\nchildhood abuse, the presence of a child or youth with a disability,\nmultiple barriers to employment, or other dangerous or life-threatening\nconditions, including conditions that relate to violence against an\nindividual or a family member.\n 2. "Imminent loss of housing" means having received a verified rent\ndemand or a petition for eviction; having received a court order\nresulting from an eviction action that notifies the individual or family\nthat they must leave their housing; facing loss of housing due to a\ncourt order to vacate the premises due to hazardous conditions, which\nmay include but not be limited to asbestos, lead exposure, mold, and\nradon; having a primary nighttime residence that is a room in a hotel or\nmotel and lacking the resources necessary to stay; facing loss of the\nprimary nighttime residence, which may include living in the home of\nanother household, where the owner or renter of the housing will not\nallow the individual or family to stay, provided further, that an\nassertion from an individual or family member alleging such loss of\nhousing or homelessness shall be sufficient to establish eligibility; or\nfleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, dating violence, sexual\nassault, stalking, human trafficking or other dangerous or\nlife-threatening conditions that relate to violence against the\nindividual or a family member, provided further that an assertion from\nan individual or family member alleging such abuse and loss of housing\nshall be sufficient to establish eligibility.\n 3. "Public housing agency" means any county, municipality, or other\ngovernmental entity or public body that is authorized to administer any\npublic housing program (or an agency or instrumentality of such an\nentity), and any other public or private non-profit entity that\nadministers any other public housing program or assistance.\n 4. "Section 8 local administrator" means a public housing agency that\nadministers the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program under section 8\nof the United States housing act of 1937 within a community, county or\nregion, or statewide, on behalf of and under contract with the housing\ntrust fund corporation.\n 5. "Housing access voucher local administrator" means a public housing\nagency, as defined in subdivision three of this section, or Section 8\nlocal administrator designated to administer the housing access voucher\npilot program within a community, county or region, or statewide, on\nbehalf of and under contract with the housing trust fund corporation. In\nthe city of New York, the housing access voucher local administrator\nshall be the New York city department of housing preservation and\ndevelopment, or the New York city housing authority, or both.\n 6. "Family" means a group of persons residing together. Such group\nincludes, but is not limited to a family with or without children (a\nchild who is temporarily away from the home because of placement in\nfoster care is considered a member of the family) or any remaining\nmembers of a tenant family. The commissioner shall have the discretion\nto determine if any other group of persons qualifies as a family.\n 7. "Owner" means any private person or any entity, including a\ncooperative, an agency of the federal government, or a public housing\nagency, having the legal right to lease or sublease dwelling units.\n 8. "Dwelling unit" means a single-family dwelling, including attached\nstructures such as porches and stoops; or a single-family dwelling unit\nin a structure that contains more than one separate residential dwelling\nunit, and in which each such unit is used or occupied, or intended to be\nused or occupied, in whole or in part, as the residence of one or more\npersons.\n 9. "Income" shall mean the same as it is defined by 24 CFR § 5.609 and\nany amendments thereto.\n 10. "Adjusted income" shall mean the same as it is defined by 24 CFR §\n5.611 and any amendments thereto.\n 11. "Reasonable rent" means rent not more than the rent charged on\ncomparable units in the private unassisted market and rent charged for\ncomparable unassisted units in the premises.\n 12. "Fair market rent" means the fair market rent for each rental area\nas promulgated annually by the United States department of housing and\nurban development pursuant to 42 U.S.C. 1437f.\n 13. "Voucher" means a document issued by the housing trust fund\ncorporation pursuant to this article to an individual or family selected\nfor admission to the housing access voucher pilot program, which\ndescribes such pilot program and the procedures for approval of a unit\nselected by the family and states the obligations of the individual or\nfamily under the pilot program.\n 14. "Lease" means a written agreement between an owner and a tenant\nfor the leasing of a dwelling unit to the tenant. The lease establishes\nthe conditions for occupancy of the dwelling unit by an individual or\nfamily with housing assistance payments under a contract between the\nowner and the housing access voucher local administrator.\n 15. "Dependent" means any member of the family who is neither the head\nof household, nor the head of the household's spouse, and who is:\n (a) under the age of eighteen;\n (b) a person with a disability; or\n (c) a full-time student.\n 16. "Elderly" means a person sixty-two years of age or older.\n 17. "Child care expenses" means expenses relating to the care of\nchildren under the age of thirteen.\n 18. "Severely rent burdened" means those individuals and families who\npay more than fifty percent of their income in rent as defined by the\nUnited States census bureau.\n 19. "Disability" means:\n (a) the inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by\nreason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment which\ncan be expected to result in death or which has lasted or can be\nexpected to last for a continuous period of not less than twelve months;\nor\n (b) in the case of an individual who has attained the age of\nfifty-five and is blind, the inability by reason of such blindness to\nengage in substantial gainful activity requiring skills or abilities\ncomparable to those of any gainful activity in which they have\npreviously engaged with some regularity and over a substantial period of\ntime; or\n (c) a physical, mental, or emotional impairment which:\n (i) is expected to be of long-continued and indefinite duration;\n (ii) substantially impedes their ability to live independently; and\n (iii) is of such a nature that such ability could be improved by more\nsuitable housing conditions; or\n (d) a developmental disability that is a severe, chronic disability of\nan individual that:\n (i) is attributable to a mental or physical impairment or combination\nof mental and physical impairments;\n (ii) is manifested before the individual attains age twenty-two;\n (iii) is likely to continue indefinitely;\n (iv) results in substantial functional limitations in three or more of\nthe following areas of major life activity:\n (A) self-care;\n (B) receptive and expressive language;\n (C) learning;\n (D) mobility;\n (E) self-direction;\n (F) capacity for independent living; or\n (G) economic self-sufficiency; and\n (v) reflects the individual's need for a combination and sequence of\nspecial, interdisciplinary, or generic services, individualized\nsupports, or other forms of assistance that are of lifelong or extended\nduration and are individually planned and coordinated.\n * NB Expires May 1, 2030\n