§ 630 — Transfer of property

§ 630. Transfer of property. 1. NYCHA, acting by NYCHA board\nresolution and in accordance with a disposition or similar plan approved\nby the United States department of housing and urban development in\naccordance with applicable federal law, which shall include a letter of\napproval from the mayor or a designee of the mayor, may transfer to the\ntrust, with or without consideration and without any further\nauthorization, a leasehold interest in its housing facilities and any\nancillary personal property of such facilities. The aggregate number of\nresidential units transferred to the trust pursuant to this section\nshall not exceed twenty-five thousand. On an annual basis, NYCHA and the\ntrust shall review such limit and, if they determine that such limit\nshould be increased, NYCHA and the trust shall make recommendations to\nthe legislature regarding any such increase.\n 2. Within sixty days of the effective date of this article, NYCHA\nshall issue a set of proposed requirements related to the voting\nprocess. There shall be a comment period for the voting process, and\nthe comment period shall include at least one meeting open to the\npublic. NYCHA shall consider the comments before issuance of the final\nrequirements for the voting process. The comments, and the responses to\nsuch comments, shall be published publicly, including, but not limited\nto, on NYCHA's website. Within one hundred twenty days of the effective\ndate of this article, the final requirements for the voting process,\nwhich may be amended as needed pursuant to the process described in this\nsection, shall be posted. Such voting process requirements shall\ninclude: the minimum requirements for voter outreach that shall occur\nprior to any vote, which shall, at a minimum, conform to the\nrequirements set forth in subdivision five of this section, voting\neligibility, the form, substance, and timing of the voting process, the\nvoting requirements regarding the selection of any other proposed\nmodernization strategy at a housing facility in connection with the\nvoting process, and the criteria by which an option shall be deemed to\nbe accepted or rejected by residents of a particular housing facility\nfor a modernization strategy that addresses the capital needs of such\nhousing facility. The voting process shall ensure that all tenants of\nrecord above the age of eighteen are eligible to vote. The voting\nprocess shall include options to vote in person, by mail, and online.\nThe voting process shall also require a minimum percentage of tenants of\nrecord at such housing facility to participate in the voting process for\nsuch voting process to be valid. The voting process shall also include,\nbut shall not be limited to, the ability of residents at a particular\nhousing facility to reject the options proposed for such housing\nfacility submitted as part of the voting process. If all options are\nrejected at a particular housing facility, none of the proposed options\nshall be implemented at such housing facility until another vote is\nundertaken at such housing facility. NYCHA shall comply with a vote to\naccept or reject any such options. The trust shall not transfer, convey,\nassign, mortgage, pledge or otherwise encumber any interest in, or\npermit or suffer any transfer, conveyance, assignment, mortgage, pledge\nor other encumbrance of any interest in such housing facility, or any\npart thereof, prior to the posting of the final requirements for the\nvoting process, prior to the completed vote at such housing facility\napproving such option, and prior to the satisfaction of applicable\nfederal law and regulations. NYCHA shall not transfer, convey, assign,\nmortgage, or pledge to the trust, or permit or suffer any transfer,\nconveyance, assignment, mortgage, or pledge to the trust any interest in\nsuch housing facility, or any part thereof, prior to the posting of the\nfinal requirements for the voting process, prior to the completed vote\nat such housing facility approving such option, and prior to the\nsatisfaction of applicable federal law and regulations.\n 3. In addition to the requirements set forth in subdivision two of\nthis section, the trust shall not transfer, convey, assign, mortgage,\npledge or otherwise encumber any interest in, or permit or suffer any\ntransfer, conveyance, assignment, mortgage, pledge or other encumbrance\nof any interest in any housing facilities, or any part thereof without\nprior written consent of NYCHA. Such written consent shall include, but\nnot be limited to, all protections described in section six hundred\nthirty-one of this article and in subdivision fourteen of section six\nhundred thirty-seven of this article and shall include reference to\nsection six hundred thirty-three of this article.\n 4. The trust shall ensure that any housing facilities transferred to\nthe trust pursuant to this section and any portions thereof are leased\nin accordance with United States department of housing and urban\ndevelopment eligibility and income-targeting requirements, to the extent\napplicable to the units therein. Rents for such units shall not exceed\napplicable program requirements for the provision of housing for\nlow-income families as established pursuant to federal law and\nregulations. Where NYCHA rules, regulations or agreements exceed the\nresident protection standards set forth in state or federal law or\nregulations, any housing facilities transferred to the trust pursuant to\nthis section and any portions thereof shall be leased in accordance with\nthe requirements set forth in the NYCHA rules, regulations, or\nagreements, as applicable. To the extent consistent with federal law and\nregulations, any transfer of a housing facility to the trust pursuant to\nthis article shall ensure the maintenance of all rights conferred on a\nresident at the time of such transfer.\n 5. As part of the voting process and prior to the transfer of any\nhousing facility, or any part thereof, to the trust, NYCHA shall engage\nin a course of resident engagement. Such resident engagement shall\ninclude: (a) Notice of proposed options on the website of NYCHA and in a\nprominent location of the affected housing facility in compliance with\nlanguage access requirements in federal and state law, as applicable;\n (b) a summary description of the proposed options;\n (c) the time and place of at least one public meeting held in\naccordance with applicable accessibility requirements at which NYCHA\nshall provide residents of such facility information about the proposed\noptions and an opportunity to provide oral comment on the proposed\ntransfer;\n (d) notification by mail, phone, and email, where such contact\ninformation is available, at least thirty days prior to a vote, to all\nresidents of such housing facility, which shall include information\ndetailing the proposed options; and\n (e) an opportunity for residents to submit written comments and the\nfinal date for submission of such comments. NYCHA shall consider and\nrespond to all comments received in such period prior to completing a\ntransfer pursuant to this subdivision.\n