§ 576-D — Master servicing agreement

§ 576-d. Master servicing agreement. 1. The commissioner is hereby\nauthorized to use the monies held in the housing development fund to\nmake advances to a local loan administrator that has entered into a\nwritten master servicing agreement prescribed by the commissioner\npursuant to subdivision two of this section.\n 2. The commissioner, in consultation with the comptroller, shall\nprescribe a master servicing agreement to be executed by the\ncommissioner and local loan administrators. Such agreement shall provide\nthat: (a) any advances made to a local loan administrator shall be used\nsolely for the purpose of providing loans to agricultural producers for\nundertaking farmworker housing projects; (b) the total amount of loans\nmade to any single agricultural producer shall not exceed two hundred\nthousand dollars per annum; (c) the term of any loan shall not exceed\nten years and equal payments of principal payable no less frequently\nthan annually shall be required to be made on such loan during the term\nsuch loan is outstanding which payments will liquidate the entire\nprincipal balance of the loan over its term; (d) the local loan\nadministrator is required to pay to the commissioner for deposit into\nthe housing development fund all repayments including interest, if any,\nreceived from any agricultural producers on account of such loan, except\nfor that portion permitted to be retained by the local loan\nadministrator as a fee pursuant to the master servicing agreement. The\nmaster servicing agreement shall also set forth: (i) the form of any\nnote and security agreement to be executed by the agricultural producer\nin connection with any loan, which shall include a provision that use of\nthe loan to provide housing for a family member of the borrower or its\nprincipals shall constitute a default under the loan and security\nagreement; (ii) the rate of interest, if any, to be charged on any loan;\n(iii) the amount of any fee to be retained by the local loan\nadministrator for servicing any loan; (iv) the form of application\nrequired to be completed by an agricultural producer for any loan; (v)\nthe form of requisition and certification to be required from a local\nloan administrator to obtain an advance of funds from the commissioner;\n(vi) any other conditions to be imposed upon an agricultural producer as\na condition of receiving a loan; (vii) the responsibilities to be\nperformed by the local loan administrator in connection with reviewing,\napproving and servicing the loan and the circumstances under which the\ncommissioner may terminate a master servicing agreement; (viii)\nconditions necessary to insure prompt closing on loans for which funds\nare advanced, including payment of interest of funds from the time\nadvanced until utilized; and (ix) such other requirements as the\ncommissioner may from time to time establish by rules and regulations\nconsistent with the purposes of this section.\n 3. (a) The commissioner shall, subject to the availability of funds as\nappropriated by the legislature, advance from the housing development\nfund to a local loan administrator the amount of funds requested in any\nrequisition within fifteen business days after receipt of all of the\nfollowing: a completed requisition for an advance of funds; copies of\nany applications and any supporting documentation to which such\nrequisition pertains; and a certification from the local loan\nadministrator with respect to such requisition in addition to any other\nrepresentation and statement required by the commissioner. The\ncertification from the local loan administrator shall state that: (i)\nthe loan administrator has performed its responsibilities in connection\nwith review and approval of applications to which such requisition\npertains, (ii) to the best of the local loan administrator's knowledge\nthe loans, to which the advances pertain, comply with the master\nservicing agreement and the provisions of this section, and (iii) the\nborrowers have demonstrated their ability to make the repayments\nrequired under the loan. In the event that funds are not available or\nthe commissioner determines that the requisition, application or\ncertification is defective, it shall so notify the local loan\nadministrator within fifteen business days after receipt of the\nrequisition.\n (b) The commissioner shall establish criteria for prioritizing loan\napplications in the event that the requisitions submitted to the\ncommissioner by one or more local loan administrators exceed the amount\nthen available for the purposes of this section. Such criteria shall\ngive a priority to housing for farmworkers and take into account: (i)\nwhether the farmworker housing project to which the application pertains\nis for the purpose of bringing non-conforming accommodations in\ncompliance with the provisions of the state sanitary code or the state\nfire prevention and building code; (ii) whether the farmworker housing\nproject to which the application pertains is the most cost effective\napproach to enable the agricultural producer to construct or\nrehabilitate dwelling accommodations for farmworkers; (iii) whether the\nagricultural producer making application lacks the financial resources\nto undertake the farmworker housing project without obtaining a loan\npursuant to this section; and (iv) such other factors as the\ncommissioner deems relevant. In applying the criteria to be utilized for\nprioritizing loans, the commissioner shall be entitled to rely on the\ninformation contained in the copies of the applications submitted with\nthe requisition.\n