STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 787 2025-2026 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 8, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SOLAGES -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Housing AN ACT to amend the private housing finance law, in relation to estab- lishing the New York state first home grant program; and to amend the tax law, in relation to excluding the amount of any grant to any first time home buyer awarded or any federal first time home buyer grant program from taxable income for the purpose of calculating New York adjusted gross income The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Short title. This act shall be known and may be cited as 2 the "Home Ownership Market Expansion Act" or "HOME Act". 3 § 2. The private housing finance law is amended by adding a new arti- 4 cle 33 to read as follows: 5 ARTICLE 33 6 NEW YORK STATE FIRST HOME GRANT PROGRAM 7 Section 1300. Program established. 8 1301. Definitions. 9 1302. Functions of the commissioner. 10 1303. Program requirements. 11 § 1300. Program established. Within amounts appropriated or otherwise 12 available therefor, the division of homes and community renewal shall 13 establish a first home grant program. 14 § 1301. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms 15 shall have the following meanings: 16 1. "First time home buyer" shall mean an individual or individuals, at 17 least one of whom has not had an ownership interest in a principal resi- 18 dence at any time, including residences owned in the United States or 19 abroad. No such individual shall own any other home including vacation 20 or investment residences, including residences owned in the United EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD00343-01-5A. 787 2 1 States or abroad, except as otherwise provided in this subdivision. If 2 an individual's only potentially disqualifying present ownership inter- 3 est is ownership of a mobile or manufactured home, the individual shall 4 be considered a first time home buyer. For the purposes of this article 5 a "mobile or manufactured home" shall mean a structure that is valued as 6 personal property and not real property. If, due to such individual's 7 ownership of a mobile or manufactured home, such individual has claimed 8 a real estate tax or home mortgage deduction on such individual's 9 personal income tax returns, such individual shall not be considered a 10 first time home buyer regardless of whether the mobile or manufactured 11 home was considered personal or real property. 12 2. "Ownership interest" shall mean a fee simple interest, a joint 13 tenancy, a tenancy in common, a tenancy by the entirety, the interest of 14 a tenant-share holder in a cooperative, a life estate or a land 15 contract. Interests which do not constitute ownership interests include 16 the following: (a) remainder interests, (b) a lease with or without an 17 option to purchase, (c) a mere expectancy to inherit an interest in a 18 residence, (d) the interest that a purchaser of a residence acquires on 19 the execution of a purchase contract and (e) an interest in real estate 20 other than a residence. 21 3. "Program" shall mean the New York first home grant program estab- 22 lished pursuant to this article. 23 § 1302. Functions of the commissioner. 1. The commissioner, in consul- 24 tation with the state comptroller, shall implement the program under the 25 terms and conditions established by this article. 26 2. In furtherance of such implementation the commissioner shall: 27 (a) develop and implement the program in a manner consistent with the 28 provisions of this article through rules and regulations established in 29 accordance with the state administrative procedure act; 30 (b) engage the services of consultants on a contract basis for render- 31 ing professional and technical assistance and advice; 32 (c) make changes to the program required for the participants in the 33 program to obtain the state benefits or treatment provided by this arti- 34 cle; 35 (d) charge, impose and collect administrative fees and service charges 36 in connection with any agreement, contract or transaction relating to 37 the program; 38 (e) develop marketing plans and promotion materials; 39 (f) establish the methods by which the grants be dispersed; 40 (g) establish the method by which funds shall be allocated to pay for 41 administrative costs; and 42 (h) do all things necessary and proper to carry out the purposes of 43 this article. 44 § 1303. Program requirements. 1. Amounts from a grant under this arti- 45 cle shall be used only to provide assistance: 46 (a) on behalf of a first time home buyer qualified under this article; 47 and 48 (b) for: 49 (i) costs in connection with the acquisition, involving an eligible 50 mortgage loan, of an eligible home, including downpayment costs, closing 51 costs, and costs to reduce the rates of interest on eligible mortgage 52 loans; 53 (ii) subsidies to make shared equity homes affordable to home buyers 54 by discounting the price for which the home will be sold and to preserve 55 the affordability of the home for subsequent home buyers; andA. 787 3 1 (iii) pre-occupancy home modifications required to accommodate quali- 2 fied home buyers or members of the home buyer's household with disabili- 3 ties. 4 2. Any grant awarded pursuant to this article: 5 (a) may be provided on behalf of any first time home buyer only once; 6 and 7 (b) shall be in the total amount of ten thousand dollars. 8 3. Grant amounts received by a first time home buyer pursuant to this 9 article shall be considered to supplement any other state or federal 10 assistance provided to such home buyer for the acquisition of such home. 11 4. Any first time home buyer awarded a grant pursuant to this article 12 shall maintain primary residence at such property for a five year period 13 following acquisition of such property. The commissioner shall require 14 that any first time home buyer awarded a grant pursuant to this article 15 who fails or ceases to occupy the property acquired using such assist- 16 ance as the primary residence of such home buyer, except in the case of 17 assistance provided in connection with the purchase of a principal resi- 18 dence through a shared equity homeownership program, such home buyer 19 shall repay to the commissioner a proportional amount of the assistance 20 such home buyer receives based on the number of years the home buyer has 21 occupied the eligible home. 22 § 3. Subsection (c) of section 612 of the tax law is amended by adding 23 a new paragraph 48 to read as follows: 24 (48) The amount of any grant to any first time home buyer awarded 25 pursuant to article thirty-three of the private housing finance law or 26 any federal first time home buyer grant program shall not be considered 27 taxable income for the purpose of calculating New York adjusted gross 28 income, irrespective of whether it is considered taxable income for 29 federal income tax purposes. 30 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 31 it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the commissioner of 32 the division of housing and community renewal and the comptroller are 33 authorized to promulgate any rules or regulations necessary to implement 34 the provisions of this act on its effective date on or before such 35 effective date.