New York Consolidated Laws, Private Housing Finance Law - PVH § 1111. Definitions

1. “Home” shall mean a one to four family dwelling which has at least one owner occupant or an owner occupied unit in a cooperative or a condominium.

2. “Eligible applicant” shall mean a city, a town, a village, a housing development fund company incorporated pursuant to article eleven of this chapter, any not-for-profit corporation or charitable organization which has as one of its primary purposes the improvement of housing or a municipal housing authority created pursuant to the public housing law, or a public benefit corporation formed to assist particular municipalities with their housing, community development or renewal needs, or a county, provided, however, that the county acts as an administrator of a program under which projects are constructed, rehabilitated or improved by other eligible applicants or acts in any other capacity as permitted by law.

3. “Grantee” shall mean an eligible applicant which operates a program of financial assistance pursuant to this article.

4. “Owner” shall mean an individual who owns or agrees to purchase a home assisted under this program and to occupy it as his principal place of residence or a partnership, corporation or other entity which will build or rehabilitate vacant properties for sale to home buyers.

5. “Home buyers” shall mean individuals or households for whom there are no other reasonable and affordable homeownership, rehabilitation or home improvement alternatives, as the case may be, in the private market, as determined by the grantee and who shall occupy a home assisted under this article as their principal place of residence.

6. “Rehabilitation” or “home improvement” shall mean all work necessary to bring a structure into compliance with all applicable laws and regulations including but not limited to the installation, replacement or repair of heating, plumbing, electrical and related systems and the elimination of all hazardous and immediately hazardous violations in the structure in accordance with state and local laws and regulations of state and local agencies.  Rehabilitation or home improvement may also include reconstruction or work to improve the habitability or prolong the useful life of residential property.

7. “Corporation” shall mean the affordable housing corporation created by section forty-five-b of this chapter.

8. “Affordable home ownership development programs” or “Project” shall mean the rehabilitation, improvement, construction or acquisition, singly or in combination, of one or more homes.