New York Consolidated Laws, Public Housing Law - PBG § 612. Monthly assistance payment

1. The amount of the monthly assistance payment with respect to any dwelling unit shall be the difference between the maximum monthly rent which the contract provides that the owner is to receive for the unit and the rent the individual or family is required to pay under section six hundred eleven of this article.

2. The commissioner shall establish maximum rent levels for different sized rentals in each rental area in a manner that promotes the use of the pilot program in all localities based on the fair market rent of the rental area.  Rental areas shall be determined by the commissioner.  The commissioner may rely on data or other information promulgated by any other state or federal agency in determining the rental areas and fair market rent.

3. The payment standard for each size of dwelling unit in a rental area shall not be less than ninety percent and shall not exceed one hundred twenty percent of the fair market rent as defined in section six hundred five of this article for the same size of dwelling unit in the same rental area, except that the commissioner shall not be required as a result of a reduction in the fair market rent to reduce the payment standard applied to a family continuing to reside in a unit for which the family was receiving assistance under this article at the time the fair market rent was reduced.