Private Housing Finance Law Section 610 Guidance

Under the recently enacted Section 610 of Private Housing Finance Law (PHFL), owners of affordable housing projects that are subject to a regulatory agreement with a state, municipal agency, public benefit corporation, or a political subdivision of the state, and where a federal, state, or local program provides rental assistance payments to the project, may collect rents that exceed the legal regulated rent for the project, if permitted under the regulatory agreement.

For HDC projects, this requires amending HDC’s regulatory agreement to permit the collection of rental payments by owners of affordable housing projects up to the maximum payment standard or contract rent under the applicable rental assistance program without affecting the amount the tenant has to pay. Given that rental assistance is generally limited by federal appropriations, and state and local budgets, HDC intends to prioritize amending regulatory agreements for projects within its portfolio with the greatest need, particularly projects experiencing financial stress or in urgent need of repair.

Owners of HDC projects should submit requests to HDC Mortgage Assistance. Each request must include the following:  

1. 2023 financial statements
2. 2024 budget, including a year-to-date comparison
3. Trailing 12-month collections showing gross potential rental revenue and gross receipts for both residential and commercial tenants
4. A current rent roll indicating all units/residents for which the project receives rental assistance payments
5. An analysis of the project’s rent roll confirming the additional rental revenue projected to result from the rent adjustment