Below is a copy of the urgent email update sent on December 18, 2019 from the HDFC Coalition Policy Committee. The email asks HDFC shareholders to immediately email elected officials to prevent the introduction of harmful legislation. Some subscribers to our mailing list didn’t see the email yet, as it may have landed in their spam folder. Please immediately review the email below.
In less than one minute, you can copy/paste the recommended text and make your voice heard!!!
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Extremely Urgent: HDFCs to be Massively Re-regulated in Albany?
CALL TO ACTION!
Dear fellow HDFC Shareholders:
The HDFC Coalition’s Policy Committee has extremely urgent news for HDFC homeowners about a new push by some NY State Assembly Members and NY State Senators to introduce a new bill to change the Private Housing Finance Law (PHFL) that regulates HDFCs. We believe that these elected officials could very soon propose changes that would not only threaten the viability of our HDFC co-ops, but could also place our private homes under control of government. What lies before us may be the “final battle” that determines the fate of our affordable HDFC co-ops, the lives of HDFC shareholders, our children and grandchildren.
In Brief:
- Members of the HDFC Coalition met with Assembly Member Harvey Epstein of Manhattan’s Lower East Side to learn about the proposed bill he is working on to change/amend the PHFL.
- We communicated to Epstein that we believe that any bill to amend the PHFL must help, not hurt, HDFCs. We also stressed that HDFC shareholders MUST be included in the conversation. We told him that his proposal should not include restrictions similar to HPD’s failed 2016-2017 regulatory agreement scheme, or the NYS Senate bill stricken in 2018 that would have put our homes under government control.
- We followed up with a letter to Epstein, copied other elected officials and HPD on the letter, and we also included a first draft of a proposal developed for the HDFC Coalition Policy Committee to amend the PHFL in a way beneficial to HDFCs.
- We’d like you to read our letter to Esptein, and also the attached first draft of our own PHFL proposal. We want your feedback to improve our PFHL proposal, and we will be sending you an online survey very soon to collect your comments.
- EXTREMELY URGENT: But first, we ask that you please send one quick email to elected officials. These are the electeds who right now may be considering Epstein’s draft bill that would allow HPD to essentially take control of your home and destroy the viability of HDFC co-ops through onerous regulations. The sample letter is below. It is ready for you to quickly copy, paste and click to send in less than a minute, so please do so now!
PLEASE TAKE ACTION RIGHT NOW AND SEND A LETTER TO ELECTEDS (just quickly copy/paste our sample letter below if you like):
Send the email to: NYS Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, NYS Assembly Member Steven Cymbrowitz- Chair, NYS Assembly Housing Committee and its members, and NYS Senator Brian Kavanagh – Chair, NYS Senate Housing Committee and its members, and the HDFC Coalition.
Email To: Just copy/paste all these email addresses for one combined email:
johanna@senatorjackson.com, jackson@nysenate.gov, kavanagh@nysenate.gov, lkrueger@nysenate.gov, little@nysenate.gov, smayer@nysenate.gov, myrie@nysenate.gov, grivera@nysenate.gov, salazar@nysenate.gov, vcruz@nysenate.gov, barronc@nyassembly.gov, bichotter@nyassembly.gov, BlakeM@nyassembly.gov, byrnesm@nyassembly.gov, CookV@nyassembly.gov, DavilaM@nyassembly.gov, delaRosac@nyassembly.gov, DilanE@nyassembly.gov, EichensteinS@nyassembly.gov, epsteinh@nyassembly.gov, FitzpatrickM@nyassembly.gov, johnsm@nyassembly.gov, joynerl@nyassembly.gov, KimR@nyassembly.gov, lipetrim@nyassembly.gov, MosleyW@nyassembly.gov, niouy@nyassembly.gov, reillym@nyassembly.gov, reyesk@nyassembly.gov, Rrodriguez@nyassembly.gov, schmittc@nyassembly.gov, smithd@nyassembly.gov, taylora@nyassembly.gov, WalkerL@nyassembly.gov, CymbroS@nyassembly.gov, PichardoV@nyassembly.gov, RaiaA@nyassembly.gov, RosentL@nyassembly.gov, hdfccoalition@gmail.com,
Or, if you need the same email addresses above separated by SEMI-COLONS instead of COMMAS then copy these:
johanna@senatorjackson.com; jackson@nysenate.gov; kavanagh@nysenate.gov; lkrueger@nysenate.gov; little@nysenate.gov; smayer@nysenate.gov; myrie@nysenate.gov; grivera@nysenate.gov; salazar@nysenate.gov; vcruz@nysenate.gov; barronc@nyassembly.gov; bichotter@nyassembly.gov; BlakeM@nyassembly.gov; byrnesm@nyassembly.gov; CookV@nyassembly.gov; DavilaM@nyassembly.gov; delaRosac@nyassembly.gov; DilanE@nyassembly.gov; EichensteinS@nyassembly.gov; epsteinh@nyassembly.gov; FitzpatrickM@nyassembly.gov; johnsm@nyassembly.gov; joynerl@nyassembly.gov; KimR@nyassembly.gov; lipetrim@nyassembly.gov; MosleyW@nyassembly.gov; niouy@nyassembly.gov; reillym@nyassembly.gov; reyesk@nyassembly.gov; Rrodriguez@nyassembly.gov; schmittc@nyassembly.gov; smithd@nyassembly.gov; taylora@nyassembly.gov; WalkerL@nyassembly.gov; CymbroS@nyassembly.gov; PichardoV@nyassembly.gov; RaiaA@nyassembly.gov; RosentL@nyassembly.gov; hdfccoalition@gmail.com;
Subject Line of the email can be:
HDFC homeowner very concerned about proposed changes to the PHFL
Content of Email below: (Remember to add your name and address at the bottom, and you can change the text of the email to personalize it, if you wish.)
Dear NYS Assemblymembers Epstein, Cymbrowitz, NYS Senator Kavanagh, and members of the NYS Senate and NYS Assembly Housing Committees:
I am a voter, HDFC cooperative shareholder, and member of the HDFC Coalition. I am writing to you today because I recently learned that a new bill is now being drafted to change the New York State Private Housing and Finance Law (PHFL), and that this new bill could have extremely negative consequences for my affordable HDFC co-op, myself, my family and nearly 100,000 New Yorkers.
I WRITE TO TELL YOU THAT I OBJECT!
We do not want New York State or New York City to in any way diminish our equity, independence, property rights or right of self-determination. We must insist that our HDFC co-ops, which are our private homes, be respected in the same manner as any other homeowner.
Over 1,200 HDFC cooperatives exist throughout NYC containing approximately 30,000 apartments. Many of these buildings were sold in poor, as-is condition to low, moderate and middle-income residents who were desperate to end the cycle of slumlords and abandonment. Often, only through sheer determination, sweat-equity and their own limited funds did the residents save their buildings. A 1981 New York Times article from the early days of HDFCs reported: “ ‘In many cases, the city is putting the tenants in leaky boats and telling them to try to cross the ocean,’ said Sandy Bayer, executive director of the private Task Force on City-Owned Property.”
The City benefitted from the creation of HDFC co-ops by getting rid of buildings that it couldn’t afford to manage. The residents struggled but largely benefitted by becoming first-time homeowners. And the City, the new HDFC owners, and the neighborhoods benefitted as people had a real stake in their communities. Conditions improved, and so did tax revenue for the city. A 2005 Furman Center report found that “an analysis of approximate costs and benefits suggests that New York City’s housing investments delivered a tax benefit to the city that exceeded the cost of the city’s subsidies.”
We have spent decades rebuilding our battered buildings. We have helped stabilize our neighborhoods, reduce crime, paid taxes (unlike the former landlords who abandoned these buildings), and ensured that we and our families can afford to remain in New York City for generations to come.
Additionally, while it is important that the “DAMP” partial real estate tax exemption for HDFCs be replaced with a new and preferably permanent tax benefit at some point before its expiration in 2029, this should not be used as a reason, nor as an excuse, to suddenly redefine the rules of HDFC homeownership in a harmful way. We absolutely object to any effort to effectively turn our privately owned homes into “public housing”.
We urge you to work with HDFC shareholders—the true stakeholders—and not against us, so that you can understand our real needs and concerns. Creating further confusion and distress for the more than 30,000 families living in HDFC co-ops is unwarranted. If you are considering changes to the PHFL, we the people who actually live in HDFC cooperatives must be the first ones considered and consulted.
Thank you for your time and attention. Please let me know your position on these issues as soon as possible.
Sincerely,
YOUR NAME
YOUR STREET ADDRESS AND APARTMENT NUMBER
YOUR CITY AND ZIP CODE
YOUR PHONE NUMBER
YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
(Please be sure to include your contact information as noted above)
—END OF LETTER TO ELECTED OFFICIALS—
MORE INFORMATION FOR HDFC SHAREHOLDERS ON THIS ISSUE
How would you feel if you woke up one day soon only to find that elected officials from your own neighborhood changed NY State law in Albany to (a) force upon all HDFCs many of the terms of HPD’s proposed regulatory agreement, and also (b) essentially convert our private homes into public housing by putting our homes firmly under control of the government?
The changes proposed by some elected officials for the existing Article 11 of the NY State PHFL could be a double-whammy replay of the onerous and discriminatory restrictions HDFC shareholders already defeated in two major battles: First, our victory over HPD’s proposed regulatory agreement and second, our successful effort in 2017-2018 to kill Albany’s NYS Senate bill S6543 that would have handed control of HDFC co-ops to the government.
NY State Assembly Member Harvey Epstein from the Lower East Side of Manhattan apparently wishes to “fix” HDFCs by making changes to the PHFL that a great many families in HDFCs will oppose. The HDFC Coalition Policy Committee, our pro bono attorneys and HDFC shareholders from the Lower East Side recently met with Epstein to share our concerns after learning that he was drafting such legislation. We know that Epstein was a supporter of HPD’s 2016-2017 effort to force regulatory agreements upon all HDFC co-ops. We learned that Epstein recently met with many of the same government agencies, attorneys and non-profit housing groups that were involved in the development of HPD’s failed regulatory agreement scheme.
After meeting with Assembly Member Epstein, the HDFC Coalition Policy Committee sent Epstein a letter and attached our own draft proposal to amend the Private Housing Finance Law to help, instead of hurt, HDFC co-ops. The HDFC Coalition Policy Committee’s proposal can be seen on our website here, and we ask that you please review it as soon as you can.
Please note that WE WANT YOUR INPUT to improve the first draft of this PHFL proposal created for the HDFC Coalition Policy Committee. We are preparing a survey that will be sent out soon, and we will process your responses with our attorneys. We want to know how you feel about regulatory agreements, a permanent tax break for HDFCs, and a renewed tax forgiveness plan for HDFCs. We want you, the HDFC shareholders who live in HDFCs, to help us finalize a PHFL proposal that truly comes from HDFC homeowners.
As for Epstein’s expected PHFL legislative proposal, his office has stated that a draft of it should be available for comment sometime in December 2019. We are presently working to spread the word and share our concerns about Epstein’s expected bill with HDFC shareholders, HPD and elected officials.
Here’s what you can do:
- Send an email to all of the elected officials listed above, and object to any changes to the PHFL that will negatively impact HDFC co-ops.
- Spread the word and encourage every HDFC shareholder you know to sign up for our mailing list here so that we can further increase outreach to the HDFC community.
- Get involved politically, as the political arena is where this will be decided. This includes anything from raising your concerns at a Housing Committee meeting at your local Community Board (or joining your Community Board…applications due very early in 2020) to speaking with your local elected officials, with a focus on your NY State Senator and NY State Assembly Member. Don’t be shy: their job is to represent YOU!
- Also, please read our letter to Epstein and our PHFL draft proposal so that you can provide your comments as soon as we send you a link to an online poll. (You will receive another email blast with a link.) 2
We are all in this fight together and together we will win!
Thank you,
The HDFC Coalition Policy Committee
Tina DiFeliciantonio, Peter S. Green, John McBride, Michael Palma Mir, April G. Tyler
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