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Q&A
Council Member Salaam questions HPD on Third Party Transfer program and black homeownership
1:54:16
·
3 min
Council Member Yusef Salaam raises concerns about the Third Party Transfer (TPT) program's impact on black homeownership in Central Harlem. HPD Acting Commissioner Ahmed Tigani and Deputy Commissioner Kim Darga respond, outlining plans to reform the program and provide support for struggling homeowners and HDFC cooperatives.
- HPD is prioritizing TPT legislation reform to address concerns about displacement
- The department is considering changes to support HDFC cooperatives, including opportunities for renters to become part of the coop
- HPD plans to create an owner resource center to provide technical support for HDFC cooperatives and other multifamily properties
Yusef Salaam
1:54:16
Thank you, chair, and good afternoon.
1:54:18
Let me try to be quick.
1:54:20
I got three questions.
1:54:21
One on preserving homeownership, black homeownership.
1:54:25
The third party transfer program was flagged for concerns about displacement black homeowners in Central Harlem.
1:54:31
While the city council has asked for capital to expand the program thoughtfully, the executive budget allocated $0 to this.
1:54:39
How will HPD reform TPT to ensure it supports intergenerational wealth and housing preservation in communities like Harlem rather than undermining them?
1:58:10
Thanks And I'll come back for a second round with my next question.
Ahmed Tigani
1:54:48
Council member, thank you for the question.
1:54:50
Again, this TPT legislation and moving forward with a reform version of it is a priority for HPD.
1:54:58
It was, you know, this mayor recognized that the original program did not meet the kind of constructive comprehensive approach that's necessary to go after bad buildings while not harming others.
1:55:12
And so I'll just invite Deputy Commissioner Darga to talk through our approach moving forward.
1:57:38
And council member, to your question about timing, the deputy commissioner had spoke about this earlier but basically because we are working now through the contours of the program and that this program would not be really in effect until after the next tax lien sale, there's enough time between now and the next fiscal year to do the work we need to to get the program established now.
1:58:00
And then we would look to the next fiscal year budget to establish the budget since we need to know what exactly what we're doing to make sure we fund it appropriately and correctly.
1:58:13
Yes, sir.
Kim Darga
1:55:18
Good afternoon.
1:55:20
Yes, we've been really happy to work with city council to reform the program.
1:55:27
There are a couple changes that we've been contemplating that I just want to highlight particularly when it comes to HDFCs that have struggled.
1:55:37
We do have support, I just wanna say today, through our preservation programs for HDFC cooperatives that are interested in seeking financial assistance from the city.
1:55:47
So for folks that are struggling, TPT is not the only option.
1:55:52
I just wanna say that first and foremost.
1:55:54
We have loan programs.
1:55:56
We have tax exemptions.
1:55:57
They can apply for an article 11, which we would submit to city council.
1:56:03
In addition to that, a couple of things that came out of the working group that we had a couple years ago.
1:56:11
First, giving HDFC co ops the opportunity to repetition to become a cooperative again if they are subject to an interim action.
1:56:23
And have that structured in such a way that there are clear timelines and milestones.
1:56:30
But it also gives an opportunity a lot of the coops that we've seen that are struggling have a really low percentage of homeowners left.
1:56:39
And so it actually gives their neighbors who are renters today an opportunity to become part of the coop going forward, which would increase the amount of homeownership that we're able to provide.
1:56:52
We also have been really interested in working with city council to create, as the acting commissioner said earlier, a version of the homeowner help desk for multifamily properties.
1:57:04
The homeowner help desk provides support for one to four family homeowners.
1:57:08
We're really interested in creating an owner resource center which would provide technical support for HDFC cooperatives among other multifamily properties.
1:57:18
And, we've been talking with some of your colleagues in city council, about, allocating the first, 500,000 to that program to kick it off next next year.
1:57:31
So we are looking forward to developing more guidelines for the program, and we'll be happy to circle back.