STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5066 2017-2018 Regular Sessions IN SENATE March 6, 2017 ___________ Introduced by Sen. DIAZ -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Aging AN ACT to amend the elder law, in relation to creating a shared housing program for senior citizens The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The elder law is amended by adding a new section 224 to 2 read as follows: 3 § 224. Shared housing for senior citizens. 1. The office shall estab- 4 lish a program, in consultation with the division of housing and commu- 5 nity renewal, through which, persons who are sixty years of age or older 6 may register with the office or designated agencies on aging indicating 7 their desire to share their living space or are seeking living quarters 8 with another eligible person. 9 2. The office or designated agencies on aging shall maintain a regis- 10 try of senior citizens seeking to share their living quarters with 11 another senior citizen. 12 (a) Information shall be collected on a form designed by the office, 13 which shall include the name, address, up to three personal references 14 and a statement indicating whether the individual has been convicted in 15 the past five years of a crime involving theft, assault, the threat or 16 use of force, possession or sale of a controlled substance, or 17 possession of a weapon or firearm. The individual shall specify on the 18 statement the crime or crimes, if any, for which there have been 19 convictions. The statement shall include an acknowledgement that the 20 information is true to the best knowledge of the senior citizen and that 21 providing information known to be false is cause for immediate removal 22 from the registry. 23 (b) Information contained in the shared housing registry shall be 24 confidential and used only for the purpose of carrying out the 25 provisions of this section. EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD03352-01-7

S. 5066 2 1 3. The office shall develop and promulgate regulations, in consulta- 2 tion with the division of housing and community renewal, necessary for 3 the implementation of this section. 4 4. The office may impose a fee that shall not exceed one dollar for 5 entry of a senior citizen's name onto the registry and such fee shall be 6 collected for the purpose of implementing and maintaining the shared 7 housing registry. 8 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

Creates a shared housing registry for senior citizens

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