What is the
Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act? 
​

What are the advantages of the TOPA bill?

• TOPA is cost-neutral.  It neither brings in additional revenue nor requires additional expenditures.  
• TOPA is an "enabling" act that only goes into effect in municipalities that choose to adopt it.
• TOPA contains safeguards to protect owners:
  • TOPA’s timeframes are designed to be typical of a normal real estate market in which properties are purchased with a combination of cash equity and debt.
  • TOPA imposes no  price restrictions:  sales are at market-rate.
  • TOPA exempts below-market sales to immediate family members.
  •  Small landlords explicitly are excluded from TOPA.
  • Tenants are prohibited from selling their rights.
• TOPA could move thousands of rental units to permanent affordability.
  • This bill is based on a Washington D.C. ordinance that has helped preserve thousands of homes since its enactment in 1980. 

This tenant might have been able to remain in her home
if TOPA had been in effect

How does the TOPA Enabling Act work?
In municipalities that adopt TOPA, multi-family property owners notify tenants and the municipality when they decide to sell a property.  Tenants can form a tenant association, made up of tenants in at least 51 percent of the tenant-occupied units.  The tenants association can designate its rights to a non-profit organization or local housing authority, or partner with an affordable housing purchaser.
 
The tenant association or its designee has the right to make a first offer to purchase after being notified of the sale.  Additionally, when the owner enters a contract to sell the property to a third party, the tenant association/designee can agree to the sales price of the third-party contract.  If they do, the tenant association/designee has a reasonable period of time to perform due diligence, secure financing, and close on the purchase of the building.  Otherwise, the owner can sell to a third party.  
 
The TOPA Enabling Act neither brings in additional revenue nor requires additional expenditures.  As an enabling act, it simply allows municipalities to adopt tenant right-of-first-refusal ordinances.  Existing state and local housing funding programs could be deployed to properties acquired via TOPA programs, and additional sources will be needed to fully stabilize neighborhoods and provide housing needed by low and moderate income tenants. 

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