Title
Discuss Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Arrangements
Recommended Action
Committee Recommendation:
Not referred to a committee.
City Manager Recommendation:
Hold a discussion on tenant opportunity to purchase with local stakeholders. Discuss system capacity and roles, approaches, and provide direction to staff on next steps.
Report
Issue:
Whether to hold a discussion on tenant opportunity to purchase with local stakeholders. Discuss system capacity and roles, approaches, and provide direction to staff on next steps.
Staff Contact:
Christa Lenssen, Senior Housing Program Specialist, Community Planning & Economic Development, 360.570.3762
Presenter(s):
Christa Lenssen, Senior Housing Program Specialist, Community Planning & Economic Development
Background and Analysis:
Tenant Opportunity to Purchase (TOPO) policies establish a structured process and timeline requiring property owners to notify tenants of an impending sale and provide them with an opportunity to purchase the property. In many cases, tenants are also granted a right of first refusal, allowing them to match an offer from another prospective purchaser.
Frequently, TOPO policies are expanded to include nonprofit affordable housing organizations, local governments, and public housing authorities. These broader approaches are commonly referred to as Community Opportunity to Purchase (COPO) policies.
TOPO and COPO policies can be applied to a variety of housing types, including single-family homes and multifamily residential properties. Because many households reside in multifamily housing, these policies have the potential to preserve affordability for a larger number of residents. They can also create opportunities for long-term affordability when properties are acquired and converted to ownership models such as limited-equity cooperatives.
TOPO and COPO policies are intended to help renters who would not be able to compete with investors in the real estate market. These approaches ca...
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