FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: February 11, 2025
Contact: Chelsea Diaz chelsea@neweconomynyc.org, 212-680-5100
Nearly 70 Tenant and Community Groups Urge Albany to Pass Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act in State Budget
Hochul’s Proposed 75-Day Hold on Private Equity Land Grabs Falls Short; State Must Take Stronger Action to Stop Corporate Takeovers of Tenant Housing, Groups Say
New York, NY – Nearly 70 tenant and community groups from across New York State delivered a letter to Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, urging them to include the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (S401) in this year’s state budget—along with $250 million annually to support its implementation.
The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) would give tenants the first opportunity to buy their buildings when they go up for sale. Under TOPA, tenants could work with nonprofit housing organizations and community land trusts to convert their buildings to permanently affordable rentals or shared-equity cooperatives.
The letter comes after Governor Hochul, in her FY2026 Executive Budget, proposed legislation that would establish a 75-day period during which private equity companies cannot bid on single-family homes—but failed to include measures to stop private equity takeovers of tenant-occupied multifamily housing.
The tenant and community groups argue that state lawmakers must go further by enacting TOPA to curb corporate landlords’ control of New York’s rental housing, give tenants greater control over their homes, and create new pathways for social housing. The signatories are also calling for $250 million a year for an acquisition and technical assistance fund that would help tenants and nonprofit housing organizations purchase buildings.
The group’s demands echo the Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus’s recent calls for TOPA, a TOPA acquisition fund, and a program supporting resident-controlled housing in its 2025 People’s Budget Framework. The Caucus also listed TOPA as a top priority in its Empower Black New York Agenda.
New York’s housing crisis affects both homeowners and renters, but is most acute for renters. In every region of the state, between 40 and 60 percent of renter households are rent-burdened, meaning they pay more than 30 percent of their income on rent. Black and Latino New Yorkers face the highest levels of housing insecurity: 50 percent of Black households and 55 percent of Latino households experience housing insecurity, compared with only 31 percent of white households.
Many tenant groups—such as Save 63 Tiffany and 124 East 176th Street tenants—are fighting to free buildings from exploitative and predatory landlords. TOPA’s passage would help advance these and other local campaigns to preserve New York’s dwindling affordable housing stock.
Washington D.C. and San Francisco’s TOPA programs have proven to be essential in those cities’ fights to preserve affordable housing, and Minneapolis recently enacted its own TOPA program. In New York State, TOPA is expected to preserve 20,000 affordable housing units within five years.
QUOTES
“If the Governor and state Legislature are serious about stopping rampant predatory speculation, they can’t ignore the millions of rent-burdened tenants on the frontlines of New York’s housing crisis,” said Chelsea Diaz at New Economy Project. “TOPA will give tenants and community land trusts a powerful tool to take land and housing off the speculative market and expand the supply of deeply-affordable, community-controlled housing in Black and brown neighborhoods.”
“Every New Yorker deserves a home where they can rest, raise their families, and build community with their neighbors. But real estate speculation is raising rents and destabilizing our neighborhoods, impacting millions of tenants,” said Cea Weaver, Director of Housing Justice for All. “The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act would protect us from the churn of our profit-driven housing market, creating stable, resident-controlled social housing across our state.”
“Comprehensive preservation is the answer to the crisis of distress in New York multifamily buildings. With TOPA, owners get a fair deal while tenants get a pathway to stability, permanent affordability, and community control.” said Arielle Hersh, Director of Policy and New Projects at UHAB. “It’s essential that we pass TOPA with $250 million to keep tenants in their homes and stabilize our neighborhoods and communities.”
“Through our work organizing tenants and incorporating the Bronx CLT, we meet with Bronx residents every day who are eager to be active stewards of their homes and neighborhoods,” said Todd Baker, Community Development Project Manager at Northwest Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC). “TOPA would offer these tenants the rights and resources they need to take ownership and care for their homes long into the future, and would build wealth and stability in our communities.”
“TOPA would let residents like us stay in our homes and keep our neighborhoods from becoming playgrounds for the wealthy. The tenants in this city are at a disadvantage, fighting against millionaires, billionaires, and increasingly, private equity. It’s a David vs. Goliath fight. TOPA can help level the playing field,” said John Leyva, a tenant leader at 63 Tiffany Place.