“You cannot sell your house to anyone; you have to sell it to a nonprofit – that’s what COPA is.”
Those are the words of New York City Council Member Darlene Mealy at the Jan. 8 meeting, incorrectly explaining the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act, a City Council bill that aims to preserve at-risk housing stock.
Mealy’s words were met with objections and confusion from Brooklynites attending the Jan. 8 meeting, even prompting a board member to walk out in frustration after hearing Mealy’s erroneous claims about the policy.
A representative for Mealy did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
COPA Explained
So then what exactly is COPA and where does it apply?
COPA would give qualified nonprofits and other groups first dibs to make an offer and purchase certain residential properties before they hit the market. Advocates have touted this as a useful tool to clamp down on speculative buying, allowing trusted groups to claim and maintain ownership of buildings, while keeping them deeply affordable.
“All those groups would have to be vetted against this criteria that we’ve established in the COPA bill that they’re committed to permanent affordability,” said Will Spisak, senior policy strategist at the New Economy Project, a nonprofit rallying for COPA.
The qualified buying groups aren’t randomly selected from a hat – they’re certified by the city’s Department of Housing and Preservation (HPD), which determines whether a group demonstrates the ability to purchase and maintain properties that would be subject to COPA.
HPD currently has a list of over 40 qualified buyers as a resource for sellers looking to preserve affordability in their buildings as they change hands. Spisak said that while the existing roster offers a glimpse into potential buyers, other groups, such as community land trusts, could also meet HPD’s criteria.
While there are countless residential buildings in the Big Apple, they wouldn’t all be subject to COPA. Qualifications for exempt properties include:
- Buildings with fewer than four units
- Owner-occupied buildings with five or fewer units
- Vacant lots
If enacted, COPA could go into effect in 2027 and would apply to buildings that:
- Have been involved in one of several city initiatives that target decrepit building conditions (such as the Alternative Enforcement or Certificate of No Harassment programs) for at least a year
- Have at least one open hazardous or immediately hazardous housing violation per apartment
- Have expiring affordability restrictions (ex., Low-Income Housing Tax Credit)
COPA Kickoff
The COPA timeline starts when a property owner informs the city of their plans to sell, as required by the proposed law. Qualified groups then have 25 days to notify the owner and HPD of their interest to purchase, and then 80 days to submit an offer. Within those 80 days, the owner can either reject or accept the offer.
If rejected or if no offers are made within the 80-day timeframe, the property would be funneled to the market. However, not all should fear rejection – the first qualified group to make an initial offer can match any other offers conjured on the market.
Opponents of the bill say this process encroaches on property owners’ rights and would create an unstable housing market.
“You can’t operate a housing market with that kind of uncertainty,” said Ann Korchak, board president of the Small Property Owners of New York. “Who’s gonna come in and invest when they know at the 11th hour their deal could be squashed?”
Korchak questioned whether nonprofits could maintain affordable housing stock, noting that low rents in buildings may impact their ability to do so. She also pointed to instances of HPD-qualified nonprofits having several violations.
“These are not operators without their own histories,” said Korchak. “This bias that this is a better operating model is just not true.”
However, advocates of the bill have used San Francisco’s COPA law as an example of how New York City can benefit from it.
“There was a lot of fearmongering about what COPA would do to the city, but what we actually saw happen is that there was this kind of COPA ecosystem that developed,” said Will Spisak, mentioning that there were real estate brokers who would work with COPA-qualified sellers and connect them with qualified groups to facilitate purchases.
The preservation of over 400 San Francisco homes since 2019 is thanks to the purchasing power COPA provides to qualified groups, according to a Next City report.
Spisak said COPA could be consequential for land in Brooklyn, as neighborhoods like East New York and Darlene Mealy’s own Brownsville, “are in the crosshairs of speculators,” who can buy and flip properties.
“As a result, we [New Economy Project] think that there’s a lot of at-risk building within the borough of Brooklyn, particularly in neighborhoods that are primarily black and brown,” said Spisak. “It [COPA] would give community members more opportunities to stay in the neighborhood to build community wealth collectively.”
In December, COPA passed a City Council vote, but was vetoed by former Mayor Eric Adams just before he left office on the 31st. For the bill to become law, the Council will have to override that veto with a two-thirds majority vote. The clock is ticking, as the body has under 20 days to make a vote.