The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) gives tenants a first opportunity to buy their buildings when landlords decide to sell. Paired with acquisition funding and technical assistance, TOPA creates pathways for tenants to work with community land trusts and other nonprofits to stabilize their homes and expand the supply of permanently affordable housing.
New York’s TOPA bill is modeled on similar policies that have created or preserved tens of thousands of affordable homes in Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and other jurisdictions. Washington, D.C.’s TOPA law has generated thousands of shared equity cooperatives and affordable rentals since its enactment in 1980.
It’s time to bring TOPA to New York. NYCCLI is co-leading the campaign for TOPA with Housing Justice for All. Together we are calling on the NYS legislature and Governor Hochul to enact and fund TOPA, to combat speculation and bring housing into permanently affordable resident control.
Click here for a list of endorsing organizations.
Learn more and take action:
| TOPA Animation |
| Tenant Takeover: How New Yorkers Are Organizing for Community and Resident Control |
| TOPA Fact Sheet (February 2023) |
TOPA In the News
Community Land Trusts Are Standing Up to New York City’s Worst Landlords – The Nation, September 10, 2025
Tenants Rally in Brooklyn for First Rights to Buy Building – BK Reader, May 3, 2025
Hell’s Kitchen Tenants Fight to Turn Neglected Buildings into Community-Owned Housing – W42ST, March 31, 2025
Could a Proposed Bill to Help New York Tenants Buy Their Building Finally Become Law? – Brick Underground, March 28, 2025
So Many Land Trusts Launched in NYC That They Created a Map – Next City Podcast, March 20, 2025
Opinion: Helping NYC Tenants Take Over Their Buildings – City Limits, March 19, 2025
NYS Bill Gives Tenants a Chance to Buy Their Apartment Building – Finger Lakes 1, March 6, 2025
What is a Community Land Trust? How Does it Help Low-Income Buyers? – Brick Underground, February 25, 2025
Opinion: Time for a Shift in NYC’s Affordable Housing Plans? – City Limits, February 25, 2025
Tenant Groups Push for Stronger Housing Protections in New York Budget – Finger Lakes 1, February 5, 2025
Irving Langer’s Tenants Push to Buy Carroll Gardens Property – The Real Deal, October 31, 2024
Brooklyn Tenants Want Owner to Sell Building to Them Instead of Highest Bidder – ABC News, October 31, 2024
Remaking the Economy: How Policy Can Help Tenants Purchase Their Homes – Nonprofit Quarterly, June 24, 2024
Residents of neglected Bronx building rally to take ownership from landlord they refer to as ‘Dracu-lord’ – Audacy – 1010 Wins, March 15, 2024
Bronx tenants, local lawmakers unite to push landlord to fix building conditions – Bronx News 12, March 15, 2024
“This is real, we did it”: Bronx tenants become their own landlord – CBS News, March 13, 2024
A Community Ownership Path to Housing Justice – Nonprofit Quarterly, March 6, 2024
AM Mitaynes makes another push to pass TOPA housing law – Amsterdam News, February 15, 2024
Local leaders launch campaign to pass Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act – News12, February 8, 2024
What If We Made It Easier for Renters to Buy Their Buildings? – Curbed, March 8, 2023
Crown Heights Tenants Demand Landlord Fix Building from Unlivable Conditions – News 12 Brooklyn, February 5, 2023
‘Nothing Has Really Changed’: After a Year-Long Rent Strike, Crown Heights Tenants Hope to go Co-Op – Brooklyn Paper, November 2, 2022
Mondays Are for Buying Your Building From Your Dead Slumlord – Hell Gate, October 31, 2022
As Homeownership Rates Decline in New York City, Could Community Land Trusts be an Answer? – City & State NY, August 25, 2022
Tenant Control – WBAI’s Housing Notebook, August 22, 2022
Brooklyn Tenants of Neglected Building Push for Community Control – Next City, April 7, 2022
Advocates Call for ‘Social Housing’ Funding in Budget – NY1 News, April 4, 2022
Flatbush Tenants Decry Building’s Neglect, Call to Pass ‘Opportunity to Purchase’ Act – AM New York, March 30, 2022
NYCCLI Statement on NYS Budget, March 10, 2022
East NY Land Trust Targets 18 Vacant City-Owned Properties for Community Ownership – BK Reader, March 9, 2022
Help Tenants Control Their Own Housing – Daily News Op-Ed, March 6, 2022
Coalition of 40+ Community & Labor Groups Releases 5-Point Platform for a Community-Led Recovery, Racial and Economic Justice in NY – Press Release, NYS Community Equity Agenda, November 18, 2021
New York CLTs Unite! – NYCCLI Member Blog, May 5, 2021
New York City Considers a Bold Idea to Keep People From Being Pushed Out of Their Homes – The Appeal, March 29, 2021
Giving Tenants the First Opportunity to Purchase Their Homes – Shelterforce, July 24, 2020
Why More Cities Are Hoping to Give Tenants the Chance to Purchase Their Buildings – Next City, July 14, 2020
Advocates: NYC Needs More Money, New Model to Meet Housing Crisis – City Limits, June 26, 2020
With Mass Evictions and Real Estate Speculation Looming, City and State Leaders Must Give Communities Opportunity to Own Their Own Land – Gotham Gazette Op-Ed, June 26, 2020
Endorsing Organizations
Anti Displacement NYCAssociation for Neighborhood and Housing Development (ANHD)
Bailey’s Cafe
Brooklyn Cooperative Federal Credit Union
Brownsville Partnership
Caribbean Equality Project
Carroll Gardens Association
Catholic Migration Services (CMS)
Center for NYC Neighborhoods
Chhaya Community Development Corporation
Churches United For Fair Housing
City Roots Community Land Trust
Citywide Tenant Union of Rochester
Community Allies
Community Service Society of New York
Cooper Square Community Land Trust
Cooper Square Committee
The Crow HEAL Project
CWTU
East New York Community Land Trust
El Puente de Williamsburg
Equality for Flatbush (E4F)
For the Many
FWD Landscape
Genesee Co-op Federal Credit Union
Goddard Riverside
Grow Brownsville
Hester Street
HOPE
Housing Rights Initiative
Neighbors Together
New Economy Project
New York City Community Land Initiative (NYCCLI)
New York City Network of Worker Cooperatives
New Yorkers for Culture & Arts
North Star Fund
NOT ONE MORE BLOCK
NWBCCC – Northwest Bronx Community and Clergy Coalition
NYC Youth Sports Podcast Show Inc.
Open New York
Picture the Homeless
Pratt Center for Community Development
RENA (Riverside -Edgecombe Neighborhood Association)
TakeRoot Justice
Theatre of the Oppressed NYC
This Land Is Ours CLT
TIMBER
Tulinde, LLC
UHAB
United Neighbors Organization (UNO)
United Tenants of Albany
Universe City NYC
Unlock NYC
Urban Justice Center – Safety Net Project
Village Preservation
We Stay/Nos Quedamos
Western Queens CLT
Zara Tenant Coalition (ZTC)
nyccli.org 