Bill > B26-0228

Introduced Session

A BILL IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA To amend the Rental Housing Conversion and Sale Act of 1980 to clarify the definition of a sale for the purposes of a tenant’s opportunity to purchase a housing accommodation and to exempt new housing accommodations within the first three years after the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, to establish a certification process for tenant support providers based on expertise and ability to counsel tenants who seek to exercise their rights under subchapter IV, to establish a certification process for qualified purchasers based on capacity to acquire, own, manage, and improve or redevelop, housing accommodations acquired as a result of assignment of purchase rights, to clarify the information and procedures required to for an owner to provide an offer of sale to tenants and to the Mayor, to clarify the information and procedures required for an owner to provide a notice of transfer, to eliminate the 45-day period for a tenant to issue notice indicating an intent to file a petition for relief after a notice of transfer, to direct the Department of Housing and Community Development to promptly review each offer of sale and notice of transfer for compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements, to direct the Mayor to share an offer of sale with all tenant support providers and qualified purchasers within 15 days of receipt, to prohibit the assignment of purchase rights within the first 45 days after an offer of sale without having first met with a tenant support provider, to require the disclosure of conflicts of interest by any party negotiating with tenants, to require that certain information related to tenant purchase proceedings be filed with the Department of Housing and Community Development, to require the development of templates for tenant buyout agreements and purchase contracts, to require the establishment of a TOPA transparency portal to be integrated with the Public Accessible Rent Control Housing Database as established in Section 203a of the Rental Housing Act of 1985, to prohibit coercion, retaliation, and other acts in relation to tenant purchase proceedings, and to allow for an aggrieved owner or tenant to seek an award of costs and attorney fees; and to amend the District of Columbia Deed Recordation Tax Act to add transfers to a qualified purchaser as an exempt transaction.

AI Summary

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Brianne Nadeau (D)*, 

Public Hearing Held (on 05/28/2025)

Official Document