Boston (November 13, 2023) – Tenants, community organizers, municipal leaders, developers,  and other experts will testify tomorrow in front of the Joint Committee on Housing in support of ​S.880/H.1350, An Act to guarantee a tenant’s first right of refusal. The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) would allow cities and towns the local option of providing tenants in multi-family buildings the right to match a third-party offer when their homes are being sold. Tenants can designate their rights to a non-profit or local housing authority, or partner with an affordable housing purchaser.

TOPA is an “enabling” act that only goes into effect in municipalities that choose to adopt it. It provides municipalities a critical tool to prevent displacement, preserve housing affordability, and level the playing field for tenants and affordable housing purchasers. The bill is based on a Washington D.C. ordinance that has helped preserve thousands of homes since its enactment in 1980.

One of the tenants testifying in support of TOPA, Denise Perrault, is a member of the Devenscrest Tenant Association Board. The Devenscrest Tenant Association was established in 2021 in response to the sale of over 100 homes in Ayer to an out-of-state developer who planned to evict all the tenants, renovate the units, and double the rents. The Devenscrest Tenant Association is working with an affordable housing developer to try to purchase their homes back from the developer and preserve the affordability for the long term. Had TOPA been in effect in Ayer, the tenants would have had the right to do this before the property was sold and eviction filings began. 

“We have been fighting hard against evictions for over two years. If TOPA had been in place, we could have saved our homes as affordable for the long term,” said Perrault. 

The lead sponsors on this bill are Senator Patricia Jehlen, Senator Adam Gomez, Representative Jay Livingstone, and Representative Rob Consalvo. TOPA is supported by 76 organizations from across the Commonwealth. 

“We are seeing so many tenants threatened with displacement as property owners prepare to clear their buildings to go on the market. A tenant opportunity to purchase can give current residents a fighting chance to remain in their homes for the long term, which in turn helps to stabilize the community,” said Lydia Lowe, Executive Director of the Chinatown Community Land Trust.

“The supply of naturally-occurring affordable housing is shrinking fast and under threat across the Commonwealth. We hope the legislature will recognize TOPA as a critical tool to preserve communities and homes, and enable local municipalities to use it,” said Ann Jochnick, Housing Staff Attorney at the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute.