About the Campaign

Public Advocates continues to support a statewide policy that would give renters, local public agencies, and mission-driven nonprofits the first opportunity to purchase their rental housing properties when landlords put those properties up for sale.

A TOPA/COPA policy would prevent our neighbors from being pushed out of their homes, and potentially into homelessness, by empowering them with choices for their future when their landlord decides to sell their home. In an economy where homeownership is a key source of financial stability and means for inter-generational wealth, investors and wealthy buyers are robbing low-income and BIPOC community members of access to safe and affordable housing in our state.

California is losing affordable but unsubsidized housing far faster than we can build replacements. An industry analysis estimates that at least 710,000 unsubsidized units in California are currently affordable to lower-income working families. However, that number is rapidly dwindling. From 2012 to 2017, the Bay Area alone lost 32,000 of its unsubsidized affordable homes each year. A TOPA/COPA policy would keep this rental housing — which is being sold cheaply to developers, corporations, or wealthy landlords eager to make a quick buck — off the market and maintain it as permanently affordable for current and future residents.

Several other states have similar “right of first offer” policies, including Massachusetts, Delaware, and Colorado. Washington DC and San Francisco also have related local policies.