Landlords push back on COPA bill that gives land trusts first dibs on housing sales
The measure known as the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), would require that properties with three or more units be offered first to community land trusts before hitting the open market.
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A controversial proposal moving through the New York City Council could reshape how multifamily homes are sold, sparking debate among community advocates and landlords.
The measure known as the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), would require that properties with three or more units be offered first to community land trusts before hitting the open market.
Under the bill, trusts would have 60 days to bid, with the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development able to extend that window by up to 180 days.
Supporters say the legislation could help preserve community spaces and affordable housing. In Bedford-Stuyvesant, advocates point to a beloved community center, known as the Stuyvesant Mansion, now facing financial trouble, where a local trust is already working to keep the property under neighborhood control.
But critics argue the bill could harm small homeowners. Landlords say applying the measure to three-family homes — including brownstones — would delay sales, reduce property values and limit options for sellers.
“Small homeowners really do need the income from selling on the open market,” said Jason Mondesir Caesar, who owns a three-unit property. “In its current iteration, it is very limiting, and government overreach into what should be a private sale.”
Caesar and others want the threshold raised to buildings with 11 units or more. Organizations representing small landlords warn that community land trusts often lack the resources to purchase larger properties, meaning the burden would fall disproportionately on smaller multifamily homes.
The Small Property Owners of New York (SPONY) issued a sharp statement opposing the measure:
“This will be a slow and painful demise for small building owners, who will be sacrificed at the expense of politically connected non-profits that will benefit from the chaos and property devaluation that COPA will create...It is government-engineered interference in free-market transactions that eliminates negotiations, private sales, and potential buyers in favor of approved non-profits.”
The council is expected to continue debating the measure in the coming weeks.
