WGBH Features BNCLT and TOPA
Zhao waits for an eviction from the one-bedroom apartment she’s shared with her husband and three children for a decade.
This WGBH piece tells the story of renters in Boston at risk of eviction as part of the series “Priced Out: The fight for housing in Massachusetts.” The article highlights the importance of the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA). According to Chinatown resident Yadan Zhao, if TOPA had been passed “the landlord would have had to come to us and we’d have known [he was selling] instead of finding out afterward.” TOPA would require landlords to notify tenants of their intent to sell, and give them 30 days to make a bid for the building. If they could not manage the purchase on their own, they could designate a community organization to purchase it on their behalf.
According to BNCLT director Meridith Levy, passing TOPA would have made a significant difference for the Boston Neighborhood Community Land Trust. “We've made an offer on a property and the landlord doesn't have to respond,” said Meridith Levy. “They can sell to whomever they want to.” Without TOPA, “there's nothing, no incentive for them to sell to us, even when we're offering market rate.”
The piece also discusses the Fairlawn apartments, where the owner decided to sell the 350-unit building in Mattapan. Although a nonprofit organization called Preservation of Affordable Housing (POAH) attempted to acquire the building, it was purchased by the private developer DSF Group and rebranded as “SoMA apartments at the T.” This case also shows the importance of TOPA because it would incentivize owners to sell to nonprofits who preserve housing as affordable.