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Owner intends to sell
The purchase-right process is triggered by a covered sale, subject to the bill's exemptions.
Start here · TOPA in plain English
What is TOPA — and could tenants really buy their building?
TOPA stands for the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act. The pending New York proposals would create purchase rights for tenants when covered rental housing is being sold, giving tenants time to organize, pursue an acquisition, or work with qualified mission-driven partners.
TOPA in 60 seconds
If someone said “TOPA” and you are wondering what that could mean for your home, start here.
The right starts with tenants.Unlike NYC COPA, TOPA is built around tenants getting a protected opportunity to act when covered rental housing is being sold.
You do not need cash for the whole building.The property can be financed at the building level, with supportive partners, mission-driven lenders and public preservation resources.
You do not have to become a homeowner.The goal can be tenant ownership, affordable rental preservation, a CLT structure, or another mission-driven outcome depending on the final law and tenant choices.
It is not law yet.As of August 2026, A6100 and S10169 are pending and are not identical. Affordable Forever keeps them separate.
Does every tenant need a mortgage?
No. TOPA is about collective rights at the building level, not every household independently applying for a conventional mortgage.
The key difference is where the right begins.
TOPA starts with tenants. Tenants can organize collectively and decide how to use the purchase opportunity — including pursuing a tenant-led acquisition or working with a supportive partner, qualified purchaser, community land trust or other mission-driven structure allowed by the final law.
What could the process look like?
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Tenants get notice and opportunity
Tenants receive a protected intervention point instead of learning about the sale after the fact.
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Tenants organize
Tenants can form or use a tenant organization and make collective decisions under the bill's rules.
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Partners and financing are assembled
Supportive and qualified partners can help with legal, development, organizing and financing work.
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The tenant-side buyer gets time to close
The bills provide protected periods to arrange financing and complete an acquisition rather than demanding immediate cash.
Why are there two TOPA bills?
Assembly A6100 and Senate S10169 are both active TOPA proposals, but they are not the same bill. Until Albany agrees on final text, Affordable Forever will not pretend there is one unified rule.
Assembly · A6100 · Marcela Mitaynes
Broader current applicability language
The Assembly bill establishes tenant first-purchase rights and includes first-offer and first-refusal components. Its current applicability language is broader than the Senate bill's baseline.
- Tenant rights are central.
- Supportive partners and qualified purchasers can participate under the bill's rules.
- The bill includes permanent-affordability mechanisms.
Senate · S10169 · Julia Salazar
Current baseline begins at three rental units
The Senate bill applies to rental housing accommodations with three or more rental units unless exempted and includes tenants, tenant organizations and qualified purchasers in its purchase-right structure.
- Tenant organizations play a formal role.
- Supportive partners and qualified purchasers help make the right usable.
- The bill also includes permanent-affordability mechanisms.
Pending legislation, not current law. The final law, if enacted, could differ from either current version.
Who would actually do what?
Tenants
Decide collectively whether to pursue the opportunity, choose partners and shape the long-term housing goal.
Supportive partner
Provides organizing, legal, financing and development help that tenants usually do not have on day one.
Qualified purchaser / CLT partner
A mission-driven purchaser meeting the statutory requirements can become part of the acquisition path. Both current bills expressly recognize community land trusts and permanent-affordability structures.
How could tenants afford a whole apartment building?
By financing the property as a property. The tenant organization or chosen purchaser can combine acquisition lending, public capital, mission-driven financing, rehabilitation funds and other sources.
Public acquisition capitalState or local preservation funds can reduce the amount of conventional debt needed.
Mission-driven lendingCDFIs and other lenders can finance the property based on its finances and preservation plan.
Long-term ownershipThe result could be affordable rental housing, resident ownership, or a CLT/co-op/nonprofit hybrid depending on tenant goals, financing and the final law.
Questions tenants actually ask
Is TOPA already law in New York?
No. A6100 and S10169 are pending state legislation. Neither is current statewide law.
Would we have to run the building ourselves?
No. Tenant ownership is one possibility, but tenants can work with supportive partners and mission-driven purchasers. A preserved building can also remain rental housing.
Can a community land trust be involved?
Yes. Both current bills explicitly recognize community land trusts, including long-term renewable CLT land-lease structures as one permanent-affordability mechanism.
What if tenants do not want to buy?
TOPA is an opportunity, not a command. The bills include rules for tenant decisions, waivers and qualified purchasers.
Is this the same as COPA?
No. The simplest distinction is that TOPA begins with tenant purchase rights, while NYC COPA begins with HPD-certified qualified entities. The details and jurisdictions are different.
What should tenants do now?
Learn the proposal, organize with neighbors, identify your state legislators, and stay connected so you can act when there is a hearing, vote or building-specific opportunity.
TOPA makes more sense once you can picture what happens in your own building.
Affordable Forever is building the education, district data, organizing intake and community-ownership pathways together so tenants can move from hearing an acronym to understanding a right and organizing around it.
Stay connected around TOPAFind my Assembly / Senate districtCompare COPA and TOPA