City Council supports tenant's first right of refusal

This Act, sponsored by Chairman Crighton and Representative Cullinane, as well as related bills H.1315 and S.801, would provide tenants in large multifamily buildings with both the right of first refusal and the right of first offer when an owner intends to sell or when a foreclosure or short sale begins and would allow for tenants to match a third party offer if one is made.



Tenants’ associations would be able to designate their opportunity to purchase to nonprofits or successor entities such as housing cooperatives, and in the case of a short sale or foreclosure, the tenants’ association could designate their opportunity to purchase to a variety of groups, including CDCs, nonprofits, municipalities, or the Commonwealth, who would then maintain the property as permanently affordable.



The resolution states that, “The COVID-19 pandemic and related economic impacts have made Boston’s housing market vulnerable to vulture capitalism, and allowing for tenant’s right of first refusal, as well as the ability to designate the opportunity to purchase to groups that will maintain the property as permanently affordable, could protect widespread evictions of tenants under new building ownership and help maintain the affordability of Boston’s housing.”