Advocates reignite push for law allowing Minneapolis renters to buy apartment buildings

Twin Cities equity advocates are renewing their push for a law that would give Minneapolis renters the first opportunity to buy their apartment buildings if they are put up for sale.

The Housing Justice League, which is made up of a host of community groups, wants the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act to become law in Minneapolis by the end of the year. The policy, known as TOPA, already exists in Washington D.C.

Despite being talked about for years, TOPA has failed to gain steam in Minneapolis. During a news conference Sunday afternoon, the league called on the Minneapolis City Council to pass the resolution before newly elected council members assume their posts in January.

“Minneapolis is a majority renter city,” said Anndrea Young, executive director of the Heritage Park Neighborhood Association. “It is time for every renter to have agency and a seat at the table to preserve the homes they built and the roots they’ve set down.”

TOPA advocates say the policy can lead to more affordable housing units remaining on the market.

TOPA has been proposed in Minneapolis before, but it has not found success. The push began in 2019, when Minneapolis leaders invited a delegation from D.C. to discuss it.

Since then, the Minneapolis City Council has not had enough support to pass the measure. An ordinance was initially drafted in 2021, but it did not make it to the mayor’s desk.

Minneapolis has also been slow to rule on rent control regulation. Residents voted in 2021 to study rent control, but two years later, a staff analysis recommended against implementation in part due to a projected decline in building and property taxes and significant enforcement costs.

Minnesota Multi Housing Association CEO Cecil Smith, whose organization opposes TOPA, said the act is “infeasible” and not a solution.

“It’s a policy that offers promise, but it doesn’t deliver,” he said. “What does deliver is homeowner possibilities and down payment assistance.”

He said tenants usually cannot raise the capital to purchase buildings or homes and don’t have the money to keep up with maintenance.

The time tenants spend trying to buy the buildings, Smith said, can lead to shifts in the real estate market that can be disastrous for complex owners.

Rosenthal encouraged council members to think about “keeping families housed in the communities where they built their homes” when it comes to voting on TOPA.

Housing in Action’s Equity and Engagement Director Temi Ogunrinde encouraged council members to reexamine and support the policy.

“Because we believe that housing is a human right, because we believe community ownership is the next step forward, we are emphatically endorsing TOPA,” Ogunrinde said. Renters “deserve the opportunity to stay in their communities.”

TOPA has not been put on the Minneapolis City Council’s agenda for future meetings.