COPA is a preservation policy designed to keep units affordable, especially rent controlled units that have lower rents than the market average due to age or upkeep. Join SV@Home for a conversation about the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) and the plans to implement it in the city of San Jose.
COPA would require a landlord who wishes to sell their rental property to first offer it for sale to a Qualified Non-Profit. When a landlord wants to sell their property, they would first notify a list of nonprofits pre-approved by the city. These nonprofits have a certain amount of time to indicate their interest and then time to put together an offer for the property. The landlord is not obligated to accept the offer, but they usually must allow that nonprofit to match their preferred offer when it goes on the market.
In 2017, the San Jose City council set anti-displacement tenant preference as a priority, which expanded to developing anti-displacement strategies as part of its Housing Response Crisis Workplan in 2018. In 2019, the city council held a study session on the topic of displacement resulting in the Citywide Anti-displacement Strategy in 2020. One of the recommendations was to explore a COPA program. In 2018, the city applied for a “Challenge Grant” from the Partnership for the Bay’s Future with SOMOS Mayfair as a community partner. Through the Challenge Grant, the City has been able to create a draft framework for a COPA program. These policies have been presented to numerous formal stakeholder meetings (SAC and TAC) and community input meetings. With the feedback of these meetings, San Jose City Council will decide whether to adopt a COPA program at an upcoming council meeting.
Featured Speakers:
- Andrea Portillo, Organizing and Policy Manager, SOMOS Mayfair
- Kristen Clements, Division Housing Manager, San Jose Housing Department
- Aboubacar “Asn” Ndiaye, Partnership for the Bay’s Future Fellow for the City of San Jose
Moderated by Regina Celestin Williams, Executive Director of SV@Home
The HAC is a monthly, informal brownbag discussion convening Housers to engage on hot housing topics. Every month, we select a topic or current event, bring in an expert to give a brief presentation, and then open up the discussion to ask questions, float new ideas, and identify potential areas for shared action.