OTU Wins Condo Conversion Reform

​Oakland has a condominium conversion ordinance that controls how property owners can legally convert rental apartment units into for-sale condominium homes in Oakland. The current ordinance was adopted in 1981 and was woefully out of date, overly complicated, easily abused, and leaves thousands of rental units at risk of conversion into condominiums.
​Oakland Tenants Union successfully advocated for major revisions to the ordinance in order to protect as many rental units as possible from being converted. Updates to the ordinance:

• Extend tenant protections to over 20,000 homes that are rented in 2-4 unit buildings;
• Enacts a lifetime lease option for tenants with disabilities;
• Requires landlords to provide earlier notification to existing and prospective tenants. If someone moves into a unit that is in the process of being converted to a condo and are not given notice about the conversion before they move in, they are eligible for the same relocation funds that existing tenants get;
• Tighten requirements for which rental replacement units can enable “conversion rights”—the 1:1 replacement of units converted to condominiums with new rental housing.
• Provide incentives for existing tenants to purchase their units, which creates homeownership opportunities without displacement by granting a 10% discount to existing tenants who want to purchase their unit.