Tenant Purchase Assistance Program

Helping DC's tenants buy and manage their buildings

Our Tenant Purchase Assistance Program supports members of tenant associations, cooperatives, and condominiums who are interested in preserving and expanding affordable housing options in DC. Our primary focus is to provide asset management assistance to residents of cooperatives who previously purchased their buildings, but we occasionally offer tenant purchase technical assistance to new tenant groups.

Among other things, we help cooperatives create Asset Management and Sustainability Plans, organize building inspections, review financial statements, create annual operating budgets, plan building renovations, and troubleshoot various operational problems/concerns.

Subprograms

The Tenant Purchase Assistance Program's work takes two primary forms: 1) tenant purchase technical assistance for tenant groups who wish to purchase their building, 2) asset management assistance for tenant cooperatives who previously purchased their buildings.
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Tenant Purchase Technical Assistance

Since the 1980s, under the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), tenants in DC have had the legal right to organize and submit a matching offer to purchase their building from their landlord when it was offered for sale. ULS helps tenant groups through this complicated and long process.

Learn about this program

Affordable Housing Asset Management

Just like buying a building, managing one is no easy feat. ULS helps busy DC tenants with the ins and outs of asset management.

Learn about this program

Steps to receiving tenant purchase and asset management services

Step 1

Determine your eligibility. The Tenant Purchase Assistance Program prioritizes its services to properties, tenant associations, and cooperatives where the majority of building residents have incomes below 80% of the Area Median Income and/or buildings that have existing loans from the DC Department of Housing and Community Development.

Step 2

If you are an eligible DC resident in need of our services, please contact us at (202) 547-4747 ext. 146 (Telephone) or (202) 547-2657 (TTY) to speak with program manager Andrew Martin.

Step 3

If you are eligible and our resources allow it, receive the purchase assistance and/or asset management services that you need. Depending on your needs, you may collaborate with Andrew to schedule needed building inspections, create annual operating budgets, review financial statements, and more!

Benefits of the Tenant Purchase Assistance Program:

Managing a building is a lot of responsibility – board members with full-time jobs cannot be expected to do this work alone. So, what can you gain from working with the Tenant Purchase Technical Assistance Program?

First-hand access to our over 30 years of housing finance, renovation, and community organizing experience to help you troubleshoot problems your cooperative may be experiencing.  
Individualized, short-and-longer-term planning for your cooperative.  
Feedback on the physical maintenance needs of your building.  
Effective strategies for reducing cooperative operating costs, responding to administrative needs, and keeping your corporate and financial affairs organized. 
Typically, ULS provides free asset management services and can provide development consultant services for a fee.

TOPA resources in the District

Here is some information you may find useful. You can find more TOPA resources in the "Resource Page" section of our site.
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