As brokers who advise owners, sellers, landlords, developers, and investors across the five boroughs, we’ve seen policy swings before — but nothing as disruptive to the actual functioning of the investment-sales market as the proposed Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA), also known as Intro 902.
While marketed as a preservation tool, the structure of this bill would fundamentally slow transactions, depress values, reduce liquidity, and deter both equity and debt from participating in NYC’s multifamily market.
Below is what sellers and buyers need to understand.
What COPA Actually Does
Intro 902 would require owners of multifamily rental buildings to:
- Notify HPD and a group of approved nonprofits before listing the asset for sale.
- Give those nonprofits the first opportunity to make an offer.
- Allow nonprofits to match any third-party offer through a Right of First Refusal.
In practice, this creates a government-mandated first-look that sits between every owner and every open-market buyer.
Why COPA Would Damage the Multifamily Sales Market
Adds Months of Forced Delay to Every Transaction
Under COPA, owners cannot immediately negotiate with real buyers.
Nonprofits receive:
- 60 days to express interest
- 120 days to produce an offer
This means up to six months of inactivity before an owner can even move forward with a legitimate buyer.
Real estate is time-sensitive.
Owners facing refinancing deadlines, 1031 timelines, partnership disputes, estate sales, or operating shortfalls cannot operate inside a six-month holding pattern.
Many deals simply won’t happen.
Reduces Property Values by Shrinking the Buyer Pool
COPA ensures that every deal carries:
- additional political risk
- a forced waiting period
- a statutory right for nonprofits to step in
Institutional buyers, family offices, and private capital do not pay premium pricing when a third party can intervene at any time.
Less competition = lower sale prices.
Lower prices = fewer transactions.
Fewer transactions = fewer comparable sales, less liquidity, and downward pressure across the entire multifamily asset class.
Creates Deal Uncertainty That Lenders and Investors Hate
Banks already price NYC multifamily cautiously due to:
- the 2019 rent law
- Local Law 97
- rising operating costs
- declining NOI in stabilized assets
COPA introduces a new layer of transaction uncertainty that lenders do not underwrite.
If a third party can step in months into a process, lenders will:
- demand higher reserves
- lower proceeds
- pull back entirely from certain buildings
This makes multifamily buildings less financeable, which further depresses values.
Encourages Tenant-Driven Interference
Under COPA, owners are required to notify all tenants at the very start of the sale process — before they can even list the building or quietly explore a sale.
This notification must include the owner’s name, address, and intention to sell, and it informs tenants that nonprofits will be given the first opportunity to purchase.
Lawmakers structured the law this way because the entire COPA process depends on tenants being alerted early enough to organize, form a tenant association, and partner with a nonprofit to attempt to buy the building. Without tenant notice, nonprofits cannot access building information, prepare financing, or mobilize politically — so the law forces owners to initiate that process.
But notifying tenants this early has serious consequences. The moment tenants receive this notice, it invites:
- organized rent strikes
- coordinated complaints to HPD, DOB, and the Attorney General
- intentional inspection requests designed to slow or sabotage the sale
- pressure campaigns directed at sellers, buyers, and lenders
- tenant groups demanding concessions or access agreements as leverage
We’ve already seen versions of this dynamic play out in New York even without COPA, particularly in distressed, stabilized, or under-maintained assets. The difference is that COPA formalizes and accelerates it by forcing owners to bring tenants into the sale process at the earliest possible moment.
A single well-organized tenant association can paralyze a transaction, derail due diligence, or create enough uncertainty that lenders and buyers hesitate to proceed — all before the owner even has the chance to negotiate with a real bidder.
Incentivizes Deferred Maintenance
If owners believe:
“When I eventually sell, a nonprofit will have the right to step in and block market buyers,”
they stop investing in:
- long-term capital improvements
- energy-efficiency upgrades
- cosmetic repositioning
- major systems repairs
In every other COPA/TOPA jurisdiction, this has been a documented unintended consequence.
Buildings age faster and deteriorate.
Adds Litigation Risk to Every Sale
Under COPA, nearly every transaction carries the possibility of:
- claims that the “bona fide offer” wasn’t really bona fide
- disputes over whether nonprofits received proper notice
- HPD investigations
- tenant lawsuits
- injunction requests halting closings
Investors avoid markets where every sale risks administrative or legal entanglement.
New York already struggles with this perception — COPA amplifies it.
Creates Massive Timeline Problems for Real-World Deal Dynamics
NYC investment sales frequently involve:
- 1031 exchange deadlines
- end-of-year closings
- bridge-loan maturity dates
- partnership breakups
- estate deadlines
- recapitalizations and restructurings
COPA’s timelines make these scenarios functionally impossible.
Many deals that must close quickly would simply evaporate.
Undermines Revenue for the City and State
Lower values and fewer transactions directly reduce:
- real property transfer taxes
- mortgage recording taxes
- capital gains taxes
- assessed values over time
NYC and NYS rely heavily on these revenues.
Shrinking the investment-sales market leads to shrinking tax receipts.
Who Is Hurt Most?
- Small landlords who need liquidity
- Sellers facing loan maturity
- Owners with capital-intensive buildings
- Developers who rely on acquisitions to feed their pipeline
- Buyers who need certainty to deploy capital
- Lenders underwriting acquisition risk
- Brokerage market participants whose business depends on velocity and transparency
This is not a policy tweak — it is a structural overhaul of how multifamily buildings transact in New York City.
Conclusion: COPA Will Not Preserve Housing — It Will Freeze the Market
COPA does not create new housing.
It does not incentivize capital investment.
It does not stabilize operating environments.
And in its current form, it dramatically increases transaction friction in a market already struggling under rent law, rising expenses, and regulatory pressure.
The simple truth:
Fewer buyers + longer timelines + heavier regulation = fewer sales, lower prices, deteriorating assets, and a shrinking tax base.
If the City’s goal is more stable, better-maintained, and more plentiful housing, COPA moves us in the opposite direction.