November 2021
The way the local REALTOR® association saw it, the proposed legislation giving tenants in Berkeley, California the rights of first offer and first refusal when a landlord seeks to sell a rental property would be devastating – not only to private property rights and to the local housing market, but as the likely catalyst of a chain reaction throughout the state and across the nation. They also understood that it would disproportionately harm people of color who have owned multi-unit properties in historically segregated areas of the city for generations. Taking no chances, the Bridge Association of REALTORS® used several REALTOR® Party resources to assess the risks of a Tenant Opportunity to Purchase ordinance and prevent its passage.