When an apartment building is listed for sale, tenants often face a wave of uncertainty, from potential eviction and rent hikes to harassment and legal loopholes that undermine their ability to stay. Enter the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), a policy designed to give renters a seat at the table amid rising displacement and unchecked real estate speculation.
A coalition of renter advocates known as the Housing Justice League, spanning more than a half-dozen organizations, plans to pack the Business, Housing, and Zoning Committee meeting on October 28 to push Minneapolis leaders to act on TOPA.
Supporters say the policy could be a turning point for renters of color, who have long borne the brunt of racist redlining, predatory lending, and generational displacement.
“The dream of this policy emerged from the systematic struggles of BIPOC renters who have been stripped of their agency through processes of displacement and disposition at the point of sale,” said Anndrea Young, executive director of the Heritage Park Neighborhood Association.
Despite strong support from renter coalitions, organizers say the city has been slow to act. “To our disappointment, we’ve heard from the bill authors that their colleagues remain resistant to support TOPA’s passage,” Young added.
A version of TOPA has been law in Washington, D.C. since the 1980s. It gives tenants the first right to purchase their building when it goes up for sale, or to assign that right to a nonprofit or housing cooperative.
Landlord and developer groups, however, say the policy could complicate transactions and deter new construction. Cecil Smith, CEO of the Minnesota Multi Housing Association, has called the proposal unrealistic.
“What does deliver is homeowner possibilities and down payment assistance,” Smith told the Star Tribune. But advocates argue D.C.’s experience shows otherwise, that TOPA can be a tool to stabilize neighborhoods and slow displacement.
“The greatest number of residents benefiting from TOPA is in predominantly Black Ward 8,” said D.C. Council Member Brianne K. Nadeau. “It gives renters a say in what happens to their homes, options for better housing and wealth-building, and opportunities for future home ownership.”
Critics of TOPA, advocates say, have leaned on misinformation, particularly the idea that it would restrict housing supply, despite the policy weathering decades of both housing booms and busts in D.C.
“There’s been a lot of myths around this policy, but it remains clear that Minneapolis renters deserve the opportunity to purchase the homes they’ve been renting,” said Temi Ogunrinde, equity and engagement director at Housing In Action. She pointed to stark racial disparities in housing and homeownership across the Twin Cities, calling TOPA a small but meaningful step toward narrowing the gap.
“Our racist housing policies, as well as harmful lending practices, have made it so that we have one of the worst disparities in the country when it comes to homeownership, between families of color and their white counterparts,” Ogunrinde said.
According to data released by the Minnesota Department of Administration in March 2025, 76.9% of white households in the state own their homes, compared with 29% of Black households, 50% of American Indian households, and 48% of Hispanic households.
“We cannot talk about racial justice if we don’t create policy that focuses on it.”
“We cannot talk about racial justice if we don’t create policy that focuses on it,” Ogunrinde said. “A policy like TOPA could really change the tide, creating homeownership opportunities for people to stay in their neighborhoods of old, their neighborhoods of generations.”
Council Member Jeremiah Ellison reintroduced a version of the policy in 2024, but it has since stalled. Meanwhile, Minneapolis voters approved a 2021 charter amendment that opened the door for rent control.
But in June 2023, the City Council voted 6-4 against putting a rent stabilization ordinance on the ballot. Three Muslim council members, Aisha Chughtai, Jamal Osman, and Jeremiah Ellison, were absent due to observing Eid al-Adha.
Those voting against included Michael Rainville, LaTrisha Vetaw, Lisa Goodman, Emily Koski, Linea Palmisano, and then-Vice President Andrea Jenkins. Council Members Jason Chavez, Robin Wonsley, Elliott Payne, and Andrew Johnson voted in favor.
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