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Dear Friend,
Tenant rights in DC are under attack. Mayor Bowser’s RENTAL Act is a pro-landlord bill that would roll back TOPA protections, making it easier to displace renters and strip away our power to collectively determine the future of our homes. Tell your story about the power of TOPA to protect tenants!
TOPA (the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act) is a critical tool for preventing displacement. This law gives tenants the right to purchase their building, negotiate with buyers, or choose a preferred owner when their home goes up for sale. But, the RENTAL Act would gut these protections, leaving renters vulnerable to predatory investors and unfair evictions.
That’s why we’re fighting back — and we need your voice! Our Citywide TOPA Town Hall is happening in May. This town hall will bring several Councilmembers together with community members to discuss TOPA. We want to send a clear message: DC tenants demand stronger protections, not fewer.
Ahead of the Town Hall, we are collecting stories from DC residents to preserve the history of TOPA and show lawmakers how this law has shaped lives across the city. Your experiences will help us push back against the RENTAL Act and protect tenant rights. |
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Take the TOPA experience survey if any of the following apply to you: ✔️ Have gone through the TOPA process ✔️ Live in housing currently ineligible for TOPA ✔️ Have gone through a property sale that was exempted from TOPA ✔️ Live in a home where affordability was preserved by TOPA ✔️ Live in a building that would lose TOPA protections under the RENTAL Act (i.e. your building was built within the last 25 years, your building receives subsidies from the federal or District government) ✔️ Love TOPA
This is our chance to center tenant voices over landlords and developers. By sharing your story, you’re helping build the case to defend and expand TOPA — just as DC’s working class won these rights in the first place.
For questions, contact [email protected]. Let’s fight for a DC where tenants, not profits, come first.
In solidarity,
Damiana Dendy Housing Organizer The Festival Center |
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Friend,
Los derechos de los inquilinos en DC están bajo ataque. La legislación RENTAL de la alcaldesa Bowser es un proyecto de ley a favor de los propietarios que haría retroceder las protecciones TOPA, facilitando el desplazamiento de los inquilinos y despojándonos de nuestro poder para determinar colectivamente el futuro de nuestros hogares. Cuente su historia sobre el poder de la TOPA para proteger a los inquilinos!
Nuestra Reunión de inquilinos en toda la ciudad tendrá lugar en mayo. Este ayuntamiento reunirá a varios concejales con miembros de la comunidad para discutir TOPA. Queremos enviar un mensaje claro: DC inquilinos exigen una mayor protección, no menos.
Responda a la encuesta sobre la experiencia TOPA si se da alguna de las siguientes circunstancias: ✔️ Tener experiencia con el proceso TOPA ✔️ Vive en una vivienda que actualmente no puede acogerse al TOPA ✔️ Ha pasado por la venta de una vivienda que estaba exenta del TOPA ✔️ Vivir en una vivienda cuya asequibilidad haya sido preservada por TOPA. ✔️ Viven en un edificio que perdería las protecciones TOPA en virtud de la legislación RENTAL (por ejemplo, su edificio fue construido en los últimos 25 años, su edificio recibe subsidios del gobierno federal o del Distrito) ✔️ Me encanta TOPA
Organizadora de Vivienda
The Festival Center |
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