DC City Councilmembers are Considering Exempting Residents of 
HUD-Subsidized Buildings from the First Right of Refusal Law when a 
Building is Sold 
DON'T LET THEM WEAKEN THE LAW!!!!

In 1994, former City Councilmember John Ray persuaded the DC City Council to 
weaken the "first right of refusal" law, which gives DC tenants the first option to buy their 
building as a tenant group when it is up for sale. Since this law was enacted in the 
1970's-thousands of DC tenants have been able to buy their units, avoid displacement 
and many have formed "limited equity" cooperatives. Ray also weakened the rent control 
bill at about the same time allowing landlords to take retroactive rent increases. 

Mayor Williams and his Deputy for Economic Underdevelopment, Eric Price, have 
promoted these loopholes. They have encouraged apartment owners to use these Ray 
loopholes to raise rent illegally and sell 95% of buildings instead of 100%-thus bypassing 
offering the building to tenants. Before 2000- very few buildings were sold in this 
manner. Councilwoman Ambrose has held several hearings about these problems in the 
past few years-but no action has been taken to correct them.

Councilmember Phil Mendelson(At-Large) has reintroduced a bill with 
Councilmembers Fenty and Graham to close the Ray loophole, which allows a sale of 
less than 100% of a building to be exempt  from the requirement to offer the building to 
the tenants first. Last year the bill closed the Ray loophole. Councilmember Mendelson, 
introduced a new version of this Bill 15-133—which would exempt tenants of buildings 
with federally insured mortgages-including subsidized buildings- from the first right to 
buy their buildings. This new weaker bill would also maintain a form of the Ray loophole-
lowering  from less than a 100% sale  to less than 50% as the trigger for tenants not 
being offered their building



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www.tenac.org  202-628-3688
TENAC (D.C.Tenants' Advocacy Coalition, P.O. Box #7237, D.C. 20044
Representing ALL D.C. Tenant