Reply to TOPA exemption for SFHs in DC - will this create more supply?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]"But if TOPA is removed and the lease is up anyway, what does it matter what the intent was? I can tell you to prepare to vacate in 90 days. My house, I want back for my purposes."

In DC, unlike MD or VA, leases are never "up".  You may certainly ask tenants to "vacate in 90 days" if you certify that you want to recover the property for personal use.  But if you make such a certification falsely (i.e., having some other intent), that is fraud.

Now, if you remove TOPA, I suppose tenants' incentive to sue for fraud might be slightly lower.  But people tend to react badly if they feel they have been treated as suckers...  And, if they do sue, it will likely take a year before the case is even heard--and in the meantime you would find it challenging to sell.[/quote]

Without TOPA, I honestly think tenants are up a creek without a paddle if I go to sell after a nominal waiting period. Even if they sue, they no longer have a right to the home or to hold up the sale; what’s the tort? What damages can they claim aside from moving costs? At that point, you’re in small claims court.

The only way I can see tenants having a viable case is if the landlord reclaims the property and posts it on Airbnb or re-rents it at a higher rate within the 12 month waiting period. But that has always been an illegal eviction and has nothing to do with TOPA, which is clearly designed for PURCHASE of the property (hence the “P” in TOPA).

Plus, I think intent will be impossible to prove. The landlord can always say that they renovated assuming to move in but then decided the commute was a hassle/didn’t like the schools/etc. I don’t envision many attorneys representing tenants without a hefty retainer.
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