COPA fact sheet and building checklist
Milton Coste, Licensed Real Estate Associate Broker. Updated November 11, 2026.
Mayor Mamdani signed the Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) on November 10, 2026, and it takes effect in November 2027. It covers NYC apartment buildings with 4 or more units that are in serious disrepair or carry an HPD affordability agreement, about 3,400 buildings by HPD's estimate, and it leaves every other sale alone.
I have been licensed in New York since November 2001, and the first thing I check on any new sale rule is how many days it puts between an owner and a signed contract. On a covered building where a nonprofit raises its hand, COPA puts 90 days there. The owner still sets the price and still decides whether to sell.
The facts on one page
- Status
- Law since November 10, 2026Int. 905-A passed the City Council 38 to 9 on October 22, 2026.
- Takes effect
- November 2027One year after signing. Sales before then follow today's rules.
- Buildings
- About 3,400HPD's estimate of buildings that qualify citywide. The Council Speaker's earlier figure was about 2,100.
- Who gets the first chance
- HPD-certified nonprofits501(c)(3) housing organizations, including community land trusts, and joint ventures a certified nonprofit controls.
- Head start
- 20 days, then 70 days20 calendar days to register interest, then 70 to make an offer. No other buyer in that window.
- Right to match
- 15 days, for 1 yearIf the owner turns the nonprofit down and later plans to accept another offer, the nonprofit can match it.
- Penalty
- Up to 15% of the sale priceFor selling a covered building without the notice. A nonprofit can also sue within 2 years of the deed being recorded.
Which buildings are covered
Two things have to be true. The building is a Class A multiple dwelling (the city's term for a residential building used as permanent housing) with 4 or more apartments, and it meets at least one of the six tests in the checklist below.
Not covered: 1, 2 and 3 family homes, a building with 5 or fewer units where the owner lives in one of them, and the resale of a single co-op or condo apartment.
Check a building against the six tests
There is no COPA list to look up yet. HPD has to post the criteria, notify owners of qualifying buildings every year and give them a chance to be heard, and none of that exists until its rules are written ahead of November 2027. Until then you check test by test. Nothing you enter here is saved or sent.
How long a covered sale takes
The bars are drawn to scale against the 70-day offer window. All periods are calendar days.
- 0day
Notice of intent to sell. Before offering the building or accepting any offer, the owner notifies HPD and every certified nonprofit.
- 20days
Statement of interest. Nonprofits say whether they want to bid. If none does, the owner is free to sell on the open market.
- 70days
First offer window. An interested nonprofit makes its offer. The owner shares the rent roll, income and expenses, and open violations under a confidentiality agreement, and cannot sell to anyone else. HPD can extend this by 5 days, no more than twice.
- 10days
Owner answers. Accept, reject or counter. Rejecting every offer frees the owner to sell to someone else.
- 30days
Contract. If the owner accepts or counters, the two sides have this long to sign a contract of sale.
- 15days
Right to match, for 1 year. If the owner rejected the nonprofit and plans to accept an outside offer within a year, the nonprofit gets the terms and 15 days to match them.
The 20-day and 70-day windows add 90 days before an owner can take outside offers. A sale to the nonprofit can run about 130 days from notice to signed contract.
What COPA does not do
- It never forces a sale.
- The owner decides if and when to sell.
- It never forces acceptance.
- The owner can reject a nonprofit's offer.
- It sets no discount.
- A nonprofit matching an outside offer has to match its price and terms.
- It does not reach most transfers.
- Refinancing, transfers between close family members, inheritance, court-ordered sales, a deed in lieu of foreclosure and a co-op or condo conversion are all excluded. An owner can also ask HPD for a hardship waiver.
If a test is met
- Treat the building as covered until HPD says otherwise, and add the 20-day and 70-day windows to the front of the sale calendar.
- Clear and certify open Class B and Class C violations now. HPD reads the violation average each June 1, and a building that falls below 3 is no longer covered by that test.
- Have a real estate attorney review any contract that could close after November 2027.
- On a 1031 exchange, the federal 45-day and 180-day deadlines do not pause for COPA, so name backup properties.
Milton Coste, Licensed Real Estate Associate Broker, Keller Williams NYC, 360 Madison Avenue, 9th Floor, New York, NY 10017. NY License #10301213304. (917) 416-7433. miltoncoste.com/copa. Equal Housing Opportunity. General information, not legal advice.
Have the six tests run on your building
Send the address and the unit count. I can check it against the public HPD record and come back with which tests it meets, what that adds to the timeline and what to fix before you list. No cost, and nothing is listed or shared.
Questions owners ask
Is there a list of COPA-covered buildings in NYC?
Not yet. As of November 2026, HPD has not published a list of buildings covered by COPA. The law requires HPD to post the coverage criteria and send owners of qualifying NYC buildings a written notice each year, which begins once its rules are written ahead of the November 2027 effective date. Until then, an owner checks the six tests against the building's HPD record.
When does COPA take effect?
COPA takes effect in November 2027, one year after Mayor Mamdani signed it on November 10, 2026. A covered NYC building can be sold under today's rules until then. A contract that could close after the effective date should be reviewed by a real estate attorney.
What is the violation annual daily average?
It is the number HPD uses for the fourth COPA test: the count of long-open hazardous violations per apartment, averaged over a year. HPD adds up the Class B and Class C violations open on each of the prior 365 days, divides by 365, divides again by the number of apartments, and reads the result as of June 1. A score of 3 or more makes an NYC building of 4 or more units a covered building.
Does COPA apply to a co-op or condo apartment?
Generally no. COPA applies to the sale of a whole NYC residential building of 4 or more units by its owner, and only when the building meets one of six tests. Selling a single co-op or condo apartment is not a covered sale, and converting a building to a co-op or condo is excluded.
What happens if an owner sells a covered building without the COPA notice?
The city can impose a civil penalty of up to 15% of the sale price, which is up to $450,000 on a $3 million building. A certified nonprofit can also sue for damages and ask a court to block or undo the sale, as long as it files within 2 years of the deed being recorded.
Sources: NYC Council file Int. 0905-2026 (text of Int. 905-A), the NYC Mayor's Office announcement of November 10, 2026, and Brick Underground and City Limits reporting from October 22, 2026 for the building estimates. This page is general information, not legal advice. Ask a real estate attorney how COPA applies to a specific building.
Keep reading
- COPA, the full articleThe history, the exclusions and what changed before the vote
- Selling with Class C violationsHow buyers price open hazardous violations
- Building checkOpen violations and records for an address
- Selling several buildingsAs a package or one at a time
- 1031 exchange for sellersThe 45-day and 180-day deadlines
- Selling in NYCPricing, marketing and a market analysis