Subtitle 6 – Opportunity to Purchase

“Landlord” means any person who is the owner of a rental single-family dwelling unit.

“Landlord” includes any person authorized to exercise any aspect of the management of the rental single-family dwelling unit, except those persons engaged solely in custodial and maintenance functions.

“Rent” means the consideration, including any bonus, benefit, or gratuity, demanded or received per day, week, month, year, or other period of time, as the case may be, for the use or occupancy of housing accommodations or the transfer of a lease for those accommodations.

“Rent” includes any charge to a tenant under a rent-to-own agreement if the tenant’s acceptance of the agreement is mandatory or if the tenant is not entitled to a refund of the charge if the tenant does not purchase the unit.

occupies a rental single-family dwelling unit as a residence with the consent of the landlord; and

has an obligation to pay rent or provide other consideration to the landlor for those accommodations.

“relatives” means only those relatives set forth in § 267(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code and all lineal descendants and spouses of those relatives to the extent not already included in that section;

“ancestors” as defined in § 267(c)(4) are limited to the levels of parents and grandparents; and

“lineal descendants” include all biological children and stepchildren, and full effect shall be given to legal adoption[.] ; and

the tenant within the rental dwelling unit; and

the Commissioner, on behalf of the Mayor and City Council.

The offer of sale required by this section shall include:

For each calendar day of delay by the landlord to provide the information required by subsection (b)(1)(ii) of this section, the time period for the tenant to express interest in purchasing the rental single-family dwelling unit or to negotiate a contract with the landlord for the purchase of the rental single-family dwelling unit, as the case may be, shall be extended by 1 day.

In this subsection, “material change” means:

A landlord is not required to provide a new offer of sale if there is an increase in the sale price.

The tenant may accept the offer of sale by submitting a written contract within 14 calendar days from the date of the submission of the statement of interest.

The contract must include substantially the same terms and conditions set forth in the any third-party contract of sale, including any contract term that provides for a reasonable real estate commission.

In order for the tenant to secure financing, any contract of sale shall provide a reasonable period of no less than 30 days between the execution of the contract and settlement.

A landlord shall afford a tenant a reasonable and commensurate extension of time, if:

If a tenant proposes to use a federal, State, or local program to assist the purchase, for either mortgage insurance, a mortgage guarantee, or a direct mortgage, the required deposit shall not exceed the cash contribution required of the buyer by that program.

If no such program is involved in the tenant purchase, the deposit required for a sales contract shall be at least 1% of the purchase price.

shall not require the tenant to obtain financing in less than 60 days from the date a contract is tendered by the landlord; and

shall excuse the tenant from performance of the sales contract if the tenant is unable to obtain adequate financing within said 60-day period.

if the tenant has responded to the offer of sale required under <cite data-path="|13|6">this subtitle</cite>, include the following statement: “(Name of tenant), being the tenant of the property known as (street address) in Baltimore City, following an offer of sale as required by <cite data-path="|13|§6-7">§ 6-7 of Article 13</cite> of the Baltimore City Code, sent (date of mailing), has failed to enter into a contract to purchase said property in the manner and time provided by Subtitle 6 of <cite data-path="|13">Article 13</cite> of the Baltimore City Code.” (Add if applicable) “Notice pursuant to <cite data-path="|13|§6-7">§ 6-7 of Article 13</cite> of the Baltimore City Code was subsequently sent to said tenant on (date of mailing), and tenant subsequently failed to contract to purchase said property in lieu of (name of third party) within the period of time provided by said § 6-8, that period being 7 days.”; or

if the tenant has waived right of first refusal, include the following statement: “(Name of tenant), being the tenant of the property known as (street address) in Baltimore City, following an offer of sale as required by <cite data-path="|13|§6-7">§ 6-7 of Article 13</cite> of the Baltimore City Code, sent (date of mailing), has not entered into a contract for sale.

A landlord shall report each rental single-family dwelling unit transfer subject to <cite data-path="|13|6">this subtitle</cite> to the Commissioner within 30 days of the transfer in the manner required by the Commissioner.

The duty to report under this subsection shall include transfers to a party other than the tenant.

disaggregated by zip code, the total number of transfers subject <cite data-path="|13|6">this subtitle</cite>, including:

any recommendations for legislative or policy amendments to better ensure that City tenants are benefitting from <cite data-path="|13|6">this subtitle</cite>.