[Mintwood-place] PRESS RELEASE: Court Ruling in "95/5" Case Affirms the Need for N ew Law

[Heymann, Alan (COUNCIL)]

COUNCILMEMBER JIM GRAHAM
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
WARD ONE

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE		Contact:	Alan Heymann
March 23, 2006							(202)
724-8031
		 				
COURT RULING IN "95/5" CASE 
AFFIRMS THE NEED FOR NEW LAW

Washington, DC - The District of Columbia Court of Appeals ruled today that
individual tenants in buildings sold in so-called "95/5" transactions cannot
sue to challenge those transactions. The Court also ruled that 95/5 sales
did not trigger the tenants right of first refusal.

The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA) allows tenants the opportunity
to buy their buildings before they are sold to a third party. In these
so-called "95/5" transactions, the landlord would transfer most of the
ownership interest (usually 95% or more) to a new owner and hold back the
rest (usually 5% or less) for a year. This was done to avoid triggering the
tenants' TOPA rights. Time after time, the District government determined
that these transactions were not sales under the law. Today's court ruling
reinforces these determinations.

"The first chance we got, we changed the law," said Councilmember Jim Graham
(D-Ward One), chair of the Committee on Consumer and Regulatory Affairs.
"Under the old law, tenants are very sadly out of luck. But we stopped new
95/5 transactions cold. The court has acknowledged this in its ruling
today."
 
Councilmember Graham introduced a bill on January 18, 2005 to clarify the
definition of "sale" and block future 95/5 transactions. This bill became
law July 23, 2005.

The appeals court decision can be found online:
http://www.dcappeals.gov/dccourts/appeals/pdf/04-CV-1534+.PDF

New law covering 95/5 transactions:
http://www.dccouncil.washington.dc.us/lims/getleg1.asp?legno=b16-0050




Alan Heymann
Director, Constituent Services
Councilmember Jim Graham
aheymann at dccouncil.us
www.grahamwone.com