False claims sink pro-COPA op-ed

COPA is the latest troubled proposal from the San Jose

Housing Department designed to privilege the local non-profit housing cabal. In COPA's case, it's giving those nonprofits special status in the purchase of residential property in the city--all at the expense of mom-and-pop housing providers. A recent op-ed from pro-COPA advocates in
San Jose Spotlight peddled a number of inaccurate claims in a dubious defense of the program and was fact-checked below by a collection of local legal, housing, and political experts.

Op-ed claim: "COPA is a program to give tenants and/or nonprofit community organizations an opportunity to purchase rental housing whenever it is offered for sale. It gives tenants or community organizations the right to make the first offer, and the right to match the final offer."

Fact check: Mostly false. Under COPA, when a private property owner offers their property for sale, only select city-gov't-approved non-profits will have the right to purchase the property. Tenants will not, under COPA, have the right to purchase from the private owner.

Op-ed claim: "COPA will help prevent the displacement of tenants when speculators purchase properties with the intent to 'upgrade' them by increasing rents as fast as possible."

Fact check: Mostly false and misleading: COPA targets mostly rent-controlled properties. San Jose's rent-control cap is 5% per year, regardless of who owns the property or if there is a change in ownership. San Jose also has Just Cause Eviction protections. Tenants cannot be evicted except for specific legal reasons--not change of ownership. In fact, COPA itself could very well displace tenants or increase their rent because some existing tenants would not qualify under the COPA income guidelines.

Op-ed claim: "The only actual impact on the real estate industry will be to require, in some cases, a modest extension in the time it takes to complete a sale."

Fact check: Completely false. COPA makes it illegal for a property owner or real estate agent to post a for-sale sign or advertise their property on the MLS or internet (or to verbally solicit an offer) until the initial notification/offer period of 40 days--mandated by COPA to aid nonprofit buyers--has ended. The impact? The owner or real estate agent is subject to fines and civil lawsuits for violating the advertising regulations or selling without permission from the gov't.