(a) Prior to the conversion of the first condominium unit to condominium status from rental or other legal status, the developer shall give at least 180 days written notice to each of the tenants of the building or buildings which the developer intends to convert into a condominium project. During the first sixty days of the 180-day period, each of the tenants shall have the exclusive right to contract for the purchase of the unit that he or she occupies. During the remainder of the 180-day period, the tenants of the building or buildings are to have the first option on purchasing units in the facility as long as units are available. Such notice shall be hand delivered or sent by certified mail and shall inform the tenant of the developer's intent to create a conversion condominium. No occupant or tenant shall be served with a thirty-day notice to vacate, except for the non-payment of rent, until 150 days after he or she first received notice of the developer's intent to convert.
(b) Any tenant with more than thirty days remaining on a lease who receives a notice of conversion to condominium status shall, at any time after receipt of such notice, have the right to terminate such lease within thirty days without notice to the landlord. Such termination shall be without penalty or other termination charge to the tenant.
(1977 Code § 15-121)