(a) Definitions. In this section, the following words have the meanings indicated.
(1) Rental property.
(i) "Rental property" means real property that includes one (1) or more structures or other improvements that are operated as a single entity.
(ii) "Rental property" does not include a transient facility such as an apartment hotel, boardinghouse, tourist home, inn, motel, hotel, school dormitory, hospital or medical facility, or a facility operated for religious or charitable purposes.
(2) Tenant organization. "Tenant organization" means an association of resident tenants of a rental property that the Department certifies as representing at least 30 percent of the occupied units or 5 units, whichever is greater.
(b) Requirements before transfer. Before an owner transfers a rental property or more than 10 units, the owner must:
(1) Offer the rental property for sale to the county, its designated housing agency, and a certified tenant organization within the rental property at a fair market price and at material terms that are at least as favorable as those offered to or accepted from a third party purchaser. The owner must continue this offer for at least sixty (60) days from the latest date the offer is received by the county, its designated housing agency, or the tenants of the facility; or
(2) (i) Notify the Department in writing that the transfer of the rental property is not for the purpose of cooperative conversion; and
(ii) Comply with the requirements of either Chapter 11A or 53A.
(c) Exercise of right to purchase. An owner must sell the rental property to the County, its designated housing agency, or the tenant organization if the County, agency, or organization:
(1) Signs a purchase contract that contains substantially the same price and material terms as the offer of the owner, except for the period by which the parties must settle;
(2) Secures financing within one hundred eighty (180) days from the beginning of the sixty-day offer period; and
(3) Settles on the contract within one hundred eighty (180) days from the beginning of the sixty-day offer period.
(d) Extension of time. The owner and the County, its designated housing agency, or the tenant organization may agree to extend the time for securing financing or settlement without liability to another purchaser.
(e) Other contract rights. A purchase contract or the transfer of title for a rental property to a party other than the County, its designated housing agency, or a tenant organization is contingent upon compliance by the owner with this Chapter. (1985 L.M.C., ch. 39, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 13, § 1.)