(a) Convert and conversion mean:
(1) (A) changing the use of rental housing to nonresidential use;
(B) demolishing at least one-third of the units in rental housing in a 12- month period;
(C) displacing tenants from at least one-third of the occupied units in rental housing in a 12-month period by:
(i) raising rents; or
(ii) preparing to rehabilitate the rental housing; or
(D) any other act that ends the use of the property as rental housing.
(2) Conversion does not include establishing a condominium or cooperative.
(aa) County assignee means a qualified entity that has accepted in writing an assignment of a right of first refusal by the County Executive or the designee of the County Executive.
(b) Department means the Department of Housing and Community Affairs.
(c) HOC means the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission.
(d) Owner means a person holding title to rental housing.
(e) Qualified entity means a legal entity that:
(1) is designated under 53A-4(g) as eligible to accept an assignment of a right of first refusal by the County Executive.
(2) The following are designated qualified entities: Rockville Department of Housing and Community Development and Rockville Housing Enterprises of the City of Rockville; the Division of Housing and Community Development of the City of Gaithersburg; and the Department of Housing and Community Development of the City of Takoma Park.
(f) Rental housing means a multiple-family dwelling, or a group of multiple-family dwellings operated as one entity, with a total of at least 4 rental units.
(g) (1) Sale, sell, or selling mean:
(A) transfer of title to rental housing;
(B) transfer in a 12-month period of a majority interest in owner; or
(C) lease of rental housing for more than 7 years.
(2) These terms do not include entering into a contract for the sale of rental housing that gives the County, HOC, a tenant organization, or a County assignee a right of first refusal under this Chapter.
(h) Tenant means an individual who lives in a rental housing unit with the owner’s consent and is responsible for paying rent to the owner.
(i) Tenant organization means an association of tenants of rental housing that:
(1) represents tenants of at least 30 percent of the occupied units in the rental housing; and
(2) is certified by the Department according to Executive regulations.
(j) Title means:
(1) a legal or equitable ownership interest in rental housing; or
(2) a legal, equitable, or beneficial interest in a partnership, limited partnership, corporation, trust or other person who is not an individual, that has a legal or equitable ownership interest in rental housing. (1990) L.M.C., ch. 34, § 1; 1996 L.M.C., ch. 13, § 1; 2001 L.M.C., ch. 32, § 1; 2024 L.M.C., ch. 5, § 1.)