Exemptions
If I live in EPA and own my single-family home, does OPA apply to me?
No, EPA resident homeowners are exempt by design.
My property has an ADU, does OPA apply?
No, EPA residents’ properties are exempted, even if they have an ADU or JADU.
What about cases of emergency medical expenses when people consider selling a home to help pay for an expensive procedure or ongoing medical expense like cancer treatment? Does OPA apply?
Healthcare costs are out of control and surprise expenses place immense strain on families. For this reason, there is a medical emergency exemption so that a transfer made for the purpose of paying imminently necessary health care expenses is exempt from OPA.
Ok, but what if I live in EPA and own a condo? Or a duplex, or a triplex? Does OPA apply to me?
No, even for condos, duplexes, and triplexes, EPA resident homeowners are exempt by design.
I’m a long-time homeowner who worked incredibly hard, through adversity, to be able to be able to own my home – I’d like to transfer my property to a family member to pass that security on across generations. Would my property fall under OPA?
Getting a foot in the door of homeownership gets harder every year – it makes sense that you would want to provide for family. Firstly, if you live in EPA you are exempt. Secondly, there is also an exemption for family transfers between spouses, domestic partners, parents and children, siblings, and/or grandparents and grandchildren, as informed by EPA residents, to address exactly this concern.
Ok, what about in cases of financial emergency or hardship?
Non-medical financial emergencies also come up, and the policy intends to accommodate for those circumstances. Emergency circumstances placing the owner in financial hardship and imminent risk of foreclosure and bankruptcy can also exempt a property from OPA.
Well, what if I live in EPA and own my home, but also own another home in EPA that I don’t live in, does OPA apply to that property?
No, all properties owned by EPA residents are exempt. The policy is designed to focus on the properties in EPA owned by folks who live elsewhere.
There are so many exemptions, which is good for protecting residents of EPA and certain special circumstances. Why does OPA target so specifically?
First, throughout the process of Affinity Group Meetings, Focus Group meetings, email and letter submissions, public City Council meetings, and ongoing City Council office hours appointments, EPA community members have given feedback on exemptions. Throughout the process of policy development, the city has incorporated this feedback on multiple occasions to ensure that the policy is as responsive to Local needs as possible.
Secondly, OPA is an innovative policy – and with innovation it is commonly strategic to start with a pilot approach and scale up as you develop the best practices that are suitable for your immediate environment. This is fitting considering that the resource pool for Affordable Housing Preservation is expected to increase in years to come – so the ability to capture those resources to help owners sell to the local market, help the local market buy, and help local developers perform renovations. So, with OPA, we can actually start small and build up.