(a) Notice of conversion.--The
declarant of every planned community containing one or more conversion buildings
shall give each of the residential tenants and residential subtenants, if
any, lawfully in possession of a unit or units in a conversion building
or buildings a conversion notice no later than one year before the declarant
requires the residential tenant and residential subtenant to vacate. The
conversion notice must set forth generally the rights of residential tenants
and residential subtenants under this section and shall be hand delivered
to the unit or mailed by prepaid United States certified or registered mail,
return receipt requested, to the residential tenant and residential subtenant
at the address of the unit and not more than one other mailing address provided
by the residential tenant. Every notice shall be accompanied by a public
offering statement concerning the proposed sale of planned community units
within such building or buildings. Except as provided in subsection (f),
no residential tenant or residential subtenant in a conversion building
may be required by the declarant to vacate the unit earlier than one year
after the conversion notice date except by reason of nonpayment of rent,
waste or conduct that disturbs other tenants' peaceful enjoyment of the
premises, and the terms of the tenancy, including those terms that apply
to a period occurring in whole or in part after the conversion notice date,
may not be altered but may be enforced during that period. Failure of a
declarant to give notice to a residential tenant or residential subtenant
entitled to such notice under this subsection is a defense to an action
for possession against such residential tenant or residential subtenant.
(b) Offer to tenant
to purchase unit.--For six months after the conversion notice date, the
declarant shall offer to convey each unit or proposed unit occupied for
residential use in a conversion building to the tenant who leases that unit.
If the tenant fails to purchase his unit during that six-month period, the
declarant may not offer to dispose of an interest in that unit during the
following six months at a price or on terms more favorable to the offeree
than the price or terms offered to the tenant. This subsection shall not
apply to any rental unit:
(1) which, immediately
prior to the conversion notice date, was restricted or devoted exclusively
to nonresidential use; or
(2) the boundaries
of which, after the creation of the planned community, will not substantially
conform to the boundaries of such unit on the conversion notice date.
(c) Effect of wrongful
conveyance.--If a declarant, in violation of subsection (b), conveys a unit
to a purchaser for value who has no knowledge of the violation, recording
of the deed conveying the unit extinguishes any right a tenant may have
under subsection (b) to purchase that unit if the deed states that the seller
has complied with subsection (b) but does not affect the right of a tenant
to recover damages from the declarant for a violation of subsection (b).
(d) Notice to vacate.--If
a conversion notice specifies a date by which a unit or proposed unit must
be vacated, the conversion notice also constitutes a notice of termination
of the tenant's lease, subject to revocation in accordance with subsection
(i), and a notice to quit specified by section 501 of the act of April 6,
1951 (P.L. 69, No. 20), [FN1] known as The Landlord and Tenant Act of 1951.
(e) Improper lease
termination prohibited.--
(1) Nothing in this
section permits termination of a lease by a declarant in violation of its
terms.
(2) Nothing in this
section or in any lease shall prohibit a residential tenant, after receiving
notice under subsection (a), from terminating any lease without any liability
for such termination provided such tenant gives the building owner 90 days'
written notice of the intent to terminate the lease.
(3) The declarant
or owner of any proposed conversion planned community shall not engage in
any activity of any nature which would coerce the tenant into terminating
any lease, including, but not limited to, harassing tenants or withholding
normal services or repairs.
(f) Units leased
to senior citizens and disabled persons.--
(1) For the purpose
of this subsection, an eligible tenant or subtenant shall be a natural person
who, on the conversion notice date, lawfully occupies a unit in a conversion
building as a principal residence and is 62 years of age or older or is
disabled and has occupied the unit for at least two years. For purposes
of this subsection, a person shall be deemed to be disabled if on the conversion
notice date he is totally and permanently unable to engage in any substantial
gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental
impediment, including, but not limited to, blindness.
(2) Within 60 days
after the conversion notice date, any tenant or subtenant in possession
of a unit who believes that he is an eligible tenant or subtenant shall
so notify the declarant and shall provide the declarant with proof of his
eligibility. Any eligible tenant or subtenant who has established his eligibility
as aforesaid shall be entitled to remain in possession of his unit for two
years following the conversion notice date, notwithstanding any prior termination
date in his lease, except by reason of nonpayment of rent, waste or conduct
that disturbs other occupants' peaceful enjoyment of the planned community,
and the terms of the tenancy, including terms that apply to a time period
after the conversion notice date, may not be altered but may be enforced
during the time period between the original lease termination date and the
expiration of this two-year period except as is otherwise provided in paragraph
(3).
(3) The monthly rental
payable by the tenant during the time period commencing upon the later to
occur of the original lease termination date or the first anniversary of
the conversion notice date and ending upon the expiration of the two-year
period described in paragraph (2) shall be the same monthly rental as was
payable for the month immediately preceding the original lease termination
date, except that, at the landlord's option, such monthly rental may be
increased by the lesser of 5% of such monthly rental or the same percentage
increase as the percentage increase, if any, in the Consumer Price Index
as calculated and published by the United States Department of Labor for
the six-month time period commencing on the first day of the first full
calendar month after the conversion notice date.
(4) Failure of a
declarant to comply with the provisions of this subsection is a defense
to an action for possession.
(g) Tenant meetings;
open to the public.--With respect to any conversion building containing
one or more units then occupied for residential use, at least 30 days before
the conversion notice date, the declarant shall hold a tenant meeting open
to the public in the municipality where the proposed conversion building
is located at a place and time convenient to the persons who may be directly
affected by the conversion. At least ten days' notice of the time and place
of the meeting shall be given to residential tenants and subtenants in lawful
possession of their units, in the same manner as is required for the giving
of the conversion notice, and to the general public by a notice in a newspaper
of general circulation in the municipality in which the planned community
is located, except that no notice to the general public need be given with
respect to conversion buildings as to which the provisions of section 5402(b)
(relating to public offering statement; general provisions) are applicable.
At such meeting, representatives of the declarant shall briefly describe
the following and may, but shall not be required to, discuss other matters:
(1) The rights and
obligations of tenants and subtenants under this section.
(2) Improvements,
if any, then planned to be made to the planned community by the declarant.
(3) The anticipated
approximate range of initial unit sales prices. Specific unit sales prices
need not, however, be provided.
(4) The anticipated
approximate range of estimated monthly common expenses for various types
of units; however, specific per unit estimates need not be provided.
(h) Community development
grants.--If Federal funds under the Community Economic Development Act of
1981 (Public Law 97-35, 42 U.S.C. § 9801 et seq.) have been used to
finance the rehabilitation of multifamily rental housing, with the intent
that such housing subsequent to the rehabilitation is to be used for residential
rental purposes, such housing shall not be converted to a planned community
for a period of ten years from the date the rehabilitation is completed.
(i) Revocation.--A
declarant may subsequently revoke a conversion notice if the declarant has
expressly reserved the right of revocation in the conversion notice and
if the notice of revocation:
(1) Is given prior
to the conveyance of any unit in the planned community occurring after the
conversion notice date other than a unit or units conveyed to a successor
declarant or as a result of foreclosure of a mortgage on the unit or a deed
in lieu thereof.
(2) Is given in the
same manner as is required for the giving of the conversion notice.
(3) Is given to all
persons who were entitled to receive the conversion notice and who continue
to be in lawful occupancy at the time such notice of revocation is given.
The giving of a notice of revocation revokes all rights granted under this
section but does not revoke the rights granted to residential tenants under
subsection (a) or (f), and such rights shall be deemed to have been incorporated
in each residential tenant's lease.
(j) Waiver of purchase
rights.--Notwithstanding any provisions of this subpart prohibiting waiver
of rights, any tenant may waive his right to purchase a unit under subsection
(b) if the waiver is in writing, is acknowledged and is given in consideration
of:
(1) an extension
of the term of the tenant's tenancy and right of occupancy under this subpart
beyond the time period required by subsections (a) and (f) as applicable;
(2) the tenant entering
into an agreement to purchase another unit in the planned community; or
(3) all occupants
of the unit making alternative living arrangements.
(k) Alteration
of terms of tenancy.--Notwithstanding any provisions of subsection (a) or
(f), the terms of the tenancy of a tenant or subtenant may be altered with
the express written consent of that tenant or subtenant, and such altered
terms shall then be the terms of tenancy referred to in this section.
(l) Application
of section.--The provisions of this section shall apply only with respect
to conversion buildings in which one or more residential tenants or residential
subtenants are in lawful occupancy on the conversion notice date, and the
only tenants who are entitled to exercise the rights granted under this
section are residential tenants or residential subtenants:
(1) who are in lawful
occupancy of conversion building on the date the declarant gives the conversion
notice; or
(2) who commence
their tenancy after the notice of conversion is given to the other residential
tenants without having been notified in writing, at or prior to the commencement
of their tenancy, that the property is then a planned community and that
they are not entitled to the rights granted under this section. Such rights
continue only so long as the lawful occupancy of the tenant or subtenant
continues.
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