A Logan Square three-flat went on the market April 25, 2026, and its first official showing was April 27. According to Block Club Chicago, the building's four residents allege that at least seven showings happened between March 15 and April 7, before they received the owner's notice of intent to sell at the end of March. On July 1 they filed suit in Cook County Circuit Court. It was the first lawsuit tied to the city's tenant right of first refusal program. The allegations have not been decided, and we found no court ruling reported since the July coverage.
The dispute is about the order of the steps in the sale. That pattern runs through the whole program. The Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act, known as TOPA, rarely changes who ends up owning a building in Logan Square. It does change when each step of a sale is allowed to happen, and it applies to every covered sale.
Hundreds of sales, one tenant purchase
TOPA took effect March 1, 2025, in parts of Logan Square, Humboldt Park, Avondale, Hermosa and West Town. It is part of the Northwest Side Housing Preservation Ordinance. As of April 2026, The Daily Line reported that the Department of Housing had received notices for at least 217 completed sales or pending listings under the ordinance. Three tenant groups had tried to use their right, and none had bought a building. By August 2026, city officials told the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ that one tenant association had bought its building "out of hundreds of property sales in the area," and seven groups had gone through the process without completing a purchase.
For a seller in the 606 district, then, the realistic risk is not losing the building to the tenants. It is a sale that runs on the wrong calendar, a third-party contract that cannot close, or exposure under the penalty section. Under the municipal code, violations carry fines of $200 to $1,000 per offense for each day they continue. An aggrieved person can also sue for an injunction or treble damages, plus costs and attorney fees.
Which Logan Square buildings are covered
Many sellers assume the rule is limited to classic three- and four-flats. Under the 2026 DOH rules, TOPA applies to any property in the program area with at least one occupied rental unit, whatever its building type or zoning. That can include a rented single-family home. When the city counts units to decide which timeline applies, it includes owner-occupied units, vacant units, ADUs, nonconforming units and short-term rental units. A two-flat with the owner upstairs and a tenant downstairs is still a covered two-unit property.
The code also lists exempt transfers. These include qualifying foreclosures and deeds in lieu, inheritance, specified family transfers, qualifying trust transfers, court-ordered transfers, and changes in entity form with no payment involved.
The boundary is the mapped 606 Predominance of the Block District, not a neighborhood name. The map changed in 2025, when the 31st and 36th Wards were removed. Coverage has to be confirmed address by address on the Department of Housing's TOPA page.
The sequence that matters
The rules set up two separate stages, one before the listing and one after an accepted offer.
- Advance notice, before any listing. The owner gives written notice of intent to sell to each occupied rental unit and to the Department of Housing. For properties with 1 to 4 total units, that notice must come at least 30 days before listing. For 5 or more units, it is at least 60 days. The owner also posts notice at all public entrances. The clock does not start until the notice package is complete. That package includes proof of delivery and a notarized Owner Declaration signed by every owner.
- Listing. The 2026 rules define "listing" to include private offers, advertising, solicitation and any other way of making the property available for sale. A word-of-mouth showing can count.
- Accepted third-party offer. This, and not the listing, triggers the right of first refusal. The owner sends tenants and the city a Notice of Sale with the executed contract attached. That contract is automatically contingent on the tenants' right.
- Exercise window. Tenants have a set number of days to elect to buy on the same terms as the outside offer.
- Closing window, if they elect to buy.
A Logan Square example shows how the two stages get blurred. At 2648 N. Francisco Ave., the Three Black Cats Tenant Association formed after the owner told residents in January that he planned to sell. The five-unit building was then listed at $1.35 million. Block Club's April coverage described the building as entering a 90-day right of first refusal period once the listing went live. The code ties that 90-day window to receipt of a Notice of Sale for an accepted offer, not to the listing date. For an owner planning a move, the gap between those two readings can be several weeks. No outcome for that building had been reported in the sources we reviewed.
The calendar by building size
| Total units | Notice before listing | Tenant window after accepted offer | Closing window if tenants exercise | Window after offer, start to finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | 30 days | 15 days | 60 days | 75 days |
| 3 to 4 | 30 days | 30 days to form an association and elect | 60 days | 90 days |
| 5 or more | 60 days | 90 days to form an association and elect | 120 days | 210 days |
These periods are minimums. The code lets an owner grant tenants an extension without breaching the third-party contract. In a 3 to 4 unit building, tenants must register an association that represents at least half the occupied units. In buildings with 5 or more units, the threshold is 75 percent. One- and two-unit properties do not need an association. To exercise the right in a building of four units or fewer, tenants must provide a lender preapproval letter. The owner cannot require a deposit above 5 percent of the price and must refund it if tenants fail to close in good faith.
For a typical Logan Square two-flat, the right of first refusal adds 30 days before listing and 15 days after an accepted offer. The 60-day closing window comes into play only in the rare case that a tenant exercises. That is a planning issue, not a reason to avoid selling.
What the outside buyer inherits
Most of the attention goes to sellers, but the rules also shape what a third-party buyer receives at closing.
If the tenants waive or let the window pass, the buyer must let them stay on their existing terms for whichever is longer: six months after the sale or the rest of the lease. An owner-occupier buying a three-flat to live in one unit should build that into the move-in date. A material change to the deal also matters. If the third-party sale falls through or its terms change materially, the tenants' right is reinstated. A sale to a different party or on materially different terms is void. That shapes how a renegotiation after inspection gets handled. The right also continues with the property and applies to each future owner.
Two companion rules from the same ordinance affect what a buyer can do afterward. Converting apartment buildings into single-family homes is not allowed on blocks that are mostly multifamily. Demolishing a detached house, townhouse or two-flat in the covered district carries a $60,000 surcharge, through at least December 31, 2029.
Paperwork carries more weight than price
As of April 2026, the paperwork includes a tenant Notice of Intent to Sell, the notarized Owner Declaration, a Notice of Third-Party Purchase Agreement, tenant association forms and a tenant waiver. The waiver now appears only on the Notice of Third-Party Purchase Agreement form, not on the Notice of Intent to Sell. Notices go out in English and Spanish. DOH stopped accepting email submissions after May 6, 2026, and moved filings to a central portal. Tenants or the Department can also request records from the owner, including the rent roll, vacancy data and 12 months of income and expense figures. The 2026 rules add permits, inspections, plans and alleged code violations to what can be requested. When title or due diligence calls for it, the Commissioner can issue a compliance certificate. An incomplete filing can delay that certificate.
Owners may not ask tenants to waive during the advance-notice period, pressure them to waive, or disturb a tenancy without just cause during the protected windows. The July lawsuit alleges pressure to waive and a lease non-renewal during those windows. Those claims rest on the same rules described above.
The Chicago Association of REALTORS still opposed the ordinance as of May 2026, citing concerns about delays, liquidity and financing. The pilot runs through December 31, 2029 unless the City Council changes it.
FAQ
Does living in one unit exempt my two-flat? No. Under the 2026 DOH rules, one occupied rental unit is enough for coverage, and the owner's unit counts toward the unit total.
Can tenants simply waive and speed things up? A tenant can waive voluntarily and in writing. Asking for a waiver during the advance-notice period is not allowed. In 5+ unit buildings, the right is waived once 50 percent of tenants waive.
If tenants match my buyer's offer, what happens to my buyer? The third-party contract terminates automatically. The tenants buy on the same terms, as modified by the ordinance.
The 30 days of notice before a Logan Square two-flat lists are the part of a TOPA sale that has gone wrong most visibly. That is also where Jason Obeirne starts: confirming a building's coverage, filing the notices and declarations in order, and setting the listing date and contract terms around the tenant windows. Schedule a consultation before your first showing to set up the calendar.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
