Los Angeles County rental housing owners in unincorporated areas could face new delays and costs selling property under a purchase-priority ordinance the Board of Supervisors voted 5-0 Tuesday to direct staff to draft.

CAA warns the plan would not create any new housing. COPA would create a new process allowing qualified mission-driven purchasers — such as nonprofit housing providers and community land trusts — to have the first opportunity to purchase certain rental housing properties.

The revised motion supervisors adopted on July 6 directs staff to first report back in 120 days on fair-market-offer standards, implementation costs, and staffing needs, then return to the Board in 180 days with a recommended ordinance — a process that now includes property associations, landlords, tenant advocates, affordable housing developers, and tenants among the stakeholders to be consulted.

CAA plans to participate in that stakeholder process to ensure housing providers and property owners have a seat at the table; the county has not yet scheduled that outreach.

Testifying at Tuesday’s hearing, CAA Vice President of Public Affairs Matthew Buck said COPA would create a government-managed process that gives preferential treatment to certain entities, adding delays that create uncertainty for owners, buyers, lenders and residents. He said the added bureaucracy would raise costs and make rental housing investment less predictable, and he urged the board to preserve open-market competition, minimize transaction delays and administrative costs, and avoid unnecessary barriers to buying and selling rental housing.

“COPA does not create any new housing,” Buck said. “It only changes timelines for those who may purchase existing housing.”

CAA will continue to monitor the issue closely and keep members informed as the county develops the ordinance over the coming months.