Evanston, Ill., City Code § 5 § 5-4-4-2
TENANT'S RIGHT TO PURCHASE (Evanston Housing Regulations)
Operative Text
(A) During the one hundred twenty (120) day period following the delivery to tenants of the notice of intent, or until thirty (30) days after the condominium instruments have been filed with the City, whichever is longer, the declarant shall offer the tenant his/her unit. This offer shall be held open until tenant acceptance or refusal, but in no event longer than the expiration of either the one hundred twenty (120) day period or the thirty (30) days after filing of the condominium instruments, whichever is longer. Inaction by the tenant after the expiration of the one hundred twenty (120) days or thirty (30) days shall constitute a waiver of his/her right of first purchase. Said offer shall be either a first-time offer to the tenant at a set price or the right of first refusal to that tenant when a bona fide offer has been submitted for that unit by a third party. Under either procedure, the tenant shall have thirty (30) days to execute his/her own contract for the unit from the date of receipt of the offer or right of first refusal. If a tenant fails to execute a contract during that period, the declarant may not offer to sell that unit during the following one hundred eighty (180) days at a price or on terms more favorable to the prospective purchaser than the price or terms offered to the tenant without first making the same offer to the tenant, who shall have no less than fifteen (15) days within which to accept the offer. (B) Subsection (A) does not apply to any unit in a conversion condominium if the boundaries of the converted unit do not substantially conform to the dimensions of the unit before conversion; however, where it is available, another unit similar to the preconversion dwelling must be offered to the affected tenant.
Under Evanston, Ill., City Code § 5 § 5-4-4-2, when a residential building is converted to condominiums, tenants living in the affected units gain a right of first purchase during a window that lasts at least 120 days after the notice of intent is delivered, or 30 days after the condominium instruments are filed with the City—whichever period is longer. The declarant (the party converting the building) must offer each tenant either a fixed-price purchase opportunity or the right of first refusal if a third-party buyer submits a bona fide offer. If a tenant does not act within the applicable window, that inaction is treated as a waiver of the purchase right, though additional protections apply if the declarant later tries to sell at more favorable terms within 180 days.
Plain English — not legal advice.
Operators managing a condominium conversion in Evanston should be aware that Evanston, Ill., City Code § 5 § 5-4-4-2 requires the declarant to formally offer each tenant the right to purchase their unit during the prescribed notice period—either as a set-price offer or as a right of first refusal upon receipt of a qualifying third-party offer. Compliant operators typically track the 120-day and 30-day filing deadlines carefully, document each offer and any tenant response or non-response, and refrain from selling a unit on more favorable terms to an outside buyer within 180 days of a tenant's non-acceptance without first re-extending the same terms to that tenant for at least 15 days. Where a unit's dimensions change substantially in the conversion, the provision under § 5-4-4-2(B) shifts the obligation to offering a comparable unit rather than the converted one.
General guidance for property managers — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult an attorney for advice on your case.
Evanston, Ill., City Code § 5 § 5-4-4-2 gives tenants in a building undergoing condominium conversion the right to purchase their own unit before it can be sold to an outside buyer, during a window of at least 120 days from the notice of intent or 30 days after the condominium instruments are filed—whichever is longer. Tenants have 30 days from receipt of a specific offer or right-of-first-refusal notice to execute a purchase contract, and if the declarant later offers the unit to a third party at better terms within 180 days, tenants are entitled to receive that same offer with at least 15 days to accept. Tenants who believe this right has been violated may consider raising the violation with the City of Evanston, consulting a local tenant-rights organization, or exploring whether the issue can be raised as a defense or claim in a legal proceeding.
General guidance for tenants — not legal advice for your specific situation. Consult a tenant-rights organization or attorney for advice on your case.
Generated September 18, 2026 — auto-generated, not yet human-reviewed. See /transparency for methodology.
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