In July, the Arizona Legislature passed a law which would allow cities to establish a permitting process for landlords hosting short-term rentals.

This law, Senate Bill 1168, is designed to hold landlords accountable and prevent parties that get out of hand. The law did not mandate the permitting process. Instead It gave individual cities the option to create a permit for short-term home rentals. Cities like Scottsdale have taken advantage. Now Mesa is joining the list.

This week, the Mesa City Council council approved an ordinance that would allow the launch of a permitting process by February of next year. The permitting process consists of an application that will collect important information about the rental.

Tim Meyer, the Business Licensing and Revenue Collections administrator, says, “It should be a pretty straightforward application getting us the information that we need so that we can contact their owner and designee if needed and know which rentals are out there and their tax numbers.”

The move is targeted at landlords who rent their homes as so-called party homes. Part of the permitting process requires informing neighbors that one's home will be used as a short-term rental. The city estimates between 2,000 and 3,000 rentals will be affected by this change

“I think its just one of those things where If you are going to develop a law that is going to affect people, you want to make get something that is going to work well for the renters and residents so that we are being as fair as we can to everybody," Meyer said.

Meyer says there will be a cost to apply; the proposed cost is $250, but it has not been approved. The revenue will help the Arizona General Fund. There will be a 60-day comment period from the Public. The law will go into effect on Feb. 1, 2023.

“I look forward to the success of this for renters and the landlords and the neighbors. I think this is going to be a good thing for everyone,” Meyer said.