Arizona GOP Lawmakers Move To Make It Easier For Landlords To Evict Tenants
Download mp3 (7.15 MB)Arizona's Republican lawmakers plan to shut the door on cities and towns wanting to protect home renters from landlord evictions.
With the passage of two bills on Monday, GOP members with the Senate Government Committee set out to, firstly, make it illegal for cities and towns to pass local regulations, then approved tenant evictions by landlords regardless of good faith attempts to make partial payments by either the tenant, an outside social service or church.
"The fact that different cities have different regulations is a good thing," Alex Vidal, with the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, tried to warn the committee.
Drawing an example between Yuma and Phoenix, he told the committee, "the heat might be a big concern so ... they might want to put something in requiring air conditioning and a specific temperature that you need to keep it."
He also told lawmakers that their decision comes as Arizona's affordable housing supply has fallen to the third worst in the nation.
Both bills head to the full state Senate for a vote.
Ken Strobeck, the executive director of the League of Arizona Cities and Towns, is an opposing voice and joined The Show to explain why.
