Legislation that would establish statewide housing standards for renters was sent to the House floor Wednesday, marking the first time in several years of attempts that such a measure made it out of committee.
House Bill 1563, by Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould, follows efforts in 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 to pass a "warranty of habitability" law. Each of those bills died in committee.
Arkansas is the only state in the nation without a warranty-of-habitability law for rental housing. That distinction, as well as the state's eviction laws, are pointed to by critics who say Arkansas is one of the worst states for renters.
Under HB1563, landlords would be required to ensure that their units have waterproof roofing and walls, plumbing and heating, hot and cold running water, working locks and fire and carbon monoxide detectors, as well as pest control and overall upkeep to keep tenants safe and healthy.
Gazaway called them "the most basic standards that anyone could expect in 2021."
The House Insurance and Commerce Committee voted 11-6 Wednesday to send the bill to the House floor, after two days of hearings in which landlords decried the bill as government overreach while advocacy groups said it offered essential protections for renters.
"We're setting up an opportunity here to grow big government on the backs of landlords and tenants," said Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, a property manager who has fought past efforts to enact standards on rental properties.
During a hearing last week, one landlord from northeast Arkansas told the committee that he had already sent letters to all of his tenants, promising to raise their rents by $75 to $100 to pay for pest control required under HB1563.
"I'm not going to spray my own houses [for pests] because I might kill someone," said the landlord, Darrel Cook. "So that just raised the rent."
The committee also heard from Vicki Koenig, whose son, Alec, died of carbon monoxide poisoning in his apartment earlier this year.
"It's a great loss with the thought that, a carbon monoxide detector, and I would have my son here today," Koenig said.
Before Wednesday's meeting, Gazaway filed two lengthy amendments that shrank the bill from nearly 20 pages to just three. Among the segments removed was an overhaul of eviction codes and language that would have allowed renters to make their own repairs and deduct the charges from their rent.
The latest amendment to the bill, added Wednesday, would exempt small "mom and pop" landlords who own fewer than five units from having to meet the minimum standards. Tenants would have to be current on rent in order to seek remedies for substandard housing.
"For most of the good landlords, if this passes, it wouldn't even affect them," Gazaway said.
The bill faces an uphill battle in the majority-Republican House. Three Republicans, including Gazaway, joined the committee's Democrats to advance HB1563.
Meanwhile, legislation was filed Wednesday by Sen. Jonathan Dismang, R-Beebe, and Rep. Spencer Hawks, R-Conway, that would create an implied warranty of habitability with fewer minimum standards than Gazaway's bill.
House Bill 1769 would require that most rental housing be equipped with running hot and cold water, electricity, drinking water, access to a sewage system and a "functioning" roof, and heat and air conditioning system. If a unit does not meet those standards, and the tenant does not owe back rent, they would be able to break the lease without penalty. Dismang said Wednesday that the bill was drafted as an "alternative" in the event that Gazaway's bill is unsuccessful.