Bill requires maintenance requirements for landlords

An Arkansas lawmaker filed a bill Thursday to require landlords to keep rental properties safe for occupancy. Similar bills have failed at least six times since 2005.

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould, sets minimum standards for landlords across the state to maintain properties, and it outlines 10 parts of a home landlords must “provide and maintain in good working order.”

Arkansas is the only state in the country without a law of this type, called an “implied warranty of habitability” law. Tenants-rights advocates say the lack of such a law is one factor making Arkansas the worst place to rent in the country.

“It’s an issue that we need to take up in Arkansas,” Gazaway said. “I don’t think it’s a distinction that we should want to have — to be the only state in the country that doesn’t have an implied warranty of habitability.”

Gazaway’s bill outlines several building components landlords would be required to keep in working order, including locks, plumbing, electrical wiring, air conditioning and running water. It also states walls, floors, ceiling and stairs must be structurally sound and the roof, exterior walls and windows must be waterproof.

If landlords don’t comply, tenants can terminate their leases or continue with the rental agreement, according to the bill. Tenants who choose to stay in the house would have a few options, such as suing the landlord for damages as long as they pay the rent amount to the court while the litigation is pending, or they can make the repairs themselves and deduct the cost of the repairs from the rent.

The bill also excuses landlords from responsibility to make repairs if a tenant causes the problem with the property, and it doesn’t prohibit landlords from getting their property back from tenants who don’t pay rent.

Gazaway said he worked to make the bill not “unduly burdensome” on landlords while still giving protection to tenants.

Currently, Arkansas renters in municipalities with city codes can submit complaints to the code enforcement department, but there often aren’t protections against landlord retaliation for tenants who complain.

Gazaway’s bill prohibits landlord retaliation such as

rent increases or eviction if tenants complain.

For residents in rural Arkansas where there is no city code, there isn’t much legal recourse for renters if landlords don’t maintain their properties.

Neil Sealy, director of Arkansas Community Organizations, said his group and others have been working for years to get an implied warranty of habitability law passed. The group, which promotes the rights of low-income people and the working class, helped conduct a study in 2017 that linked subpar housing conditions in Arkansas to poor health outcomes, including respiratory issues, for residents.

“The conditions in so many housing developments are deplorable,” Sealy said. “And we need a bill that will set safety and health standards. … This will go a long way towards balancing our out-of-balance landlord-tenant laws in the state.”

Gazaway’s bill would be an amendment to a 2007 law that Arkansas passed to set up the landlord-tenant relationship. The 2007 law was Arkansas’ version of a recommended law from the Uniform Law Commission.

Twenty-one states passed laws based on the recommendation, but the 2007 Arkansas Legislature removed requirements for minimum housing standards.

Separately proposed bills — in 2005, 2007, 2013, 2015 and two in 2017 — usually died in committee. The 2007 bill was withdrawn by the sponsor, and the 2005 bill failed in the House.

Advocates and former bill sponsors said the legislation has been opposed by the Arkansas Realtors Association.

The group’s political action committee donated nearly $6 million to political campaigns in Arkansas from 2009-17, according to publicly available PAC records. The campaigns were for local municipalities, state legislators and constitutional offices.

Gazaway said after he filed the bill, he got a call from a representative for Realtors saying they would work with him on the bill.