Rental housing standards bill falls one vote short

A heavily revised bill that would set minimum standards for rental housing statewide will get another vote after coming up one short in an Arkansas House committee meeting Monday.

Ten legislators voted for the bill, but some weren’t at the meeting, so the committee will vote again. The bill needed 11 votes to pass.

Arkansas is the only state without a law, called an “implied warranty of habitability,” that sets statewide rental housing standards. Landlords who own rental housing in municipalities with city codes must abide by those codes.

For renters in rural areas or cities without codes, there is little recourse available if a landlord refuses to repair a home.

Rep. Jimmy Gazaway, R-Paragould, proposed the bill in early February and revised it at least twice at the request of the Arkansas Realtors Association, he said.

“There’s not a perfect bill. I’ve tried, and I’m not sure that it makes anybody happy, but ultimately it moves the ball forward,” Gazaway said.

Revisions include an addition that says a landlord who can’t repair a property because of “acts of God,” or circumstances “outside a landlord’s control,” is not obligated to comply.

Landlords also would not be required to maintain smoke or carbon monoxide detectors, but they couldn’t prevent the tenant from getting them professionally installed, according to the bill.

The bill still includes some protections against retaliation by landlords, but the language is weaker, several supporters of the original bill said.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette has previously reported on landlords who threatened to evict or raise the rent for tenants who complained. Originally, the bill made several references to the safety of tenants, and allowed renters to take action, such as terminating their leases, based on negative effects of subpar housing to their “health and safety.”

But all of that language was removed to avoid a judge interpreting the bill differently than it was intended and causing a landlord to have to pay damages, Gazaway said. The “health and safety” phrase was replaced with the phrase “materially affected.”

Bill Woodall, a member of the public who spoke to the committee, said he wasn’t sure whether he still supported the bill, although he had at the start of the process.

“Taking the word ‘safety’ out I think takes much of the bill and throws it away,” Woodall said.

Rep. Charles Blake, D-Little Rock, who made the motion to pass the bill, said that, although he thought earlier versions of the bill were stronger, he still supports the latest version.

“I think it’s better than what we have now,” Blake said.

He added that when all the members are in attendance, he’s hopeful that it will pass.

Housing advocates, a pediatrician and a representative from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville’s Associated Student Government spoke in favor of the bill.

Several landlords spoke against it. No one from the Realtors Association spoke to the committee.

“I feel like with you passing this bill, you’re taking away some of my rights,” said Darrel Cook, a Jonesboro landlord. “… There’s a lot of good landlords. There’s a lot of bad tenants.”

Rep. DeAnn Vaught, R-Horatio, pressed Cook on the issue.

“If it was your mom in a house that wasn’t safe or couldn’t be heated, couldn’t be cooled, would you feel differently about this bill?,” she asked.

“I would work two jobs to get my mom out of that house,” Cook replied.

“Some people don’t have that option,” an audience member said from the crowd.

Legislators have tried to pass similar bills for years, dating back to 2005, but each attempt has failed. Previous sponsors have pointed to the influence of the Realtors Association, a group that gives money to local, state and federal politicians’ campaigns.

Amy Pritchard, a University of Arkansas at Little Rock law professor and housing advocate, said the latest attempt to pass the bill has drawn the most legislative conversation and public awareness of any attempt in recent years.

Gazaway said that after the most recent round of changes, the association did not support or oppose the bill.

After the first committee meeting in early March, when the Realtors Association opposed the bill, Gazaway agreed to take it back for amendments.

Then, at the next committee meeting, Rep. Robin Lundstrum, R-Elm Springs, offered a do-not-pass motion on the bill.

“We have had this one on the agenda now for six weeks, since Feb. 7,” Lundstrum said last week. “This has been an issue that’s been over and over and over, and at this point I think it’s time to vote on this bill.”

Representatives did not vote on Lundstrum’s motion after opposition from other members who said Gazaway had been told there wouldn’t be a vote.

“The sponsor of the bill pulled down the bill to do the amendments that we asked for,” Vaught said.

In a later interview, Lundstrum said she recommended a do-not-pass because she thought the bill would raise rent prices and contribute to a “growing government.”

The committee is scheduled to meet again Wednesday, but Gazaway said he wasn’t sure if he would push the bill then or later in the session.

Some housing and tenant advocates sat in the committee room for close to three hours before Monday’s meeting, which began 15 minutes after the House adjourned for the day. A few stood outside the committee room, holding signs with excerpts from the National Association of Realtors Code of Ethics and Standards.

“Realtors shall, consistent with the terms and conditions of their real estate licensure and their property management agreement, competently manage the property of clients with due regard for the rights, safety and health of tenants and others lawfully on the premises,” the sign read.

Underneath, the advocates had written “Except for Arkansas?” in marker.