By Susan Brenton, Arizona OHA Executive Director and Legislative Liaison
Although Arizona’s legislative session is supposed to be 90 days long according to the state Constitution, this year’s lasted 178 days. A total of 1,724 bills were brought up by our 90 legislators (60 Representatives and 30 Senators). Of this total, 439 were passed by the House of Representatives and Senate and forwarded to the Governor for her approval. Of those 439, the Governor vetoed 174 and signed 265 into law.
The following bills will go into effect September 26, 2025, unless otherwise stated.
For all of our members, there were a couple of good laws that passed:
Assistance Animals: For those of you who fall under the state Fair Housing Laws (please check with your attorney), this bill states that, notwithstanding any other law, a landlord is not liable for injuries caused by an assistance animal. An “assistance animal” includes an emotional support animal.
On-site Wastewater Treatment; General Permit: This bill which was passed and signed the the Governor requires the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) to issue by rule a general permit for a defined class of facilities provided certain listed criteria are met. It adds that a liquid effluent collection system pursuant to state law counts as a wastewater treatment facility and that until revised rules are in place for onsite water treatment facilities with a minimum design flow of three thousand gallons per day that does not exceed seventy-five thousand gallons per day. The facility may discharge under a general permit if the facility complies with general permit rules that are in effect on the effective date of this legislation and the facility is operated by a service provider that is certified by the technology manufacturer. It was assumed this rule would have been adopted by now, but ADEQ has not yet written anything. Arizona OHA supported this legislation.
Small Claims Court; Jurisdictional limit: Senate Bill 1022 will increase the fiscal amount that qualifies as a dispute falling under the jurisdiction of Small Claims Court to $7,500 or less (formerly $3,500 or less).
For those members who fall under the state RV Long-Term Rental Space Act (park model resorts and long-term stays), the following bill will apply:
RV’s; Cooling: This bill is already in affect, since the Governor signed it and it had an effective immediately clause. It prohibits the landlord of a long-term rental RV space from not allowing a tenant to install reasonably necessary cooling methods on their RV. It does not define “reasonably necessary cooling methods.” This same legislation passed last year regarding mobile home parks, but to date we have heard of no issues with it, although the mobile home owners’ representatives were accused of being okay with just letting people die in the Arizona heat. If you have someone in your park who does have an air conditioning problems and wants to install a window unit or such, please be sure it meets your electrical system requirements, noise requirements (does not affect their neighbors’ “peaceful enjoyment of the property”) and perhaps offer other alternatives such as room air conditioners or coolers. Please let Arizona OHA know if you do have any issues.
Often, most important are the laws that DID NOT pass, such as:
Rent Control and more Requirements to Evict a Guest: Again this year we saw several rent control bills (limiting what could be charged, allowing the individual cities and towns to pass rent control) and proposals which would have lengthened the eviction process and make it hard to evict a bad guest. Luckily, none of these got a hearing.
Summer Heat: Senate Bill 1544, as introduced, would have only affected apartments, but Arizona OHA watches these bills as it is easy to add rentals (such as Glamping, park model and cabin rentals) to the proposed law as it is being considered by the legislature. This bill would have prohibited a landlord from attempting to evict a tenant during any week in which the outdoor temperature reached 90 degrees or higher during two or more days in the week.
Tenant’s Use of Marijuana: House Bill 2904 started as a bill only affecting apartments, but Arizona OHA was monitoring it. Had it passed and gone into law, it would have prohibited a landlord from terminating a lease for use of marijuana. Our big objection was that it did not allow a landlord to limit where a person could use marijuana, such as in the clubhouse, laundry room and other public locations.
Landlord Tenant Violations: Attorney General: House Bill 2781 would have designated a violation of the Arizona Landlord Tenant Act as an unlawful practice, pursuant to state law and would have permitted the Arizona Attorney General to investigate the violation to the fullest extent the law allows, including as a violation of civil rights. Our industry is already seeing the Attorney General investigating violations of the RV Act claiming they fall under the consumer protection laws. If this law had passed, it would have really clarified the Attorney General’s practices.