By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Daily Star
The state Senate voted Wednesday to bar cities and towns from enacting any new regulations and restrictions on landlords.
The preliminary approval of HB 2115 came after Sen. David Farnsworth, R-Mesa, said the state Landlord-Tenant Act, first adopted nearly 50 years ago, “works quite well.” More to the point, he said, it helps tenants avoid confusion about what the law is when they move from one city to another.
But the preemption was sought not by tenant rights groups but by the Arizona Multihousing Association, an organization that represents landlords, in a bid to keep city councils and county supervisors from enacting mandates on them that are not required under state law.