PHOENIX (AP) - Arizona landlords can have a tenant’s houseguest removed by police without notice under a new bill Gov. Doug Ducey signed into law Monday.
Sen. Gail Griffin, R-Hereford, says her bill asserts a landlord’s power to evict someone who is not a tenant. Opponents say the bill would allow landlords to kick out guests for arbitrary reasons.
Griffin said the bill stems from a case in her district where a tenant and a landlord could not get rid of an unwanted guest. Police told the landlord the unwanted guest had taken up residency and could not be removed, she said.
“All written leases are different, and we’ve had some issues with people not leaving when asked by the tenant or the landlord,” she said in a recent interview.
Senate Bill 1185 gives landlords the right to have any guest not named on the written lease who does not have permission from the landlord to be removed at either the tenant’s or the landlord’s request.
Griffin said that if the guests want to stay for an extended period of time they should sign onto the lease. Otherwise, the landlord reserves the right to kick them out. She added the length of a guest’s stay is usually outlined in a lease agreement.
“It wouldn’t apply to someone coming over for dinner,” Griffin said.
Advocates for the rights of low-income Arizona residents, including the William E. Morris Institute for Justice, disagree.
“The institute’s understanding of Senate Bill 1185 is that it will allow a landlord to seek removal of any guest who the landlord does not want on the premises no matter what the reason or circumstance,” said Ellen Katz, the institute’s litigation director.
Katz said landlords can already give notice to tenants and evict them if they or their guests are in violation of the lease or the landlord’s rules.
She also said the bill would allow landlords to evict residents without going through a legal process, a move that would erode protections under the Arizona Residential Landlord and Tenant Act.
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