Manuelita Beck is a journalist with nearly two decades of experience in digital transformation, editing, and multimedia production.
An Arizona group says state lawmakers need to do something about high rents – or pay the price in November’s election.Our Voice, Our Vote Arizona launched “Rent Is Rigged,” a statewide campaign Monday to push for rent stabilization, increased transparency in how corporate landlords set rental prices and strengthened protections against rental fees and evictions.
“We are living in a system where corporate landlords have consolidated power, where protection for renters are weak and where state laws block communities from being able to respond,” said Sena Mohammed, the group’s executive director.Marcus Dukes, a Tempe renter and Our Voice, Our Vote member, said he’s seen rents skyrocket since he moved to metro Phoenix 13 years ago. One bedrooms that used to go for $600 are now $1,100 or $1,200, he said.“I really would like to see the lawmakers step in and hold the corporations accountable for this rent increase,” he said.House Minority Leader Oscar De Los Santos introduced legislation banning algorithm-set rents – such as the rental management software Attorney General Kris Mayes sued over two years ago – but House Bill 2490 never got a hearing. His bill to crack down on out-of-state corporate ownership of rental units also failed.“That is a moral travesty, that in the wealthiest nation in the history of humanity, thousands of families are being pushed out into the streets simply because corporations want to line their pockets even further,” said De Los Santos, a Democrat who represents Legislative District 11.Even bipartisan proposals on housing face long odds at the state Capitol.Take House Bill 2682, which would create a $5 million statewide rental assistance program in the Department of Economic Security.Despite Republican co-sponsors and the backing of the Arizona Multihousing Association, an influential landlord group, the bill failed to advance to a floor vote.“Rent is rigged,” Mohammed said. “It's rigged when housing costs rise faster than people's incomes.”Every seat in the Legislature is up for election this year, and Mohammed told ABC15 state lawmakers need to address high rents to win.'They have to commit to ensuring that housing affordability is a top priority for them,” she said.
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