On July 6th, 2022, Governor Ducey signed Senate Bill 1168 (SB 1168). Sponsored by Senator Mesnard and Representative Kaiser, SB 1168 provides common sense solutions to problems most frequently cited by Arizona’s local governments seeking to restrict short-term rentals. This bill strikes a fair balance by addressing nuisance concerns while still protecting property rights.  

Though these changes will take some time to implement for one Chandler family it cannot come too soon. In mid-July they were awakened by the sound of gun shots and broken glass.  The occupants renting the Air BnB next door got into a gun fight with someone on the street. There were people outside firing an AK-47, spraying bullets all over the surrounding houses, while the house occupants were firing back with handguns. Two neighboring houses were shot including one that was struck by at least a dozen bullets. One bullet was only a few feet above the bed where their son was sleeping. The police were called but the occupants, who were all very young around 18 to 19 years old, denied knowing the people on the street. The person that rented the property was not at the property and had never been to the property. She just rented it for the kids to use. Hmmm.  Hopefully Air BnB will ban both the person who made the reservation and the owner who did not make sure to check the background of the people who would actually be residing in the house. The Phoenix police department has had so many issues with short term rentals that they have set up a department just to handle the issues.

SB 1168:  
Preserves the existing preemption in state statute that prohibits cities and counties from banning or overregulating short-term rentals;
Provides narrow authority for localities to license short-term rentals and revoke licenses of repeat bad actors for up to one year;
Creates new tools to help cities target habitual offenders without disrupting responsible operators;
Allows localities to establish best-practices for short-term rental operation without overburdening homeowners.

SB 1168 received broad, bipartisan support in both chambers of the Arizona Legislature and from stakeholders across the short-term rental industry. This bill now awaits Governor Doug Ducey’s signature.