When many people think of Arizona, what comes to mind is stifling desert heat. However, in the wintertime, temperatures can drop significantly, and this cold weather can also impact the health and well-being of residents.
Arizona lawmakers are seeking to protect renters from both kinds of weather extremes with new legislation that would impose standards for indoor air temperatures.
"No Arizonan, no matter where they live, should have to suffer in dangerous heat or cold because their landlord fails to maintain safe living conditions," said Kris Mayes, the state's attorney general, according to KOLD.
"This legislation establishes common-sense protections that recognize that landlords have a responsibility to provide safe and habitable housing even in rural parts of the state," Mayes continued.
While large cities like Phoenix and Tucson already have rental ordinances in place requiring landlords to maintain functioning heat and air-conditioning in rental units, the new legislation would impose similar standards statewide.
The proposed rules would require rental units to maintain a temperature of 68 degrees Fahrenheit or higher during cold spells and to not exceed 82 degrees Fahrenheit during Arizona's scorching summers.
Maintaining safe indoor temperatures is essential to human health, particularly among vulnerable populations such as the elderly.
Local news outlet Arizona's Family has uncovered several instances where landlords allowed residents to go months at a time without functioning AC, leading some individuals to be hospitalized with heat-related illnesses.
"This is a slumlord," Mayes, the state AG, told the outlet, referring to one such landlord.
With extreme weather events, including heat waves, growing more severe around the globe, proposed laws like those under consideration in Arizona will become even more important for maintaining public health.
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$200 or more 💰 However, while minimum heating standards are relatively common, requirements that landlords provide adequate cooling traditionally have been less so. This has left many residents to struggle with stifling summer heat waves without air conditioning.
Policymakers in Arizona have not been alone in trying to change that. For example, in 2025, the Los Angeles City Council introduced a proposal to protect renters from extreme heat.
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