Fayetteville city council cuts costs associated with renting

UPDATE: At approximately 12:45 a.m., the Fayetteville city council approved the ordinance to impose caps on rental application and background check fees. According to the legislative text, the ordinance will go into effect in 90 days.

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — The city of Fayetteville is growing at an exponential rate. According to the Mayor’s Housing Crisis Task Force, more than 11 people move to Fayetteville each day, or about 4,000 per year.

However, finding a place to live at a reasonable price is a struggle that many find themselves experiencing.

James Jones is a long-time Fayetteville resident, having lived in the city for more than 27 years. He says after a mistake he made when he was young, he’s had a hard time finding a place to call home.

“I have a almost 18 year old felony and a previous eviction that I’m getting denied for now,” Jones said.

Jones says he’s applied to many rentals in the area. At one point, it cost him hundreds of dollars.

“At one point, I spent $1,500 just looking, Jones said.”

According to Jones, he’s found the rental process to even be dehumanizing at times.

“It’s dehumanizing, to say the least. You get up and, you know, the only place you got to sleep is your car…you get off work, you go to sleep in your car, you get up to do everything that you got to do to take your daughter to school and everything. Then you go to the gym that you paid for so that you could go and take a shower and feel like an actual human being,” Jones said.

For renters like Jones, some relief is coming soon.

Arkansas Renters United , in partnership with Fayetteville council member Sarah Moore, has presented legislation to the city council that aims to cap the costs of rental application fees and background checks.

“The city council tonight is going to be hearing an ordinance, probably the first of its kind in our state to cut down burdensome costs for renters that are looking for an apartment here in the city by capping application fees that apartments can charge, and capping the background check portion of those fees as well,” said Billy Cook, organizer with Arkansas Renters United.

According to the legislative text, “a landlord or property manager shall not charge a potential tenant a rental application fee and/or a background check fee that exceeds the actual cost of processing the application, and in no case shall it exceed $20.” It also states, “A landlord or property manager shall not charge a potential tenant a background check fee that exceeds the actual cost of conducting the background check, and in no case shall it exceed $50.”

Further, the text states that renters should be allowed to re-use a background check for up to 90 days.

According to Cook, legislation like what was proposed at Tuesday’s council meeting could put a small dent in a city-wide issue.

“There’s not going to be a single silver bullet that solves our housing crisis. But every ordinance and resolution that’s passed to help everyday people without renters in our city, it will go a long way at solving our housing crisis,” said Jones.

Jones says many others like him have experienced headaches through the rental process, so it’s a measure that he wishes came sooner.

“It just, it gets so discouraging, you know, day after day, you get apartment after apartment after apartment saying, no, we can’t rent to you,” Jones said.

You can read the ordinance in its entirety below.

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