The Little Rock Board of Directors passed an ordinance codifying a list of tenants’ rights at its Tuesday meeting.
Sponsored by City Director Antwan Phillips, the ordinance largely matches a state law passed in 2021. Both measures require landlords to provide hot and cold water, electricity, plumbing, heating and air conditioning, a functioning roof and general maintenance. Violators of the Little Rock ordinance could face fines of up to $1000 or $500 a day for continuous offenses.
The list of tenants’ rights applies to all multifamily housing units in Little Rock.
City Director Joan Adcock gave the only audible “no” vote. Director Ken Richardson was absent.
Before the vote, renters and housing advocates got a chance to voice support for the ordinance as a starting point for further protections. They also shared concerns about enforcement.
Neil Sealy, housing advocate and executive director of Arkansas Community Organizations, told city directors the ordinance is good for bringing attention to tenant’s rights but doesn’t add any protections that weren’t already there.
Sealy also questioned whether Little Rock’s protections for renters would be properly enforced.
“We’re not going to solve this by passing another ordinance that we’re not going to enforce,” he said. “I think that that’s very, very key. This may be a step, but it’s not the only step we want you to take.”
Sealy urged the board to protect tenants who report code violations from retaliation from landlords, and to declare a housing crisis in Little Rock.
“Here we have a serious habitability crisis and we need to declare it as such,” Sealy said.
Two tenants from Autumn Park Apartments spoke to the board about serious habitability concerns at the apartment complex they hope the new Little Rock ordinance will address.
“I’m here today to let you all know that we really need help in Autumn Park Apartments,” said Nitia Johnson, an Autumn Park resident. “We have the poorest living conditions I’ve ever lived in.”
“I’ve been out of air conditioning for a year and a half now,” Johnson said. “They haven’t come and fixed my air conditioning unit. They won’t give me a window unit to put in there and I have a 10-year-old child.
“The plumbing has been backed up and there’s been many times where the sewage has come through my sink or my bathroom tub.”
Johnson said the apartment complex frequently shuts off the water and she’s had to stay in hotels or with family.
“Instead of them prorating the rent because of what we’re going through, they’ve decided to raise the rent an extra $180,” Johnson said.
Otis Green, another Autumn Park tenant, said the city has inspected the property before but “failed to find issues that are still happening.”
While renters and their advocates made some measurable headway at Tuesday’s meeting, a group hoping city leaders will support a permanent ceasefire in Palestine haven’t yet been able to get their resolution to a vote.
Dozens of people came to a city board’s April meeting to request a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war. Members of the group came back Tuesday to ask again.
Tristine Lam, a resident at Snell Prosthetics and Orthotics, read the resolution to the board. Several others, including Hadeel Abuelhaja, a Palestinian refugee and organizer, expressed their support for the resolution. Multiple speakers compared it to a resolution the city board unanimously passed in 2022 expressing its support for Ukraine.
None of the city directors sponsored the resolution, though, and it was not added to the agenda for a vote.