Tempe council forms tenants and rental-properties subcommittee to study rent-stabilization and right-to-counsel

Tempe's City Council agreed to form a tenants and rental properties subcommittee after Councilmember Nichols outlined a package of policies aimed at preventing homelessness and addressing rental affordability.

Nichols told the council the subcommittee will examine a set of policy frameworks "including rent stabilization, tenant right to counsel, resources for tenant organizing, extreme weather eviction moratoriums, and public housing" and said the group would evaluate their "potential effectiveness, legality, and applicability." He said Mayor Corey Woods and Councilmember Randy Keating had agreed to join the panel. Public commenters voiced support: Tempe resident Finn Howe said, "I wanna voice my support for the creation of the subcommittee on tenants and rental properties," and cited the city's housing inventory analysis showing a 25% increase in real median gross rent from 2012 to 2022.

The council gave consensus to move the subcommittee forward rather than holding a formal roll-call vote during the work study session. Nichols described the effort as a proactive, prevention-focused approach that could include exploring a rent stabilization commission that would "regulate rents for all city owned, financed, insured, or subsidized rental units in Tempe," right-to-counsel programs for tenants facing eviction, and resources to support tenant organizing. No schedule for formal recommendations was specified during the discussion; Nichols will lead formation and the council will receive future updates as the subcommittee meets.