FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Fayetteville City Council passed an ordinance to cap fees on background checks and applications for renters during a meeting on Oct. 15.
Sarah Moore, a councilmember for Fayetteville's Ward 2, introduced the ordinance and spoke to 5NEWS ahead of the meeting about what a decision like this could mean for renters in the city.
"It's been a journey for me. Over this last year, I've gone to a lot of community meetings, doing a lot of listening, hearing stories of individuals about what it's been like to have an experience in Fayetteville as you've sought out different rental properties or different housing solutions," Moore said.
The ordinance caps background check and application fees at $40 per property and ensures that a refund be issued if a background check isn't run.
The ordinance passed allows for a 90-day delay period for necessary system or process changes, during which the mayor is asked to communicate to the public and property owners the new changes.
The councilmember explained that as she listened to what Fayetteville residents had to say about renting and said she continued to hear about the issues they faced when applying.
"I heard of the burdensome time that folks were having that they would go and apply for multiple rentals, and we have such a tight housing market," Moore said. "Individuals were out several $100 easily by applying to many rentals with the hopes that they would secure one rental."
Moore said the ordinance would give people certainty that there would be transparency during the application process and was formed after thorough surveys.
"I surveyed properties and found that you might have individuals' properties that charge nothing. You might have some that charge $75, there might be someone that charges over $200 so you know, they're kind of all over the board, but of the over 30 that responded to the survey, I heard from about 46% that responded that they charged $40 or less," Moore said.
Moore said this legislation is potentially the first of its kind in Arkansas, and that other cities in the state can look to Fayetteville as a "beacon," adding that a cap on fees is important as there has been "a huge escalation in rental prices in the market."
"I see this as an opportunity for Fayetteville to really lead in Arkansas, to really show what's possible. You know, it's a very small first step. I think we have a lot more work to do. I think there's additional conversations to be had about, you know, how do we live in community together, where we all can thrive," Moore said.
The legislation comes as the city tackles a housing crisis, which was formally declared in April 2024.
Moore said she hopes the city now has a good foundation to build on in terms of fighting the housing crisis.
"The housing crisis disproportionately affects certain parts of our population, and people who might have some kind of criminal history, people who have had evictions, folks you know that oftentimes, are some of our lowest income earners, and so, you know they're already struggling oftentimes, to say within our city, they have the most to lose," Moore said.
"They have the least amount of disposable income," Moore continued. "There are folks that don't have $100 for an incident that comes up unexpectedly, but yet, when they are faced with each year potentially looking for new housing, they're out several $100 depending on how big their household is."
Moore referred to the fees as "junk fees," or unexpected costs that are burdening households. She said that tonight's vote is the first step of many.
"It's a neat first step that we could take tonight towards showing the type of opportunity that Fayetteville has been for so many, but it's become increasingly harder to be that opportunity, and so I'm looking forward to us taking that first step and really showing the state what's possible," Moore said.
James Jones, a long time Fayetteville resident, told 5NEWS that he feels renting has gotten worse in the city, and that he has experienced firsthand the effect junk fees can have.
"I spent about $1,500 before just looking for apartments, and every time you get denied, there's no 'hey, if we deny you, we'll refund your money.' There is nothing like that," Jones said.
Jones said he showed up because he is in support of what he calls a housing renaissance, and he feels like this vote could be that start of that.
The ordinance for application fee and background fee caps passed 5-2. Discussion began around 11:45 p.m. and ended around 12:45 a.m.
Bob Stafford, D'Andre Jones, Sarah Moore, Mike Wiederkehr, and Sarah Bunch voted in favor, while Holly Hertzberg and Scott Berna voted against.
Teresa Turk was not present during that part of the meeting.
Berna cited fear that it could hurt renters and could put a bullseye on Fayetteville from the state.
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