Arizona budget adds funding for eviction prevention

Arizona renters facing eviction may be able to receive assistance from the state in the new fiscal year. The newly approved state budget allocates $4 million to the Arizona Department of Economic Security to assist renters with housing or utility expenses, or legal aid resources.

“I wish it would have been more money for eviction prevention, but it’s a good start,” said Rep. Betty Villegas, a Tucson Democrat who formerly worked as a housing program manager in Pima County.

Maricopa County saw a record number of eviction filings last year. Population growth, a shortage of affordable housing, and a swift legal process for evictions in the state are driving the trend.

Arizona’s Department of Economic Security has managed a rental assistance program in the past, with pandemic-era federal funding that has since expired. According to the DES website, the department stopped accepting applications for that program in August 2024.

But Villegas said she’s hopeful that, since the Department of Economic Security has experience with this type of assistance program, the state will be in a good position to get new funds distributed quickly.

“The issue is, how do you keep someone from being evicted? And the way that our landlord-tenant laws are, there’s not a lot of time,” Villegas said.

Villegas said other challenges to Arizona’s affordable housing shortage remain. She noted the new budget does not include any new funding for the Arizona Department of Housing and does not extend a state tax credit for low-income housing development.