Proposed rules to protect tenants after summer heatwave

After one other record-breaking hot summer within the United States, lawmakers are considering renter protections to keep tenants protected from extreme and infrequently deadly heat.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, heat-related deaths within the country greater than doubled between 1999 and 2023, with greater than 21,500 deaths reported during that point period. The study, published within the medical journal reflected year-on-year growth since 2016, reports.

The Tenant Union Federation, a national “union of trade unions,” was launched in August. The organization has played a key role in advocating for change, starting with tenant protection laws that require maximum indoor temperatures on hot days.

“Things change because they have to; something has to change,” said Tara Raghuveer, founding director of the Tenant Union Federation. “The crisis situation in our homes has reached a level that is basically unsustainable.”

A 2023 report revealed that black New Yorkers “have an age-adjusted mortality rate from heat stress that is twice as high as white New Yorkers,” suggesting that that is greater than only a climate problem, but one which is reportedly has its roots in systemic racism.

In July, New York City Council member Lincoln Restler, who represents parts of Brooklyn’s inner-city neighborhoods, proposed laws requiring landlords to install and maintain air con in all rental units. Under the bill, the temperature contained in the units must remain below 78 degrees between mid-June and mid-September when the surface temperature exceeds 81 degrees. If the bill becomes law, landlords would have 4 years to replace their units or face fines of up to $1,120 per day for noncompliance.

Similarly, in Los Angeles, county officials in January approved a proposal to create a law establishing a “maximum safe temperature threshold” requiring rental units to be “cooling ready,” allowing residents to install their very own units.

The recent heat wave in Southern California he broke his previous record consecutive days of 46 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit), which occurred on September 5 and 6, 2020, and these temperatures caused power outages and college closures.

Currently, warmer parts of the country, including the cities of Dallas and Houston in Texas, Montgomery County in Maryland, and Palm Springs in California, have laws requiring property owners to “provide adequate cooling so that the temperature does not exceed a threshold,” which ranges from 80 to 85 degrees.

In Phoenix, property owners are required to repair air con units inside 10 days of receiving a written grievance from tenants.

While some landlord groups oppose the proposed maximum temperatures, citing that the prices of putting in cooling systems could prompt them to raise rent and even evict landlords who cannot afford the changes, other groups say they are usually not opposed.

Instead, their concerns are in regards to the proposed timelines for completing these activities.

“The more debatable question is, ‘Realistically, what is possible and reasonable for landlords to do during this time?’” said Alexandra Alvarado, director of promoting and education for the American Apartment Owners Association. “The other aspect is whether a landlord can bill a tenant for utilities.”

Today, air con is present in about 90% of American homes, which suggests that about 35 million people live without it. A recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that those without air con are likely to be older, come from lower-income families and are usually not white.