In October, the Fayetteville City Council passed ordinance 6800, which caps the amount a landlord can charge prospective tenants for application and background check fees to $40 - $20 for applications with no background check. The rule, which would be the first of its kind in Arkansas, was introduced by Ward 2 council member Sarah Moore, who says these fees are predatory and can sometimes be as much as $250.
While the law was set to go into effect on January 13th, last week, the city's attorney, Kit Williams, sent a memo to the council asking for the ordinance to be repealed because he believes it could run afoul of state law that prohibits a municipal government from regulating the cost of goods, rentals and services. Last night, the city voted 7-0 to push the rule's effective date back to March 31.
Sarah Moore spoke with Ozarks at Large last week about the ordinance, that conversation took place before this change.
