Crime-free lease addendum raises evictions, doesn’t cut crime rates

An investigation by “The Arizona Republic” found landlords have used the crime-free lease addendum to evict tenants based on an accusation alone, without a criminal charge, conviction or even a crime.

Kerri Rollyson, a single mother in Scottsdale, was shocked when she faced an immediate eviction for a crime she did not commit. But the worst news came the day after the eviction notice was posted on her door in August 2024: She would also lose the federal housing assistance she relied on to pay her rent.

The first-of-its kind analysis in Arizona found crime-free housing policies fail to reduce crime at all, increase evictions by 39% and disproportionately affecting low-income and minority renters. As a result of this investigation by “The Arizona Republic,” multiple Arizona lawmakers are calling for change on this issue, and the Attorney General’s office has a subcommittee working on it as well.

Hannah Dreyfus, an investigative reporter for “The Arizona Republic,” joined “Arizona Horizon” to discuss the report and what changes may happen to state laws on the addendum.

Dreyfus started her investigation on the crime-free lease addendum, which is gives landlords the right to evict a tenant on just a vague suspicion of a crime happening on property. “That’s a document added to almost all rental agreements here in Arizona,” Dreyfus said.

But the impacts of just being accused of a crime go far beyond just facing an eviction: lease signers could lose out on federal housing assistance from a single accusation raised by a landlord.

“Folks wait for federal housing assistance, through federal vouchers, for years,” Dreyfus said. “If someone is accused by their landlord of a crime, not only do they lose their housing, but they are immediately kicked off the program that most of these people have waited years, years to receive.”