Residents of Buenas Apartments on 27th Avenue in North Phoenix say they received letters announcing rent increases of hundreds of dollars, and some tenants who couldn't keep up were handed five-day eviction notices soon after. The sudden hikes have left longtime renters at the 72-unit complex scrambling to figure out their next move.
The situation was first reported by FOX 10 Phoenix, whose Andrew Christiansen detailed the letter residents received laying out the new rent terms. Buenas Apartments, a two-story, 72-unit property built in 1974 and located at 7232 N 27th Ave, offers one- and two-bedroom floor plans, according to Apartments.com. For renters on month-to-month agreements there, the law requires only 30 days' written notice before a landlord can raise rent or change lease terms, per Arizona Revised Statutes § 33-1375(B) as outlined by DocDraft.
Under Arizona Revised Statutes § 33-1368(B), landlords must first issue a formal five-day notice demanding full payment of past-due rent before they can move forward with an eviction lawsuit, according to AZCourtHelp.org. That means tenants who can't cover the new, higher rent amount within five days of the notice can find themselves facing a special detainer action in court as soon as the sixth day.
No Local Power to Cap the Increases
Rent Increases and Tenant Choices Rent increases can leave tenants weighing whether they can afford to stay.
That legal landscape has helped fuel one of the worst eviction crises in the country. Maricopa County Justice Courts recorded 84,833 eviction filings in 2025, following 87,197 filings in 2024, according to Phoenix New Times — the third consecutive year filings in the county have topped 80,000, with monthly averages exceeding 7,000 throughout 2025.
Assistance Programs and Legislative Pushback
Local governments have rolled out targeted relief in response to the broader crisis, though none of it changes a landlord's right to raise rent. In August, Maricopa County and the City of Phoenix launched an $800,000 Eviction Prevention Pilot Program offering up to $3,200 in direct rental assistance, covering up to two months of back rent. The following month, Phoenix City Council allocated $5 million for a master leasing initiative in which the city leases units directly from property owners and subleases them to residents who face barriers like past eviction records, as Hoodline previously reported.
Tenant advocates, meanwhile, have pushed for a different kind of fix at the state level. In March, Arizona housing organizers launched the “Rent Is Rigged” campaign in support of House Bill 2490, which would prohibit landlords from using algorithmic pricing software that aggregates competitor data to set rent or renewal rates — a tool advocates argue has artificially inflated rents across the local market, as detailed in Hoodline's earlier rent revolt coverage. None of those measures offer immediate relief to tenants at Buenas Apartments now weighing whether they can afford to stay.
