Housing is a key health determinant. Habitability laws set minimum standards for adequate housing. However, accessing them to ensure adequate housing may be a challenge for many tenants. This paper explores the need for rental housing policy that would better support adequate and safe housing, particularly for low-income renters. A mixed-methods approach assessed residential tenant habitability concerns in Clark County, Nevada, through calls relayed to the Clark County Landlord-Tenant Hotline (CCLTH). Of the 2865 calls, 74.3% were from ZIP codes that were 80% of the median income and below. There was a significant relationship between the ZIP code-level income and the reporting of at least one essential habitability concern. Of the 266 participants that responded to a follow-up call, 34.6% reported that their complaint was resolved and there was no association between resolution and income. Qualitative data analysis from phone interviews revealed two central themes: (1) resources to navigate landlord-tenant laws are limiting and (2) housing policies need to be strengthened to help tenants and keep people housed. Understanding tenant concerns regarding substandard housing and related inequities can help inform rental housing policy and its implementation to promote healthy homes and improve health outcomes for communities burdened by poor rental housing conditions.
Keywords: habitability; healthy housing; housing policy; housing quality; substandard housing.