land ownership; hostile entities; prohibition

Plain English Breakdown

The effective date is not provided in the source material; timelines depend on this unknown date.

HB2171: Ban on Land Sales to Hostile Entities

This law stops people from selling, leasing, or transferring land in Arizona to individuals and groups linked to China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia.

What This Bill Does

• Prohibits the sale, lease, or transfer of real property interests to entities owned by or acting for hostile countries listed in federal threat assessments.
• Requires current owners who are prohibited from holding land to sell, donate, or give up their interest within one year after they acquired it or after the law takes effect.
• Transfers ownership of any unreturned property to the Arizona Department of Administration if the deadline passes without disposal.
• Directs state officials to auction seized properties and place the money into the General Fund.
• Orders county recorders to report suspected violations to the Department of Public Safety for investigation.

Who It Names or Affects

• People or companies trying to sell, lease, or transfer land in Arizona
• Individuals who served in the military of China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia
• Entities owned by governments of China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia and their subsidiaries, affiliates, or holding companies
• The Department of Public Safety and county recorders responsible for enforcement

Terms To Know

Hostile entities

Groups owned by the governments of China, Iran, North Korea, or Russia; their subsidiaries, affiliates, or holding companies; government agencies with majority interests in these countries; and individuals who served in those countries' militaries.

Convey an interest

To sell, lease, transfer ownership, donate, cancel, or give rights to real property like land or buildings.

Class 4 felony

A serious crime under Arizona law for knowingly acquiring an interest in real property that violates this rule.

Limits and Unknowns

• The bill does not state the specific date it becomes effective.
• The text defines prohibited groups but does not list every specific company or person currently banned.
• It is unclear how long investigations by the Department of Public Safety will take before property transfers to the state.

Official Summary Text

HB2171 - 572R - House Bill Summary

ARIZONA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

57th
Legislature, 2nd Regular Session

Majority Research Staff

House:
LARA DP 5-3-0-0

HB
2171
: land ownership; hostile entities; prohibition

Sponsor:
Representative Diaz, LD 19

House
Engrossed

Overview

Prohibits
a person from selling, leasing or conveying an interest in real property to a
person from or acting on behalf of designated hostile entities and prescribes mechanisms
for regulation and enforcement.

History

Section 108B of the National Security Act of 1947 requires
the U.S. Director of National Intelligence (DNI), in coordination with the
heads of intelligence community elements, to submit an Annual Report on
Worldwide Threats, also called an
annual threat
assessment
(ATA), to appropriate congressional committees.
ATAs assess worldwide threats to national security and must be submitted by the
first Monday in February annually. ATAs are presented in unclassified form, but
they may include a classified annex to protect intelligence sources and
methods. The most recent ATAs identified China, Russia, Iran and North Korea as
countries that pose a risk to the national security of the United States (
50 U.S.C. �
3043b
)(U.S. DNI ATA
2022
,
2023
,
2024
,
2025
).

Provisions

1.

Prohibits a person in Arizona
from selling, leasing or conveying an interest in real property to a person
from or acting on behalf of:

a.

an entity
owned or directly controlled by China, Iran, North Korea or Russia;

b.

an
affiliate, subsidiary or holding company of the listed countries;

c.

a country
with a commercial or defense industrial base of which the listed entities are a
part;

d.

a state,
province, region, prefecture, subdivision or municipality of any aforementioned
parties;

e.

an agency,
bureau, committee or department of any aforementioned parties that owns a
majority interest;

f.

an entity in
which any aforementioned entities own a majority interest; and

g.

an
individual that served in the military of the listed countries. (Sec. 1)

2.

Mandates that a prohibited owner
or lessee that acquired the interest in the property;���

a.

prior to the effective date must
dispose of the interest at least one year after the effective date; or

b.

on or after the effective date
must dispose of the interest at least one year after the date it was acquired. (Sec.
1)

3.

Designates
the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA) as the lawful owner of any
interest in real property that a prohibited owner or lessee fails to dispose of
in the prescribed time period. (Sec. 1)

4.

Requires
ADOA sell or otherwise dispose of seized property at public auction and deposit
proceeds in the state General Fund. (Sec. 1)

5.

Directs the county
recorder, should they have reason to believe a violation has occurred, notify
the Department of Public Safety (DPS). (Sec. 1)

6.

Directs DPS
to:

a.

maintain a publicly available list
of prohibited owners and lessees that identifies the real property owned or
leased;

b.

notify ADOA of any violations of
this section and refer the matter to the appropriate prosecuting agency; and

c.

annually notify the county
recorder and the county assessor in all 15 counties of prohibited owners and
lessees of real property. (Sec. 1)

7.

Allows DPS to
investigate persons identified as prohibited owners or lessees. (Sec. 1)

8.

Specifies a
person that knowingly violates this section is guilty of a class 4 felony. (Sec.
1)

9.

10.

11.

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FOOTER ---------

12.

Initials CW/RS��������������� HB
2171

13.

2/24/2026� Page 0 House
Engrossed

14.

15.

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FOOTER ---------

Current Bill Text

HB2171 - 572R - H Ver

House Engrossed

land ownership;
hostile entities; prohibition

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-seventh Legislature

Second Regular Session

2026

HOUSE BILL 2171

AN
ACT

amending title 33, chapter 4, article 4,
Arizona Revised Statutes, by adding section 33-459; relating to real property.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

Be it
enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Title 33, chapter 4, article 4,
Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 33-459, to read:

START_STATUTE
33-459.

Prohibited real property owners and lessees; hostile entities;
disposal of property; county recorder; department of public safety; violation;
classification

A. A person may not sell, lease or
otherwise convey an interest in real property in this state to a person from or
on behalf of any of the following hostile entities:

1. An entity that is owned or
directly controlled by the government of China, Iran, North Korea or Russia.

2. An affiliate, subsidiary or
holding company of an entity described in paragraph 1 of this subsection.

3. A country with a commercial or
defense industrial base of which an entity described in paragraph 1 or 2 is a
part.

4. A state, province, region,
prefecture, subdivision or municipality of a country described in paragraph 1,
2 or 3 of this subsection.

5. An agency, bureau, committee or
department of a country described in paragraph 1.

6. An entity in which any entity
described in paragraph 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 owns a majority interest.

7. An individual that served in the
military of China, Iran, North Korea or Russia.

B. A prohibited owner or lessee
prescribed by subsection A of this section that owns or leases real property in
this state and that:

1. Acquired the interest in the
property before the effective date of this section shall sell, donate or
otherwise dispose of the interest in the property not later than one year after
the effective date of this section.

2. Acquired the interest in the
property on or after the effective date of this section shall sell, donate,
cancel or otherwise dispose of the interest in the property not later than one
year after the date the owner or lessee acquired the interest in the property.

C. For any prohibited owner or lessee
prescribed by subsection A of this section that does not dispose of its
interest in the real property pursuant to subsection B of this section in a
timely manner, the department of administration is deemed the lawful owner of
the interest in the real property and shall sell or otherwise convey the
interest in the real property at a public auction and deposit the proceeds in
the state general fund.

D. If a county recorder has reason to
believe that a person violates this section, the county recorder shall notify
the department of public safety.� The department of public safety shall
maintain a list of prohibited owners and lessees that identifies the real
property that is owned or leased in violation of this section and shall make
that list publicly available.

E. The department of public safety
may investigate the person that is identified as a prohibited owner or lessee
of real property in this state and if the department of public safety
determines that the owner or lessee has violated this section, the department
of public safety shall notify the department of administration and refer the
matter to the appropriate prosecuting agency.� The department of public safety
shall provide the county recorder and the county assessor in each county in
this state annual notice of prohibited owners and lessees of real property in
this state.

F. A person that violates this
section by knowingly acquiring an interest in real property in this state is
guilty of a class 4 felony.
END_STATUTE