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PHOENIX — State senators are being asked to weigh landlord profits against the lives of domestic-violence victims.

Without dissent, members of the Senate Committee on Public Safety and Human Services approved legislation Thursday to allow victims of domestic violence to break a lease without a financial penalty.

But SB 1227 still faces a challenge from the Arizona Multihousing Association. The group, which represents landlords, believes the measure would make it too easy for people to evade their obligations.

Their argument is not swaying Sen. Jim Waring, R-Phoenix. He said the association, while insisting it is willing to help victims, has been dragging its feet.

"I have to tell you, if it comes down to them losing a few bucks or potentially a woman losing her life ... I wouldn't want that on my conscience," he said.

The problem, according to Chris Groinger, an advocate with the Coalition Against Domestic Violence, is women who have left abusive relationships sometimes are tracked down by the former spouse or boyfriend.

At that point, having used what resources they have, the women are in no position to abandon their apartments, losing their security deposit and forfeiting any other funds being held — money they would need to find a new place.

Jodi Bart, a lobbyist with the landlords' group, said they are willing to work on some reasonable compromise.

"But our hope also is the rental housing provider does not become a financial victim as an innocent party," she said.

And Sen. Chuck Gray, R-Mesa, who previously had a house for rent, said there are people who purposely try to "scam" landlords.

"They move around. This is how they live," Gray said. "They are residential hobos and they go around preying off people because of whatever the laws are."

Waring, however, said he was told there have only been 200 instances in the last decade where domestic violence victims sought to break a lease.

"The idea that there are going to be this roving horde of people all across the state, and that's going to put apartment complexes under all over, I would dispute that," he said.

One of the hang-ups is what proof tenants would have to offer to show they are victims of domestic violence.

The legislation includes several options, including a copy of any protective order issued by the court, a copy of an order of protection or a copy of a police report that says the tenant notified the agency he or she was a victim of domestic violence.

Courtney Gilstrap Levinus, another lobbyist from the Arizona Multihousing Association, said landlords need more.

"The police report is very subjective," she said. "We want additional information on the perpetrators such as name, aliases, known address, description of the event so that the landlord, if they want to, has the ability to go after that perpetrator for the terms of the lease or damage to the unit."

Waring said he is willing to work on that issue. And he said he would accept another change to allow landlords to keep some portion of the security deposit to compensate for actual physical damage to the apartment.

But Waring questioned whether the landlords' group is really interested in a compromise or just hopes to drag the debate out to the point where the measure dies.

"We had not made a lot of progress in about six months of working," he said. And Waring said legislation that does not really help victims "is not acceptable."

The legislation also is being sponsored by Senate President Tim Bee, R-Tucson, who said he became sensitized to the issue a decade ago when his older sister was a victim of domestic violence.

In a related development, the same Senate committee also approved another of Bee's measures to allow more abusers to be prosecuted as felons.

Current law says someone convicted of domestic violence incidents within five years must serve at least four months in jail and can be sentenced to as long as 18 months in state prison. SB 1424 would allow all convictions within a seven-year period to be considered.

Both measures now go to the full Senate.